The network of Roman Catholic parishes in the area which was to become the Dąbrowa Industrial Belt (ie. the powiat of Będzin in its 1885-1926 borders) took shape during the Middle Ages. To the nineteen medieval parishes two were added in the 16th - 1 7th century; two more were erected in
the first half of the 19th century. One of the consequences of the rapid growth of iron and coal industry in the second half of the 19th century was a large increase in the number of Catholics in the Dąbrowa region. The Church responded to the challenge by creating new parishes in the mushrooming urban estates, four in Sosnowiec,
one in Dąbrowa Górnicza, and one in Zawiercie. Slightly later more new parishes were carved out in the urban sprawl on the outskirts of the-industrial heartland at Niwka, Myszków, Poręba Mrzygłodzka, Strzemieszyce Wielkie
and Ząbkowice. As many members of the local farming community took up factory jobs while clinging to their plots of land, the country round Dąbrowa was getting better off. This in turn led to the creation of new parishes in some
villages, ie. Bobrowniki, Choroń, Łęka, Pińczyce and Żychcice. While social, economic and demographic reasons had a decisive role in the emergence of the modem parish network, the origin of one or two new parishes must be
sought in deeply-felt antagonisms which pitted one local Catholic community against another (such was the case of Sosnowiec - Siedlec Nowy and Żychcice. Rising incomes were an important factor in parish development.
However, income levels fluctuated and the downturns usually had the effect of slowing down or even halting the parish building process. At no point do our sources suggest that the Russian authorities tried to hinder the expansion
of the Catholic parish network in the area. If there was any resistance to this initiative, it came from the priests in charge of the old parishes.
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