The Bible Society in Poland has officially opened on May 13 new premises with a bookshop on Marszalkowska Street (ul. Marszałkowska 15A) in the capital Warsaw. In November 2004 the Bible Society has been forced to leave its premises on Warsaw’s Nowy Swiat Street, after almost 60 years of activity there. Folowing a High Court decision, the Society lost a long-running legal case, spanning more than 30 years, over the ownership of the Bible House at Nowy Swiat Street.

More than 75 guests and Bible Society workers from various Christian denominations and organizations have visited the Society's new bookshop, who opened its doors for the first time and witnessed the dedication of the premises by church leaders of local Lutheran, Methodist, Roman Catholic and Orthodox congregations. After the dedication ceremony, the guests were blessed by Bishop Zdzislaw Tranda, Chair of the Bible Society Board, and invited to tour the newly renovated building.

The premises on Marszalkowska Street are considerably smaller than those vacated last year, but Bible Society staff entered the building with "gratitude, hope and joy that the long-lasting problem of the premises was solved", according to General Secretary Malgorzata Platajs. She welcomed the strong support of many Church leaders at this important moment in the national Bible Society’s history, highlighting this as a good basis for future collaboration, and the fact that the city authorities had been willing to make the new accommodation available at a reasonable rent in recognition of the Society’s contribution to the religious life of the city. "Now we have a place to act," says Mrs Platajs, "focused on the real goals that Bible Societies all over the world have before them."

About 80 per cent of the Polish population are Roman Catholic, the rest belongs to other Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant Churches.