• History

  The Polish Community in Leicester was founded in 1948. It arose as a result of the settlement of Polish Soldiers and their families in demobilisation camps in and around Leicester. In keeping with Polish traditions these families rapidly organised themselves into an active community. Father Frąckowiak, an army chaplain was seconded to Leicester making it possible for the fledgling Polish community to celebrate Holy Mass in their mother tongue. Before long Father Frąckowiak made contact with the Dominican Fathers at Holy Cross Church. As luck would have it the Prior was of Polish extraction and gave permission for the Poles to use his church to celebrate Mass. In order to  have something that reminded them of home in their adopted church, the community raised funds to purchase an oil painting of the Black Madonna of Częstochowa.

In May 1953 a new army chaplain Father Alexander Murat took over the pastoral duties of the community. Almost immediately, Father Murat called a general meeting of the parishioners and the first official parish committee was formed. In the early sixties the Polish Community numbered nearly four thousand and although very grateful to the Dominican friars for their hospitality the Poles felt it was high time that they had their own church. Fund raising started in earnest and before long enough money had been raised to purchase the Methodist church on Melbourne Road.

On June 12^th 1965 the newly acquired church was consecrated by Bishop Władysław Rubin and Bishop Edward Ellis of Nottingham. The consecration was a profound event for the Polish community. It also impacted on the local English community making the headlines in the local press. At long last Our Lady of Jasna Góra was installed in a place of prominence in the new Polish church.

During the last 50 odd years many priests have carried out their pastoral duties in our parish. We have celebrated many christenings, weddings and confirmations and unfortunately, performed too many funerals. We have commemorated numerous anniversaries and jubilees and organised many social, cultural and religious events. Notable among these was the visit of his eminence Cardinal Józef Glemp in 1985.

The church has undergone a number of improvements: the external elevations have been thoroughly cleaned. Internally it has been redecorated and a carpet fitted throughout. Additionally, the windows of the centre have been replaced and the club area refurbished. With the help of funding from the social services we were able to set up a Day Centre for the Polish frail and elderly. Thanks to grants from the City Council and other sources we were able to make some alterations to the premises to make it more user friendly for the elderly and disabled.

However, the passage of time has seen the number of parishioners diminish significantly. The older generation is declining through obvious natural causes while some of the younger generation have left Leicester and settled in other parts of the country. Like many old buildings, our current church is in need of renovation and has become expensive to maintain and keep in a good state of repair. Whereas 40 years ago most of the Polish community lived in and around the Polish church, now people travel in from all parts of Leicester as a result we have great problems with parking. Moreover, we experience many of the problems associated with deprived inner city areas – we have suffered numerous broken windows and have had damage inflicted on cars. Despite the improvements that have made for the elderly and disabled, the three-storey building is becoming gradually inaccessible to many of our elderly parishioners.

In March 2000 the parish committee put the proposition of relocating the church and centre to the vote with the result that 85% parishioners voted to in favour of the motion. We have now purchased an acre of land belonging to the church of St Margaret Mary, chapel of ease to Sacred Heart Parish, on which we hope to build a new church and purpose-built community centre.

The heart of the Polish Parish still beats strongly. Pray God that we will be up to the challenge that we have undertaken. We ask for your support - both spiritual and financial.