The parish of Saint Anthony of Padua in Gdynia () is a Roman Catholic religious administrative unit and community, located in the Archdiocese of Gdańsk. Centered on the Conventual Franciscans' friary and church of Saint Anthony, it chiefly covers the Gdynia district of Wzgórze św. Maksymiliana. It is recognized for numerous social and religious activities ranging from ministry to culture, education and charity. The church building, towering above large part of the city, is known as one of Gdynia's landmarks. Its peculiarity was that it periodically hosted two churches one above another.
Parish: history and profile
Since early 13th century the area now forming the parish was part of Archangel Michael parish, based in the village of Oxhöft/Oksywie.Krzysztof Wójcicki, 50 lat parafii świętego Antoniego w Gdyni, Gdynia 1999, , p. 17 In 1926 the largely uninhabited neighbourhood was incorporated into the newly established Holy Mary Queen of Poland parish, centred on the new church located in the very heart of what at that time was a fishing village rapidly turning into a modern city of Gdynia.Wójcicki 1999, p. 49 First residential quarters were constructed on what was then known as Marshal Foch Hill in the 1930s,Wójcicki 1999, p. 24 but the area underwent massive development in the 1940s, first during the German rule and especially in the first post-war years. The Franciscans applied to ecclesiastical authorities requesting setting up of a new parish;Wójcicki 1999, p. 50; Małgorzata Sokołowska, Izabella Greczanik-Filipp, Wiesława Kwiatkowska (eds.), Encyklopedia Gdyni, Gdynia 2006, , p. 365 claims the date was 15.08.1949 as since 1921 Gdynia formed part of the Culm Bishopry,Gabriela Nieżorawska, Dzieje duszpasterstwa w parafii Świętej Rodziny w Gdyni w latach 1931–1994, Tczew 1995, available online here in December 1948 the Culm bishop carved out the district from the Holy Mary parish and set up the new one of St Anthony,Wójcicki 1999, p. 5; it was the 12th parish in the city, Nieżorawska 1995 territorially roughly corresponding to the currently existing municipal districts of Wzgórze św. Maksymiliana and Redłowo. Its population remained unclear and probably stood at around 5,000,in 1946 the entire population of Gdynia was 77,800 and it stood at 191,200 by 1970, Aleksandra Cicharska, Przemiany demograficzne w Gdyni w latach 1946–2009, [in:] Mirosław Gawron, Helena Głogowska, Tożsamość kulturowo-cywilizacyjna Gdyni, Gdynia 2011, p. 120; exact parish population is known for late 1960a as 16,000, Wójcicki 1999, p. 76 most of them young people freshly migrated from other locations in Pomerania and elsewhere.
The monastery and church of St Anthony proved to be an important integrating factor for the growing migrant community of the area; apart from few schools there were no other institutions which might have served as agglutinatory force. The Franciscans launched a number of activities intended for the lay and gaining momentum throughout the 1950s, including cultural groups like orchestra and choir, prayer societies like rosary circles, charity organisations and evangelic associations; the friars organized pilgrimages, embarked on various popular art initiatives and education, especially for the children.Wójcicki 1999, p. 56 Since the mid-1950s inhabitants were increasingly engaged in voluntary work at construction of the new church, while religious feasts like Corpus Christi and events like first communion or confirmation provided opportunity for large gatherings of the local population. The number of christenings kept growing until the mid-1950s, when it exceeded 400 per annum;Wójcicki 1999, p. 173 the number of marriages kept growing until the early 1970s, when it exceeded 200 per annum.Wójcicki 1999, p. 174 During the 1970 riots immediate surroundings of the church turned into battlefield between protesters and security forces; some tear gas shells exploded in the building, some people sought refuge at the premises and the guardian negotiated their withdrawal with commanding police officers.Łukasz Maria Staniszewski, Historia klasztoru i parafii, [in:] Ze Wzgórza 2 (2013), pp. 9-10 During the strikes of 1980 the parish priest served in many state-ran industrial enterprises.Wójcicki 1999, p. 108-9 In the early 1980s total population of the parish stood at its peak nearing 20,000 people; in 1981 the number dropped to some 14,000 as a new parish was carved out in Redłowo.Lucyna Przybylska, Franciszkanie w Gdyni, Pelplin 2016, , p. 58 In 2018 the number of households in the parish was around 5,700.data provided during the 4 PM sermon of February 11, 2018, repeated in print in Sprawozdanie pokolędowe, [in:] Ze Wzgórza 203 (2018), pp. 4-6. The number of parishioners is unclear. In 2011 it was estimated at 11,000, Przybylska 2016, p. 58
The last two decades of the 20th century stand out as the period of particularly diversified and thriving activities of both the friars and the lay. Franciszkański Zakon Świeckich went on with evangelical mission, Akcja Katolicka organised multifold activities, Żywy Różaniec, Odnowa w Duchu Świętym, Grupa Modlitewna o. Pio and Wspólnota dla Intronizacji Najświętszego Serca served as prayer groups, Fraternia catered for the academic youth, Wspólnota Młodzieży Franciszkańskiej Tau provided a platform modeled after St. Francis, Poradnia Życia Rodzinnego, Kręgi Domowego Kościoła, Wspólnota Rodzin and Wspólnota Adopcji Duchowej enhanced family values as mutual support community services, Rycerstwo Niepokalanej, SOS Franciszkańskie and Caritas served differently formatted charity purposes, "Promyki" was formed as holiday establishment for children, Franciszkańska Grupa Pielgrzymki organized pilgrimages, Ze Wzgórza emerged as a parish bulletin and local section of Radio Maryja supported the nationwide broadcasting network. The Symfonia choir and the orchestra were already iconic parish institutions; other musical initiatives were ancient music band Ad te, Domine, Międzynarodowy Festiwal Muzyki Sakralnej and Młodzieżowa Scena Muzyczna, admitting also non-religious music groups; Franciszkańskie Centrum Kultury emerged as major urban cultural institution of its own. Periodically the monastery hosted a cafe-bar. Services for handicapped children and services for the blind, deaf and mute, animated by Bruno Pawłowicz,having already left Gdynia he died in a traffic accident in 1987, Wójcicki 1999, p. 116 became trademark of the monastery, reaching beyond parish and serving the entire Gdynia community.Wójcicki 1999, pp. 138-172 parish priests no name term 1 Alojzy Urbaniak 1949–1968 2 Wawrzyniec Kurach 1968–1969 3 Stanisław Frejlich 1969–1974 4 Manswet Wardyn 1974–1983 5 Bolesław Mika 1983–1986 6 Hubert Fabian Lipiński 1986–1989 7 Lucjan Ubysz 1989–1996 8 Józef Brzozowski 1996–2004 9 Jan Maciejowski 2004–2012 10 Stanisław Kreft 2012–2015 11 Piotr Matuszak 2015–2024 12 Sebastian Fierek 2024– In line with general re-organisation of national ecclesiastical administration, in 1992 the parish was removed from the Culm diocese and joined the Gdańsk bishopry,Wójcicki 1999, p. 126 but more profound changes were yet to come. By the end of the 20th century the parish community was already undergoing major change. The 20-year-olds who settled in the area in the post-war years were already in their late 60s and started to pass away;Studium uwarunkowań i kierunków zagospodarowania przestrzennego Gdyni, section Rozwój demograficzny, pp. 11-17, available online here secularisation of emergent consumer society took its toll among the middle-aged and the younger generation. In the late 1980s the number of dominicantes, the most basic statistical religiosity indicator, was estimated in the parish at some 40%Wójcicki 1999, p. 120 compared to the national average of 50%.see Dominicantes i communicantes 1980–1999, [in:] Instytut Statystyki Kościoła Katolickiego service, available here In the second decade of the 21st century the figure is estimated at some 25% compared to the 40% national average,see Dominicantes 2013, [in:] Instytut Statystyki Kościoła Katolickiego service, available here ; in 2016 the figure is estimated at 20%, in absolute numbers 2,100-2,500 attendants every Sunday, Piotr Matuszak, Sprawozdanie pokolędowe o. proboszcza, [in:] Ze Wzgórza 199 (2017), p. 9. Similar figures for the year of 2017 (22% of dominicantes) were provided during the 4 PM sermon of February 11, 2018 though with the retired approaching 30% of the total parish population,Gdynia w liczbach, [in:] official municipal Gdynia service, available here Sunday mass attendance might also result from reduced mobility of the elderly. The change is also reflected in annual christenings falling below 100, annual marriages falling below 50 and annual funerals growing above 200.Wójcicki 1999, p. 174 The number of children receiving the first communion during recent years ranges between 14in 2015, seePierwsza Komunia Święta [in:] Franciszkanie w Gdyni service, available here and 50,Matuszak 2017, p. 8 compared to almost 150 in the 1970s. The ratio of households admitting the 2016 kolęda was 41%.the highest admittance rate was in the Wojewódzka, Kasztelańska and Hetmańska quarters (62-72%), the lowest one in Norwida, Wachowiaka and Orzeszkowej quarters (17-30%), Matuszak 2017, p. 9 There are few signs of the trend getting reversed. One of them was spiritual service provided to the local football club Arka and the parish priest serving as chaplain of the society, usually associated rather with violence and hooliganism.Ojciec Jan Maciejowski. Nadzieja umiera ostatnia!, [in:] Arka Gdynia official service 06.05.2011, available here Another one was Młodzieżowa Scena Muzyczna, a formula attracting a variety of youth music bandsand recognized by official municipal authorities; in 2002 the parish priest was awarded an honorary prize, see Gdynia: nagroda za animację kultury dla franciszkanów, [in:] KAI service, 22.04.2011, available here including sub-cultures like hip hop.Gdynia: nagroda za animację kultury dla franciszkanów, [in:] KAI service, 22.04.2011
Monastery and church: history