until the reformation, the szlachta were mostly catholic or eastern orthodox ("pic. 3, 13"). however, many families quickly adopted the reformed religion. after the counter-reformation, when the catholic church regained power in poland, the szlachta became almost exclusively catholic, despite the fact that catholicism was not a majority religion (the catholic and orthodox churches counted approximately 40% of the population each, while the remaining 20% were jews and members of various protestant churches).