Descent of the Holy Spirit Parish (Koshelivka)

Koshelivka, known since approximately the eighteenth century, was populated mainly by Poles. The 1906 census recorded 738 residents. In autumn 1936, the Soviet authorities forcibly deported 548 villagers to Kazakhstan — most of the population, almost all of whom were ethnic Poles. Today, the village has around six hundred residents.

Koshelivka’s Roman Catholics formerly had no church of their own and belonged to St John Nepomucene Parish in nearby Pulyny. From 1990, following the revival of the Roman Catholic Church’s activities in Ukraine, they were cared for by priests from Divine Mercy Parish in Zhytomyr. From 1992 to 2001, they were served by Missionaries of the Holy Family from Poland.

In the 1990s, the Catholic community converted an ordinary house into a chapel dedicated to the Descent of the Holy Spirit.