With great sadness we have learned today the news of the passing into eternity of Zofia Wilińska, a woman of great stature, unusual kindness and diligence, a library scientist, a former head of the Department of Information Science of the University Library in Łódź.
Since the early 80’s of the last century she was cooperating with our Center for Documentation of the Pontificate, sharing her advice and experience. Shortly after the election of John Paul II, on her own initiative, in cooperation with the Fr. Wiktor Gramatowski SJ of the Institute of Ecclesiastical Studies, she began preparing the first complete personal bibliography of Karol Wojtyła. The book including 1490 items was published in Rome in 1980 in a bilingual Polish-Italian edition by Libreria Editrice Vaticana under the title Karol Wojtyła in the Light of the Publication. The chronological span covered the years 1949-1978, recording a writing oeuvre of Karol Wojtyła, as a priest, bishop, archbishop and cardinal, until the day of his election to the Holy See. The bibliography gained favorable reviews and still serves, especially among non-Polish authors, as an indispensable tool of research on the thought of Karol Wojtyła. It is worth mentioning that in addition to positive reviews in the Italian Catholic press and Vatican Radio, appreciation and gratitude for the preparation of the bibliography were expressed, among others, by Primate Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński.
This volume marked the beginning of hard, lasting more than 30 years, work, consisting of frequent visits to libraries, preparation of flashcards, completing a detailed index and making multiple revisions. The final result of these efforts was released at the end of the last year, the ninth volume, John Paul II. Polish Bibliography 1997. The bibliography is prepared under the auspices of the John Paul II Foundation – Centre for Documentation and Research of the Pontificate of John Paul II. The book distinguishes itself by its scientific integrity because the data were drawn from personal experience and they are not dry facts but they give indications concerning the content of the publication. Thanks to competence, painstaking work and knowledge of the bibliographic apparatus, late Zofia Wilińska and her colleagues: late Wiktor Gramatowski and Danuta Gułajewska-Jabłkowska, prepared a working tool that can be used by all interested in the thought of John Paul II.
It is also worth mentioning that in the last year, 31 January 2014, a few months before the canonization of the Holy Father, in the Chapel of the Polish House in Rome, Cardinal Stanisław Dziwisz awarded Zofia Wilińska – for many years of work on the bibliography – with the Gold Medal of the Pontificate of John Paul II.
Zofia Wilińska will be remembered as a person of deep faith and of endearing modesty. Her work was born out of love for St. John Paul II, in gratitude to God for the great gift that was his election and pontificate.