The funeral ceremonies took place on Tuesday, June 23. In the parish church of Christ the King in Bolesławiec, official speeches and farewells began at 11:30 a.m. A funeral Mass was celebrated at noon.
After the Mass, the rest of the funeral ceremony took place at the municipal cemetery on Śluzowa Street in Bolesławiec. Father Józef Gołębiowski was laid to rest in the old section of the cemetery, near the cemetery chapel.
Photos and video from the funeral ceremonies at the Bolesławiec cemetery:
Father Józef Gołębiowski was born on September 1, 1941. He was ordained a priest on June 21, 1969, in Wrocław.
After his ordination, he served pastorally in the following parishes: St. Joseph the Worker in Wałbrzych, St. Hedwig of Silesia in Złotoryja, St. Anne in Ząbkowice Śląskie, St. Michael the Archangel in Wrocław-Muchobór Wielki, and the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary and St. Nicholas in Bolesławiec. From 1983 to 2016, he was the parish priest of the Christ the King Parish in Bolesławiec, where he also became known as the builder of the church.
He was the chaplain of Bolesławiec’s “Solidarity” movement and actively supported opposition groups during martial law. For his activities and service to his homeland, he was awarded the Medal of the Centenary of Regained Independence, the Cross of Freedom and Solidarity (2018), the Knight’s Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta (2020), and the Cross for Merits to Independence (2021). He was also granted the title of Honorary Citizen of the City of Bolesławiec.
He spent the final years of his life at the Retirement Home for Priests. He died overnight in a hospital in Legnica.