Z dziejów katolickiej placówki duszpasterskiej w Olecku w XIX i pierwszej połowie XX wieku

Abstract

In 1853, a Catholic mission station was founded in Olecko. Land property was bought with an intention to build a church. Johannes Osinski became the first priest of this town on 22nd May 1853. His duties included the organisation of Catholic ministry in the Olecko district. In the years 1859-1861, a Neogothic church was built in Olecko; it was blessed on 1st December 1861. Bishop Antoni Frenzel dedicated the temple to the Holy Cross and Saint Adalbert on 27th August 1862. A Catholic school in this town was founded probably in 1866, but it was closed quite soon afterwards. Rural chapels serviced by the priest of Olecko were founded, among others, in a village named Borawskie and in a settlement named Kozia Góra (Ziegenberg). At the end of the 19th century, the priest from Olecko also celebrated Catholic Masses in Gołdap. One of the greatest problems of the Catholic community in Olecko was to guarantee appropriate remuneration for the priest. He received an yearly allowance from the Boniface and Adalbert Association in Frombork. Numerous construction and redecoration works on the church buildings were also funded from this source. In 1929, the legal status of the Olecko pastoral institution was approved by the state authorities.