Wersja niemiecka / Deutsche Version
Information for pilgrimage groups – visits to our church
In our parish, you can book a date for visiting the church to honor the relics of St. Maximilian the Martyr, during the year you can also book group visits and the celebration of Holy Mass – provided the group is with a priest. Reservations can be made online: e-mail: Ten adres pocztowy jest chroniony przed spamowaniem. Aby go zobaczyć, konieczne jest włączenie obsługi JavaScript. or by phone by contacting the priest on duty at +48 573-336-860 or the clerk at +48 573-336-861.
We also have a café where a group (up to 70 people) can enjoy good coffee and tea.
You are cordially invited! God bless!
See you in Oświęcim!
Parish Pastors
What can you see in our church?
Our church is a Monument of Gratitude and Homage to St. Maximilian Maria Kolbe for His great sacrifice of love.
In the church you will find relics of St. Maximilian such as his personal rosary, which he gave to Wilhelm Żelazny – KL Auschwitz prisoner nr 1126, the camp chalice used by priests imprisoned in Block 14 and the camp Missal in the form of a smuggled “cheat sheet” with the text of the Holy Mass "De profundis" (Mass for the Deceased) from which the Saint secretly celebrated Holy Mass together with other imprisoned priests in the basement of block no. 14. During your visit, you will be able to hear the extraordinary story of these relics.
In our church you can also see a triptych painted in 1998 dedicated to St. Maximilian's internment in KL Auschwitz, an urn with the ashes of prisoners murdered by the Germans in KL Auschwitz and KL Birkenau and a plaque on which the countries from which the prisoners came are inscribed.
On 13.09.1980 while the church was still under construction, a delegation of the German Bishops' Conference – Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (later Pope Benedict XVI, 2005-2013), Cardinal Joseph Höffner and Cardinal Hermann Volk – paid their respects in the death cell of St. Maximilian where they offered a sixteenth-century cross which is currently exhibited in the church.
A visit to our church can be concluded with Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament in the Chapel of Divine Mercy adorned with relics of Saint Faustina Kowalska and St. John Paul II, who on his first pilgrimage to Poland celebrated Holy Mass on the premises of the KL Birkenau Museum in Oświęcim (June 7, 1979), during which he blessed the cornerstone built into the foundation of our church. Commemorative photos as well as the chasuble and throne from this ceremony can be viewed in the Chapel of Our Lady Częstochowa, located to the right of the main altar.
We are very happy to announce that on Sunday, October 4, 2026, during the Eucharistic Celebration at 10.30 a.m., Bishop Roman Pindel, the diocesan Ordinary will announce his decree elevating our parish church to the designation of “Shrine of St. Maximilian the Martyr in Oświęcim”. We cordially invite you to participate in this unique celebration.
