The Society of Jesus mission in Lutsk was established in the first decade of the 17th century. King
Sigismund III Vasa, bishops
Marcin Szyszkowski and Paweł Wołucki founded the church which was designed by architects M. Gintz and
Giacomo Briano. In 1616 the construction of church was started. There has been a segment of a castle on the site since the 15th century. In late 1630 the
Renaissance church was completed. The plan was in the form of a
Greek Cross. The construction of the college was completed in the middle of the 17th century. The architect was Benedetto Molli. Initially 150 students studied at the college. Later there were probably more than 300.
Education was free and conducted at a high level. For this reason, there were large numbers of students from
Lviv,
Ostroh and
Kyiv. The curriculum covered
moral theology,
philosophy,
mathematics,
physics,
ethics,
fencing, languages,
dance and
theatre. In the 1620s and 1630s, there were conflicts between Jesuits and members of the Lutsk
Eastern Orthodox church. Some clashes and court cases are known. In 1627–1628 and 1639, Jesuit students attacked orthodox
monks. Wojteh Helpovski tried to drown Serapion, a member of the orthodox fellowship. College students killed the monk Serapion. The Jesuit church was damaged in a fire on 14 June 1724. Architect
Paweł Giżycki radically reconstructed the building over a six-year period, giving the building a new appearance. New walls were built around the old church and two towers were added near the corners of new walls. The west tower was
square in plan, the east tower
octagonal. In general, the new Jesuit church was in the
Classicist style. A
decree signed by
Pope Clement XIV in July 1773 suppressed the Order leading to the closure of the college too. The
Commission of National Education became the new owner of former Jesuit church which was soon elevated to a cathedral after the
Holy Trinity cathedral on the same street was destroyed by fire and dismantled. The former Jesuit church then became Saint Peter and Paul Cathedral. The
third partition of Poland took place in 1795. Volyn was annexed by the
Russian Empire. The Russian government oppressed
Catholics for various reasons. Thus many Catholic orders were turned back from empire territory. Many Catholic monasteries and churches were appealed during the 19th century. Saint Peter and Paul Cathedral was the only active Catholic church in Lutsk. In 1946, the
Soviet government close the cathedral. Church was robbed, many
icons,
furniture and other church valuables were lost. The large
organ was destroyed. The church used to be The Museum of Atheism in the 1980s. The cathedral was restored after the dissolution of the USSR. A new German organ was installed in 1999.
Marcjan Trofimiak became a
bishop the following year. ==Architecture==