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Inspiring PBU stories 12. Father Markiewicz’s forge

Inspiring PBU stories 12. Father Markiewicz’s forge

22.01.2025

The projects financed by the Interreg NEXT Poland – Ukraine 2021-2027 Programme have already started their implementation, and we eagerly await their upcoming results.

However, we do not forget about the results and benefits brought by projects from the 2014-2020 Programme edition. We continue to show their achievements and hope that stories of people behind them or benefitting
on them will be inspiring for forthcoming initiatives in the whole Programme area.

We invite you to read!

I used to have a pressure towards things too
Believe me, brother – I’m seriously over it,
Life is one thing, elsewhere the core,
I know it now, I know it now…’

– the pupils of the Michalici Complex of Secondary Schools (MCSS) in Miejsce Piastowe near Krosno (PL) are rapping to a collective rhythm. The complex is named after Blessed Father Bronislaw Markiewicz, who studied philosophy at Lviv University in the 19th century and later at the Jagiellonian University in Cracow. His figure and legacy of thought underpinned a Polish-Ukrainian project that created modern youth work centres on both sides of the border.

Their prototype was the hospice for orphans and abandoned children established by Father Markiewicz more than 100 years ago in Miejsce Piastowe, which had a vocational school almost from its inception. The present-day patron of the institution believed – when a young person gains a good trade and develops his or her talent, he or she will be strong, resistant to temptation, to corruption, to addictions. Subsequent generations of young people leaving the schools have proved that he was not wrong:

It was the best point on a CV, which guaranteed admission to work, because people said: ‘Good people, good professionals, good craftsmen come out of Markiewicz’s factories, emphasises Father Krzysztof Poświata from the Congregation of St. Michael the Archangel.

Apart from learning a trade, there is also a room for developing passions, for entertainment, for making friends

Although this school is Catholic and adheres very firmly to Christian principles, there is always the option of having a lot of fun, says Rafał, a student at the MCSS.

He is joined by his schoolmate Amelia:

Some people think that our faith is only about going to church and praying, but here there is also fun.

They and their peers now have the opportunity to develop further interests in a new environment. Thanks to the cross-border project implemented as part of the Cross-border Cooperation Programme Poland-(Belarus)-Ukraine 2014-2020, the ensemble gained a modern facility with a 150-seat auditorium, conference rooms and 44 accommodation places. Cross-border theatre, photography and icon-writing workshops for young people from Poland and Ukraine were held in these conditions. In parallel, a Culture and History Centre was set up in Skole, Ukraine, which has also become a place for similar encounters between borderland young people with culture and history.

First of all, it is meant to be a home. A home that has an open door. It is not some kind of institution. The door to this home for young people is to always be open. The second function is that of a forge, something that is forged from these young people, something that is most valuable. That’s why it’s supposed to be performances, it’s supposed to be music, it’s supposed to be writing icons, it’s supposed to be where the fruits of their photographic work hang. So that they can see, so that they can say: this is ours, we gave it to others, Fr. Krzysztof emphasises.

They are definitely young people who are looking for good things, for opportunities to realise their passions, goals, talents – and they have a lot of talents. For this they need some place, some space where they can do something together, build something, but also create community, relationships,’ notes Fr. Mateusz Grochla from the parish in Skole.

Looking at the Centre for Youth Work built in Miejsce Piastowe, Fr. Krzysztof thinks back to his roots:

The first house that Markiewicz built here was sketched by one of his pupils, a 17-year-old boy. This is how I sometimes imagine that Fr. Markiewicz could now ask them: what kind of house would you like to live in?

More information about the MichaelAndYouth project can be found here