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Brief history of our church About our senior priest Our photos How to find us?


Sacred Heart of Jesus Welcome to our site!
We are glad to find you here and we hope that our meetings will be very frequent. Here you can find the latest information about our parish, catholic literature, catholic prayers and hymns, useful catholic web links to visit. You can also find our readers' articles devoted to their way of understanding and searching for God. The human soul's way to God is very unique. That is why we'll be very glad to hear from you giving an idea of the circumstances of your life, and God's presence in it. Whatever your religion may be, we will be very happy to hear from you. Wherever we may live, we are all God's children and we are all equally loved by Him.
We will be glad to answer any letters that you may send. May God bless all of us, and help us to find our way to Him.



Brief history of our church

The exiled Poles came to Samara after the suppression of the Polish insurrections in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. In the middle of the 19th century a rich catholic merchant, Yegor Annayev, offered his support for the construction of the Roman Catholic church in the city, and he allocated a large sum of money for that purpose. But the new Polish uprising against the Russian tsar delayed the dream for over half a century. The tsar handed over the unfinished building to the Lutheran community, and early in 1902 the construction of the new stone catholic church commenced. The design of the building, prepared by St. Petersburg architect F. Bogdanowicz, was acknowledged as one of the best in Russia. The building was completed within four years in the traditional Gothic style. Its spires can be seen virtually from anywhere and serve as a good landmark in the city. The local Polish catholic community purchased a magnificent organ from Vienna. The church continued to function until the late twenties. Then the building served as a Polish primary school, a ballet school and the "Szturm" cinema. From 1941 until 1994 this building was occupied by the local natural history museum. In 1995 the church was officially returned to the catholic community and since then the normal services have been held there (from 1991 Holy Mass was said regularly on Sundays in the museum and occasionally on the front steps of the building).


About our senior priest


W.Kloc First, a few words about our Parish Priest - Fr. Wladyslaw Kloc SDB and the Providential way which led him to the Parish of Samara.
He was born in Poland (now West Ukraine) on the 7th of April 1939. His future life was formed in his family where he and his relatives devoted much time to prayer and especially the Holy Rosary and regularly attended Holy Mass. He was much influenced by his mother who always had time for her children though she were very busy. His father wanted to become a monk but due to a serious injury incurred during the First World War he was advised by the Jesuits in Krakow to marry and have a family. However, being a very pious man, his deep faith had a big impact on his family, especially on Fr. Wladyslaw who cherishes fond memories of him, as also of his elder brother Francis who hoped to become a priest. After the untimely death of Fracis during the war Wladyslaw wished to realize his own and his elder brother's dream to be a missionary priest. So he found his vocation as a member of the Salesian Congregation founded by St John Bosco.

After his ordination, he spent 14 years in Poland. He often remembers the time he spent in Przemysl where he worked from thirty to forty hours each week, teaching religion to young people. And even though he had a very heavy work-load, he found time to be a student of theology in the Papal Theological Faculty in Wroclaw.

He spent thirteen years working in Africa (Zambia), bringing the Good News to the native people. Speaking about Zambia, Fr. Wladyslaw often recalls how he was inspired by their commitment to the Catholic faith. They are not affected by such questions as: How to make money? How to live comfortably? How to feed themselves? Why have children? Some people might consider them to be naive and ignorant. HOWEVER, DOES OUR ADVANCED EDUCATION MAKE US ANY MORE HAPPY? We hardly ever think of God until some misfortune comes into our life. We seldom appreciate the fact that we are God's children. Indeed, we have so much to learn from the Africans.

After thirteen years in Africa he came to Russia to help with the revival and strengthening of the faith of the Catholics in Russia who had endured the persecution for several decades and now are much influenced by the secular (pagan) West mentality



How to find us?

Parish of the Sacred Heart of Jesus of the Roman Catholic Church in Samara

443010 Russia, Samara, Frunze str., 157
mailbox # 4257
Tel./Fax: (007-8462) 35-84-84, 33-41-88
E-mail: wkloc@poczta.onet.pl or w.kloc@op.pl