Kościół pw. Świętego Maksymiliana Kolbego (Opatkowice)
Churches of Kraków
Church (Roman Catholic), Swoszowice district.
History
Opatkowice lies to the south-west of the centre of Kraków, and its name comes from the nearby Tyniec Abbey ("opactwo" means abbey). According to the parish, these lands most probably belonged to the abbey from the time of Bolesław the Brave. The village first appears in the records in 1229, in a letter from Pope Gregory IX.
Until 1986 the residents had no church of their own here and went to Mass at the church in Gaj and the church in Borek Fałęcki, while religion lessons were held from 1974 to 1990 in a small chapel by the Zakopiańska road. The idea of building a church in Opatkowice arose after the village was incorporated into Kraków in 1973. The first step came in 1986: a wooden, uninsulated hut measuring 12 by 8 metres was put up where today's chapel stands, and Mass began to be celebrated in it. From December 1991 the Blessed Sacrament was kept there, and on 10 January 1992 the parish was established. The first parish priest was Father Jan Skotnicki, who had previously looked after this community as its pastor.
In 1997 the hut gave way to the present chapel, lengthened to 25 metres and widened by more than two metres. It serves as the parish church. Three years later, in the Jubilee Year, the parish bought bells, which were hung in the belfry and bear the names of St Joseph, St Maximilian Kolbe and John Paul II. In 2010 the church was thoroughly renovated and received a new organ.
Did you know?
The church estate in Opatkowice, which had earlier belonged to Tyniec Abbey, was nationalised after the war: in 1950 a state farm (PGR) was set up here. The property, about 50 hectares in size, was returned to the Archdiocese of Kraków only in 1994, following a decision of the Property Commission in Warsaw.