Polish Catholic Mission

The origins of pastoral care for displaced Poles in the British Isles go back to the 19th century historical insurrections that took place on the former territory of the Commonwealth of Two Nations in 1831, 1848, 1863 and 1905.

One of the first chaplains was fr. Emeryk Podolski, who led church services for Poles in a chapel on Sutton Street in London's Soho district. In 1864 through the efforts of general Zamoyski and Cardinal Wiseman, Rev. Chwaliszewski was invited to come to London and lead services in the Polish chapel at St. Peter's Hatton Garden. The Polish chaplaincy was placed on a permanent footing in 1894 by Cardinal Vaughan, the then Archbishop of Westminster. The nucleus of the mission was formed by Bl. Franciszka Siedliska, founder of the Congregation of the Holy Family of Nazareth and its spiritual director, rev. Lechert CR . With Mother Siedliska came two sisters who started a first primary school. From then on Polish services were regularly held in a chapel first in Globe Street, then in Cambridge Heath Road in Bethnal Green in the East End of London.

Cardinal Hlond

After World War I, the Polish chaplaincy was located in the rented Polish church in Mercer Street in North London. In 1928 the local authority condemned the church building as unsafe, due to its poor structural condition. That same year the parish was visited by cardinal Aleksander Kakowski in the company of bishop Przeździeński from the diocese of Siedlce and Polish ambassador, Konstanty Skirmunt. After an extended search, it was decided to purchase a church building for £4,000 from the Swedenborg Society in Devonia Road, Islington. The property with its outbuildings lent itself for ecclesiastical use, as a mission centre and with space for a Polish Saturday school. Cardinal Bourne of Westminster, helped the mission with a £1000 loan for refurbishment. It became the first Polish-owned ecclesiastical building in the British Isles. It was consecrated on 30 October 1930 by cardinal August Hlond, primate of Poland in the presence of cardinal Bourne. In 1938 rev. Władysław Staniszewski became chaplain to the mission, who until then had been Chef de Cabinet of the Polish primate, and who had volunteered to come to England for three years. As he left for London, cardinal Hlond bid him farewell with these words:

Following this great war, that we foresee, it is most likely that the Polish colony over there will swell and if we succeed in maintaining the legation till then, it may turn out to be fortuitous.

monument to Archbishop Gawlina in his birthplace, Racibórz

As it turned out, during the Second world war, the mission had its hands full. After the war, the pastoral task extended to almost 200,000 displaced people - mainly soldiers. Fortunately, among them were also 120 Military chaplains and priests.[2] In 1948, following a visit to Poland the previous year for talks with cardinal Hlond, and after consulting with the Catholic episcopate of England and Wales, Cardinal Griffin nominated the rector of the Polish Catholic Mission, rev. Staniszewski as Vicar delegate for civilian Poles in England and Wales, with the powers of an Ordinariate. Around this time Archbishop Hlond had nominated Bishop Józef Gawlina, also a Divisional general and based in Rome, to be responsible overall for the Polish diaspora.[3] Between them, this enabled the then rector in England to engage priests and organize regular pastoral care across 18 dioceses in England and Wales. At the same time, a polish Catholic press came into being, including titles, like: Gazeta Niedzielna, Życie, Czyn Katolicki, Sodalis Marianus and Marianum w służbie. In time, two secondary boarding schools were opened: "Holy Family of Nazareth Convent School" for girls in Pitsford, Northamptonshire (1947-1984) run by the Sisters of Congregation of the Holy Family of Nazareth, and "Divine Mercy College" for boys in Fawley Court (1953-1986), near Henley-on-Thames, run by the Marian Fathers.

On the pastoral front, the temporary Polish parish hosted in Central London by the fathers of Brompton Oratory was able to be moved westward in 1962 to the newly acquired building from the vacating Scottish Presbyterians. It became St Andrew Bobola church in Shepherd's Bush, the second Polish owned church in London since 1930.[4] The Mission was boosted by the integration of male religious orders, the Polish Jesuits in Willesden north-west London, the Marian fathers in Ealing and Fawley,[5][6] and the Society of Christ Fathers, dedicated to minister to the Polish diaspora abroad who run a parish in Putney.[2]

In the next period, the Polish Catholic Mission had taken possession of 30 church buildings, 12 chapels, 39 parsonages and 55 parish halls. In the 1980s, Poles in Britain expanded due to a wave of migration following the imposition of Martial law in Poland in 1981.

The next wave of immigrants to the United Kingdom occurred after Poland's accession to the European Union and the opening of the UK job market to Poles, among other Central Europeans. Churches are full on Sundays, despite the estimate that only 10% of Poles actually attend services.[7] The Polish Catholic Mission in England and Wales has charitable status[8]

"Garrison" church of St. Andrew Bobola in Shepherd's Bush

Rectors

• Antoni Lechert, CR 1894 – 1902
  
• Henryk Cichocki, CR 1902 – 1903
  
• Grzegorz Domański, SDB 1904 – 1906
  
• Piotr Bujara, SDB 1906 – 1913
  
• Jan Symior, SDB 1913 – 1921
  
• Józef Wroński, SDB 1921 – 1926
  
• Teodor Cichos, SDB 1926 – 1938
  

Grade II listed Polish Church of St. John the Evangelist, Putney

Vicars Delegate

• Monsignor Władysław Staniszewski (Protonotary Apostolic) 1938 – 1974[9][10]
  
• Monsignor Karol Zieliński 1974 – 1991
  
• Monsignor Stanisław Świerczyński (Protonotary Apostolic) 1991 – 2002
  
• Monsignor Tadeusz Kukla 2002 – 2010
  
• Monsignor Stefan Wylężek 2010 –[7]

('Protonotary Apostolic' is the highest non-episcopal title and in polish is referred to as 'infułat' a reference to the short mitre that a priest with such a title was entitled to wear in certain settings.)