Poland: centenary of John Paul II’s birth. Conferences, seminars, concerts and commemorative events

“Pope John Paul II’s Year should remind us of his Magisterium”, Mgr. Mieczysław Mokrzycki, Metropolitan Archbishop of Lviv and the Pontiff's former secretary, recently said. For this reason, the towns visited by Wojtyla during his apostolic trips to Poland will be holding conferences, seminars, concerts, and commemorative events throughout the year. In Wadowice, where John Paul II was born on 18 May 1920, a special exhibition has been organised at his native home, and a number of commemorative events will be aired on the Polish TV to mark his centenary. The museum of the Temple of Divine Providence in the Polish capital, accessible to visitors since a few days ago, was dedicated to Wojtyla and to Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski (1901-1981) who will be beatified in June. Pope John Paul II’s memory will also be kept alive by Polish diplomats, who will be holding ad-hoc events to remember the late Pope at their diplomatic offices, from Tokyo to Caracas. Young people will take part in numerous hagiographic competitions and attend commemorative concerts and theatre performances. And on June 6, they will gather in Lednica to remember Wojtyla’s Marian motto “Totus Tuus”. The gathering will be opened by the hymn composed to mark the centenary, which has already been released on YouTube, entitled “Nie zastąpi Ciebie nikt” (No one can ever replace you).
Marco Calvarese