About our activities

At the beginning of the new calendar year it is worth to look back and summarize the activity in the previous year, 2015. Among the staff of the Centre for Documentation and Study of the Pontificate of John Paul II there are a priest Andrzej Dobrzyński and two sisters of the Sister Servants of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, s. Remigia Sawicka and s. Julia Knurek. We are trying to fulfill the mission appointed by John Paul II almost thirty-five years ago, by creating in the Vatican a Foundation of his name and referring to the existence, within the Foundation, an institution with the aim of documenting and studying – as he called it himself – “the heritage of the good” that arose during his ministry as the Successor of Saint Peter. Throughout this period the Centre has been operating under the tutelage of the Foundation’s authorities. However, it would not be possible without the financial support of the Friends of the John Paul II Foundation, active among associations of Polish diaspora scattered around the world, as well as among other nationalities.

The headquarters of the Center is located in the Polish House on the peripheries of Rome. Thanks to the pronouncements of Pope Francis the term “periphery” has gained a positive meaning, denoting a privileged place of evangelization. Thanks to this we better understand that the distance from the centre of the Eternal City is not our main problem, because our Center has the qualities, including a unique atmosphere conducive to concentration and study, that can attract researchers and visiting guests. However, most important is what lies at the centre of our institution, and is like the heart of the Center , i.e. the person and teachings of the Holy Father and the history of his pontificate. Every day we open the door of the library, museum and archive not in order to just make sure everything is in its place, but to make these collections accessible to researchers and visitors. It happens like this because we are convinced that John Paul II still has a lot to say to the Church and humanity. This conviction is shared with us by many people, which is encouraging and gives us strength to overcome difficulties.

In the library in the past year we recorded a total of 225 visits, what makes us very happy. On this occasion we would like to mention two researchers: John Corrigan from the USA and Father Fernando Sousa from Brazil, who in the past year often visited the library of the Centre. The former explored the philosophical basis of the concept of culture in terms of Karol Wojtyła, the latter examined from a historical perspective the genesis and development of the process of “purification of memory”, these gestures of reconciliation through which John Paul II prepared the Church to enter the third millennium with a clear conscience in relation to faults and omissions of the past.

(Statements of J. Corrigan and F. Sousa, concerning their researches one can find on our website). The library almost always is accessible to the people interested in it and we cordially invite to use our collections.
Within the framework of the Erasmus program, last year we hosted in the Centre Patrycja Mikulska from the Pope John Paul II Institute from the Catholic University of Lublin. It is encouraging that the ties of friendship and creative cooperation, which for years have been uniting the roman Centre and Lublin Institute, are further maintained. From the Pontifical University of John Paul II in Kraków came to us two doctoral candidates, Magdalena Kotulska and Oleksandr Uigeli, who helped in cataloging albums. We hope that the practice, based on the Erasmus, they held at the Centre, helped them to acquire new experiences.

Also Dr. Stanisława Postawa has been helping us for many years in cataloging publications. Thanks to her work almost ten thousand records were entered into the interlibrary database Virtua. It is worth mentioning that the “home” base ProCite has almost thirty-five thousand items. Both databases are available online on our website.
By the way, we would like to mention that – thanks to cooperation with the Pontifical University of John Paul II in Kraków – a new volume in the series “John Paul II. Polish Bibliography” is written. This work was undertaken by Magdalena Olszewska, an employee of the Library of the UPJPII. We believe that the continuation of the series is needed, because it is an indispensable tool for researchers. In the past year late Zofia Zielińska went to eternity who from the beginning of the pontificate of the Holy Father, together with Danuta Jabłkowska-Gułajewska, undertook the laborious effort of preparing the bibliography. We hope that the work created with such a care by these authors will be brought successfully to an end. The bibliography so far developed is also available in electronic version online.

Now our work is largely focused on developing an electronic catalog of museum collections. The database Musnet, in which each object has standardized description and photography, has already more than twelve thousand records. The use of digital technology is primarily aimed at the protection and help in quickly search the exhibits. It also gives access to a rich documentation that may be the subject of study and further exploration of the history of the pontificate, people’s attitudes to the person of the Pope and reception of his teaching. Also a digitization of audiovisual materials is proceeded. The number of recordings secured in digital form increased last year by 432 items. It is worth mentioning that last year over 1,200 guests watched collections of our Centre and among them were: Poles, Italians, Spaniards, Americans. Guided tours in the Centre are a form of getting closer to visitors the person of John Paul II and a way of looking at his pontificate.

The study of the teachings of John Paul II also forms a part of our daily work. Last year we published several scholarly articles in Italian, Spanish and Polish journals. We took part in conferences and academic sessions in Rome, Warsaw, Rapperswil and Krzemieniec. In this activity we are supported by Dr. Marta Burghardt, always willing to cooperate and to represent the Centre. It is worth mentioning the growing cooperation with the Sanctuary of St. John Paul II in Radzymin. For the second year in a row we have prepared together popular academic session for the youth. Father Krzysztof Ziółkowski is not limited only to erecting the walls of the new church, but also cares about shaping the minds and attitudes of people by promoting the teaching of St. Pope John Paul II. Even more we are grateful to him and his colleagues for joining us in this beautiful work of educating the young generation. A similar relationship of cooperation connects us with the parish of St. Pope John Paul II in Nowy Targ, in Podhale, headed by the parish priest, Father John Karlak. Thanks to this collaboration fruits of our labor, including publications, reach specific communities and people. As a part of the publishing activity new publications are prepared that will gradually appear.

Wishing to enlarge the circle of people with whom we have contact, we try to be active on the Internet. We enrich the content of our website and use social media. By posts and video and audio materials, placed on social networking websites (Facebook, Instagram, SoundCloud, YouTube, Twitter), we reach people of different nationalities and ages. In the last year, as in previous years, with the help of this modern way of communication, we reminded facts from the life of John Paul II, elucidated selected topics of the papal teaching, presented souvenirs stored at the Centre or informed about our new initiatives. We realize that this form of contact and provision of information has gained great significance today, therefore we will strive to further develop this area of activity. We are grateful to our Friends from the Internet for their interest in our work.
Finishing summary of 2015, it should be emphasized that the circle of colleagues, friends and people interested and enjoying the activities of the Centre continues to grow. Thanks to the joint efforts of many institutions and individuals, all this “good legacy” that was born from the life of St. John Paul II, is getting better documented, considered and passed on to succeeding generations. This is the purpose of the Centre and this aim our institution will serve this year and, God willing, in the future.

Father Andrzej, sister Remigia, sister Julia