Kościół pw. Świętej Jadwigi Królowej (ul. Zagaje)
Churches of Kraków
Parish church (Roman Catholic), Swoszowice district. A parish is a community of believers tied to a particular church.
History
The Church of St Jadwiga the Queen on Kliny Borkowskie in Swoszowice was built on the initiative of the estate's residents. It all began on 16 October 1994 with the blessing of a cross, put up at the corner of Kostrzewskiego Street and Zagaje Street with a view to building a chapel. The initiative came from the women of the Living Rosary circles and the residents of the estate. In 1996 the parish priest of the Parish of Our Lady of Victory in Borek Fałęcki, Father Grzegorz Szewczyk, set up a Church Building Council, which raised funds, and special donation "bricks" were issued for the purpose.
In 1997 the estate received a stone taken from Jadwiga's tomb in Wawel Cathedral. Pope John Paul II blessed it on 8 June on Kraków's Błonia meadow during the queen's canonisation and designated it as the foundation stone of the new church. The design was prepared by the architect Andrzej Bilski. Groundwork began on 30 September 1998, and on 13 October 2000 Cardinal Franciszek Macharski celebrated the first Mass within the bare walls and laid the foundation stone. The church was a gift from the Borek Fałęcki parish for the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000.
The new parish was established on 24 June 2001, and its first parish priest was Father Wacław Gubała. People prayed in the unfinished main nave from June 2001, the floor was laid in 2003, and the last finishing work was completed in 2004.
Did you know?
This church's foundation stone has a remarkable origin: it was taken from the tomb of St Jadwiga the Queen in Wawel Cathedral and blessed by John Paul II himself on the day of her canonisation.