History

The Chaplaincy was first established in Częstochowa in 1949 when the first institution of higher learning – The Engineering School (now Częstochowa Polytechnic University) - was created. At the beginning, pastoral work was conducted informally by the Jesuit priests. The University Chaplaincy was created in 1951 on the initiative of Bishop Zdzisław Gobliński. Acting in the name of the diocese, Fr Zdzisław Wajzner became one of the first university chaplains in 1959 (he had served before as the assistant university chaplain). Fr. Wajzner would later become an officialis (a judicial vicar). The first Masses for university students and members of the faculty were held at the Church of the Holy Name of Mary. People in Częstochowa still refer to this church as the chaplaincy church, even though it ceased to be one in 1984.

Bishop Stefan Bareła – a great friend and supporter of the academic circles – decided to officially organize the structures of the Emmaus Chaplaincy in Częstochowa. In 1956, he sent Fr. Ireneusz Skubiś, PhD, to work with students. Under Fr. Ireneusz’s supervision, a group of students organised the first seat of the Chaplaincy in the cellars of the bishop’s palace, located on the 3rd Virgin Mary Avenue, building number 54. In addition to that, the structural organization of university chaplaincies was created for the whole diocese. University pastoral centres were established in larger cities, among others in Sosnowiec, where a branch of the University of Silesia was located,

Fr. Ireneusz Skubiś was in charge of organising formative meetings for students, he was also the one who celebrated Mass for university students and members of the faculty. However, Fr. Skubiś did not only limit himself to that.  In the 1970s, he organised monthly night-long vigils at the Jasna Góra Monastery, co-organised academic pilgrimages to Jasna Góra, went on the walking pilgrimages from Warsaw to Częstochowa, and organised lectures for many speakers including, among others, Andrzej Czuma.
The Chaplaincy stood behind the ‘Monitor Kościelny’ (The Church Gazette), a weekly news bulletin based on the teachings of Pope John Paul II heard on the Vatican Radio. It was published between 1978 and 1981. Its editors included, among others, Irena Makowicz and Lidia Dudkiewicz. 120 issues of the ‘Monitor Kościelny’ were published, all in the form of 16-pages-long typescripts. It had a few hundred subscribers and was distributed ‘underground’ so that to avoid state imposed censorship (under Communism all newspapers, books, films and the like were subject to strict censorship).
In 1981, ‘Klub Inteligencji Katolickiej’ (The Club of Catholic Intellectuals) was created within the Chaplaincy. In the same year, the 1st ‘Tygodnie Kultury Chrześcijańskiej’ (The Weeks of Christian Culture) were held. Also in 1981, students and their chaplains contributed to the reactivation of the Catholic weekly ‘Niedziela’ (Sunday).

In 1982, Fr. Marian Duda became the next University Chaplain. He had the Chaplaincy moved to the then-new buildings of the St. Adalbert (Polish: św. Wojciech) Parish Church in the Tysiąclecie district of Częstochowa. At the time, it was the closest parish to the campus.
In the 1980s, the Central University Chaplaincy ‘Emmaus’ (this was the name given to the Chapliancy in Częstochowa) was a centre of independent (i.e. independent of the Communist authorities) cultural activities. These activities included lectures, actors’ and singers’ performances, readings of poetry, exhibitions and theatre performances. The annual ‘Weeks of Christian Culture (Polish: ‘Tygodnie Kultury Chrześcijańskiej’) have been held there since 1985. They were first organized by Halina ‘Agata’ Grzybowska with the cooperation of Jerzy Ziora, Adam Banaszkiewicz and Marian Magiera.
Since 1988, the University Chaplaincy has been the birthplace of independent community-based organisations: The Consulta of  the Professionals’ Chaplaincy for the  Diocesan Curia, the Regional Civic Committee and the ‘Emmaus’ Catholic Student Union – which was one of the first student unions in Poland. The Chaplaincy was also the birthplace of one political organisation – ‘Unia Laikatu Katolickiego’ (The Union of Catholic Laity); Fr. M. Duda served as their chaplain.

Following Fr. Skubiś, Fr. Zdzisław Zgrzebny became the next University Chaplain for the diocese. He built the Chaplaincy structures during the democratisation of Poland, which began after the fall of Communism on 4 June 1989. One of the most important tasks he faced during his time as the chaplain was the preparation of the World Youth Forum, which took place in Częstochowa in 1991, as part of the activities accompanying the Sixth World Youth Days.

In 1998, Fr. Andrzej Przybylski became the University Chaplain for the Częstochowa diocese. In 2002, he was joined by Fr. Marek Bator. In his desire to make the University Chaplaincy more efficient and effective, Archbishop Stanisław Nowak established the Personal University Parish of Częstochowa on 12 March 2004. All university students and members of the faculty of Częstochowa higher learning institutions belong to the parish – the document certifying this is a student or faculty member ID card. The parish priest, together with the rights and duties of a parish priest, is every University Chaplain of the diocese. Fr. Andrzej Przybylski served as the first parish priest, while Fr. Marek Bator was its first vicar.

In 2008, Fr. Marek Bator became the parish priest of the Personal University Parish of St. Irenaeus; while Fr. Jacek Szczecina became the vicar.