Poland's powerful Roman Catholic bishops-reaching for more influence, especially in their fight against abortion-said Thursday the separation of church and state should be abolished in the former communist country.

The demand was part of their campaign to further boost the church's role in Poland, where a recent opinion poll showed that 97 percent of the people are believing Catholics and 90 percent practice their religion.

"The formula separating the Catholic church from the state should be removed from the constitution," the bishops said in a statement.