Renting the commercial first floor instead of building a new church. This is how the well-known Poznan priest Radoslaw Rakowski wants to operate in the growing Polanka neighborhood. As the clergyman told "Gazeta Wyborcza" the premises " between the dog hairdresser and the dentist" are to be a place for prayer, meetings, help and integration.
This approach in Poznan is a novelty. Before a church is built (if it comes to that) - the former commercial premises are to be used both for celebrating mass and for meetings and integration of the faithful of the newly created parish (they currently belong to the nearby St. Roch Church). The church entrusted the organization of the new unit to Radoslaw Rakowski - a priest of the younger generation, well-known and respected in the city for his open and friendly attitude in strong contrast to the behavior of the average Polish clergyman. Father Rakowski decided to break the pattern this time as well. He is creating an atypical temple (or chapel) in a one-hundred-meter commercial premises of a few years' block of flats on Niemena Street in the Polanka housing development in the New Town (Rataje) district.
There could have been a circus as well
Polanka (also known as Łacina) is not formally an estate: it is an area of several dozen hectares between the inner city and the eastern part of the modernist Rataje district. Since the 1960s, the area was a reserve for the city's right-bank commercial and service center serving new housing estates (even a stationary circus was planned). At the turn of the century, however, it was mainly earmarked for housing and - in part - for a large shopping mall (opened in 2016 under the name Posnania). In recent years, residential developments here have significantly accelerated joining the development complexes of the first decade of the century.
Polanka housing estate in Poznań; 1. square of one of the housing complexes (designed by Arcada) from the first decade of this century; 2. buildings of the same complex on Katowicka Street
photo: Jakub Głaz
Today Polanka is one of the most intensively and, over the years, increasingly poorly developed parts of Poznań. The existing local plans here allow for relatively dense residential development, a small enclave of greenery at the interface with a shopping center and - a church. Instead, there is no room for a school, because , as planners explained , children can use existing facilities in neighboring modernist estates. Temples are also present there, but even so, the plan envisions "church services" in the middle of Polanka, next to the intersection of the streetcar route and Katowicka Street. The tower of the new church would be the central high-rise dominant - the second next to the 12-story point building (designed by Arcada), which has been standing for 15 years.
Polanka housing development in Poznań; 1. area provided for in the master plan for the construction of a church, in the background - a building on Niemen Street with premises for a "church in a store"; 2. areas for development on Milczańska Street (space for a church - in perspective).
Photo: Jakub Glaz
from a small bell
Ultimately, will the new temple be built in the place planned for it? Rev. Rakowski has such a distant plan, but at the same time - in an interview with local WTK TV - he cautions:
I wouldn't want to come as a lord of authority who will build towers with bells, put a cross there, and fight for the faith.
The clergyman also has no plans to run the bells in the premises being created. The room is also to be soundproofed so as not to disturb the building's residents. Some , according to media reports , have felt uneasy about the unusual new neighborhood. The clergyman reassures that he wants first and foremost to
serve the people who live there, live among them, listen to them and help them find the Lord God. (...) Anytime someone needs my help (...) then I am ready.
it's safe
At a time of melting numbers of believers, such an attitude seems reasonable and suited to the circumstances, as the Glade is populated by younger people with a more critical attitude toward the Church. It is also safe to postpone the construction of a new temple, costly, material-intensive and - perhaps - unnecessary. After all, there are neighborhood churches in the area, and two kilometers from the center of Polanka stands a massive, two-story temple of the St. Mary's Church. The Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, envisioned in the late 1970s as a facility serving the entire Rataje neighborhood (before local churches were built). Nearby also stands the abandoned Malta shopping mall (chanibalized by "Posnania"), whose sizable volumes can accommodate quite a few worshippers.
And whether and how the unusual location of the "church in a store" will work out, and whether Father Rakowski will succeed in creating a community of young believers, will be seen soon. The premises are scheduled to open in September.
