Kościół pw. Świętego Józefa Oblubieńca Najświętszej Maryi Panny
Churches of Kraków
Church (Roman Catholic), Bieńczyce district.
History
The Church of St Joseph, Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary, on Osiedle Kalinowe in Bieńczyce is one of the newer churches in Nowa Huta. The parish was erected on 19 March 1985, and its first parish priest was Father Leon Baran. At first services were held in catechesis rooms, and from 1991 in the chapel of the catechetical centre, blessed by Bishop Jan Szkodoń. Work on the parish church began in the 1990s. The foundation stone, taken from Wawel Cathedral and blessed by John Paul II, was laid on 2 December 2000 by Cardinal Franciszek Macharski. The same cardinal consecrated the finished church on 19 March 2002, on the day of the parish feast.
The church was built in the Postmodern style to a design by Zofia Łuczyńska and Jan Kurek. It is laid out on a cross plan and has a spacious, bright interior in white and beige, with contrasting dark green in the floor and the chancel. Outside it is cream-coloured, with a red roof topped by a cross. The main altar holds a statue of St Joseph and a crucifix hanging against a cross-shaped window, designed by the sculptor Czesław Dźwigaj, who also made the tabernacle. In the side part of the church hangs a painting of St Gianna Beretta Molla with a child; her relics were placed here on 26 May 2004. Since February 2012 the parish has had a chapel of perpetual adoration of the Blessed Sacrament.
Did you know?
The 37-stop pipe organ, whose installation began in 2018, came from the Protestant parish in Gelnhausen.