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Warsaw Church Still Unbuilt

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By MARCIN ZOLTOWSKI, The Associated Press

Published: December 22, 2007

WARSAW, Poland - Financial problems are threatening the completion of a Warsaw church meant to commemorate the late Pope John Paul II and the fall of communism.

Plans for the Church of Divine Providence have faced a series of setbacks since its cornerstone was laid in 1791 - occupations, world wars and decades of communism.

The yet-unbuilt church won a new patron in the years after communism - the Polish-born Pope John Paul II - and hopes arose that it would be built swiftly. Nearly five years into renewed construction, however, financial problems are thwarting completion of the massive basilica.

"If we fail to raise enough money, we will be forced to suspend the building work," said the Rev. Janusz Bodzon, vice president of a church foundation overseeing the project.

Warsaw Archbishop Kazimierz Nycz said this week that a funding campaign would be aimed primarily at younger Poles - among whom affection for John Paul is strong.

The Polish parliament decided to build the church in 1791 in gratitude two days after proclamation of the first constitution. Construction plans collapsed the next year when the constitution was abolished after a military defeat by Russia. For the next 123 years, Poland's territory was divided among Austria, Prussia and Russia.

A second attempt to build the church after Poland regained independence in 1918 fell victim to economic hard times and World War II.

After the communist regime was toppled in 1989, Poland's new parliament resolved to revive the project as a celebration of freedom and of John Paul II, whose visits when Poland was still behind the Iron Curtain helped inspire the anti-communist movement.

New work finally began in 2003 on the church in the neighborhood of Wilanow. Cranes still tower over its imposing concrete skeleton.

The Polish Catholic Church has spent about $20 million on the project, and construction is about 60 percent completed, but $20 million more is needed, Bodzon said.

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