A History That Challenges Us to Look to the Future!
On October 24, 2026, a jubilee symposium was held in the lecture hall of the Conventual Franciscan Major Seminary in Łódź-Łagiewniki, Poland. The symposium focused on the history of the Conventual Franciscans and the origins and development of devotion to St. Anthony at our Shrine of St. Anthony of Padua in Łódź-Łagiewniki.
The symposium was part of the celebrations marking three extraordinary anniversaries: the 800th anniversary of the transitus of St. Francis of Assisi, the 350th anniversary of the apparitions of St. Anthony in Łagiewniki, and the 300th anniversary of the consecration of our shrine church.
The event was attended by Franciscan friars, priests, religious men and women, seminarians, seminary professors, and residents of Łódź and the surrounding area.
Over the course of four lectures, the speakers explored the history of the Conventual Franciscan Province of Warsaw, Poland, the circumstances surrounding the friars’ arrival in Łagiewniki, the origins of the local Shrine, and the development of devotion to St. Anthony during the 17th and 18th centuries. They also examined surviving inscriptions commemorating the consecration of the shrine church in 1726.
Friars Emil KUMKA, Józef MAKARCZYK, Rafał ANTOSZCZUK, and Marek SYKUŁA shared the results of their respective research on the topics discussed. Their lectures served as a springboard for questions from the attendees and a broader group discussion.
At the conclusion of the symposium, Friar Piotr ŻURKIEWICZ, Minister Provincial of the Province of the Immaculate Mother of God in Poland (Warsaw), emphasized that jubilees should not simply remind us of the past but, above all, direct our gaze toward the future.
We thank all the speakers, organizers, and participants for joining us in rediscovering Łagiewniki’s rich Franciscan heritage!
Friar Maciej PIECZYNIA
