The Divine Mercy Sanctuary () in

Kraków , officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

, is a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

basilica In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica (Greek Basiliké) was a large public building with multiple functions that was typically built alongside the town's forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek Eas ...

dedicated to the devotion of the Divine Mercy, and is the resting place of Saint

Faustina Kowalska Maria Faustyna Kowalska of the Blessed Sacrament, Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy, OLM (born Helena Kowalska; 25 August 1905 – 5 October 1938) was a Catholic Church in Poland, Polish Catholic religious sister and Christia ...

.Vatican website: "Dedication of the Shrine of Divine Mercy Kraków-Łagiewniki August 2002"
/ref>
/ref> The new basilica was built between 1999 and 2002, and is located in the District of Łagiewniki at św. Faustyny street. Three

pope The pope is the bishop of Rome and the Head of the Church#Catholic Church, visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. He is also known as the supreme pontiff, Roman pontiff, or sovereign pontiff. From the 8th century until 1870, the po ...

s have visited the shrine and millions of pilgrims from around the world continue to visit it every year.''Sacred Places Europe'' by Brad Olsen 2007 page 138

History

The site of the building originally housed the neo-Gothic monastery complex of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy (founded in 1862), which was designed by Charles Zaremba and was built between 1889 and 1891. In 1966, the remains of Sister Faustina were moved to the church. In 1968 Cardinal Karol Wojtyła (later

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...

) designated the church as a shrine, thanks to the remains of Sister Faustina. In 1985, Pope John Paul II called Łagiewniki the "capital of the Divine Mercy devotion". Since the beatification of Saint Faustina in 1993, her remains rest on the altar, below the image of Divine Mercy.

Interior design and architectural form of the basilica

In 1999–2002, a modern two-story, ellipsoidal basilica, specifically devoted to the Divine Mercy, was built. The building was designed to resemble a boat, and has a observation tower that resembles a mast. The basilica can accommodate about 5,000 people and the main chapel has about 1,800 seats. The altar in the main sanctuary houses the Divine Mercy painting and relics of Saint Faustina. The image above the main altar was painted by Adolph Hyla in 1944, and replaces the first image Hyla painted in 1943 as a votive offering for surviving during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. The image and the basilica are a major pilgrimage site and in 2011 the basilica received around two million pilgrims from around the world. The lower level of the church has a central chapel dedicated to Saint Faustina, with four side chapels. The upper part of the basilica has free-standing post-modern Chapel of Perpetual Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. On June 24, 2007, on the 60th anniversary of

Operation Vistula Operation Vistula (; ) was the codename for the 1947 forced resettlement of close to 150,000 Ukrainians in Poland, Ukrainians (including Rusyns, Boykos, and Lemkos) from the southeastern provinces of People's Republic of Poland, postwar Poland to ...

, the basilica opened a Greek Catholic chapel dedicated to reconciliation, and as a gift to the Greek Catholic Church.

Report of miracle

In March 1981, while praying at the tomb of St. Faustina at the church, Maureen Digan of

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

reported a healing.Judy Roberts, ''Legatus magazine'', May 1, 2010
/ref>Tim Drake, 2002, ''Saints of the Jubilee'', Authorhouse pages 85-95 Digan had suffered from

lymphedema Lymphedema, also known as lymphoedema and lymphatic edema, is a condition of localized edema, swelling caused by a compromised lymphatic system. The lymphatic system functions as a critical portion of the body's immune system and returns inters ...

for decades, and had undergone 10 operations, including a leg amputation. Digan reported that while praying at Faustina's tomb she heard a voice saying "ask for my help and I will help you" and her constant pain stopped. Upon her return to the US, five Boston area physicians stated that she was healed (with no explanation). Digan's healing was declared miraculous by the Vatican in 1992, and paved the way for the

beatification Beatification (from Latin , "blessed" and , "to make") is a recognition accorded by the Catholic Church of a deceased person's entrance into Heaven and capacity to intercede on behalf of individuals who pray in their name. ''Beati'' is the p ...

of Faustina Kowalska.Catherine M. Odell, 1998, ''Faustina: Apostle of Divine Mercy'', OSV Press pages 159-160

Papal visits

On June 17, 1997,

visited the church to pray at the tomb of Saint Faustina—an event commemorated by a relief at the entrance to the chapel. In May 2006,

Pope Benedict XVI Pope BenedictXVI (born Joseph Alois Ratzinger; 16 April 1927 – 31 December 2022) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 19 April 2005 until his resignation on 28 February 2013. Benedict's election as p ...

visited the chapel, and a second relief commemorates that. During the 2006 pilgrimage by Benedict XVI, he unveiled a statue of Pope John Paul II at the observation tower at the basilica, as the seventh sculpture of John Paul II in Kraków. In July 2016,

Pope Francis Pope Francis (born Jorge Mario Bergoglio; 17 December 1936 – 21 April 2025) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 13 March 2013 until Death and funeral of Pope Francis, his death in 2025. He was the fi ...

visited the basilica as part of the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy and as part of the World Youth Day celebrations taking place in Kraków.

References

External links