Kościół pw. Najświętszego Serca Pana Jezusa (ul. Ludźmierska)
Churches of Kraków
Church (Roman Catholic), Nowa Huta district. Architect: Krzysztof Ingarden.
History
The small church on the Teatralne estate in Nowa Huta was designed by Krzysztof Ingarden and Przemysław Gawor, in collaboration with Jacek Ewý. It stands on the spot where the plans for building Nowa Huta had provided for the new town's first church.
Archbishop Eugeniusz Baziak blessed a wooden cross, which was carried to this square in a solemn procession. The communist authorities, however, withdrew the building permit and decided to put up a school here instead, and ordered the cross to be removed. On 27 April 1960 excavators drove onto the square. Residents came out to defend the cross, and for several days there were clashes with the militia. The cross survived, the school was built next to it, and the church had to wait until the 1990s. Construction began in 1996, and on 22 June 2001 Cardinal Franciszek Macharski blessed the new church.
In front of the entrance stands the Nowa Huta Cross Monument, unveiled on 10 November 2007. It was designed by Stefan Dousa, and its surroundings by Krzysztof Ingarden. The monument is 4.85 metres high and made of bronze. The cross itself now stands by the north-east wall of the church, on the side of the Górali estate.
Did you know?
In 1979 in Mogiła, John Paul II said in a homily that the new evangelisation began with the cross in Nowa Huta. These words were placed on the monument.