Authorities have said that Poland's reputation as a stronghold of the Catholic Church is faltering as the number of men signing up for the priesthood is decreasing.

The Telegraph has reported that the Conference of the Polish Episcopate said in a report Friday only 687 men enrolled in seminaries in 2009, a 30 percent drop from 10 years ago.

The report also said that the number of women taking holy orders dropped to 354 in 2009, a 50 percent decline since 2002.

The Telegraph further said that the church blamed the drop in numbers on what it calls the corrosive spread of Western liberalism's effect on society and those considering the priesthood.

Father Marek Dziewiecki, the priest in charge of national vocations, said, "We are getting more and more immature candidates who have good intentions, but they are the children of a toxic media; children of a liberal civilization in which freedom is more important than man."

He said, "These are the children of our times, for whom responsibility, loyalty and discipline are alien worlds."

It was further reported by the Telegraph that Polish priests make up one in five of all priests on the continent and they are often called upon to make up for local shortfalls in many dioceses across Europe. (With Inputs from Agencies)