ABSTRACT
Britain joined the Republic of Ireland and Sweden in opening its doors fully to those wanting to come from the eight Central and East European accession countries, and possibly up to one million arrived from Poland alone between 2004 and 2008. A key feature of this influx was its wide dispersal. Although London attracted about one fifth, the remainder was spread across Britain and the largest proportion worked in the farms and small towns of East Anglia. The migrants also added to the growing diversity of religious belief and practice within the Catholic Church, which religious leaders in both Britain and Poland struggled to understand and control. Many Poles who settled in Britain after 1945 shared the pope's devotion. The Carmelites played a key role in the promotion of Marian pilgrimage cults in Britain cults that had revived during the nineteenth century and that now could be found in most parts of the country.
