The meeting of the Board of the Vatican John Paul II Foundation, held in Rome on 11–12 February, has concluded. The gathering began with Holy Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica and a personal meeting with Pope Leo XIV. For the first time, Cardinal Grzegorz Ryś participated in the session; by virtue of the Statute, he exercises ex officio pastoral care over the Foundation.
The John Paul II Vatican Foundation has been operating at the Holy See uninterruptedly for 45 years and is currently the oldest among the dozen or so Vatican foundations. It is a Church non-profit organization that, under the auspices of the Vatican, runs several of its own institutions as well as many initiatives and projects promoting the legacy of the Polish Pope worldwide. The Foundation is governed by an Administrative Council, which meets in Rome twice a year. The first of these meetings usually takes place in February and always holds strategic significance: the Foundation summarizes the previous year’s activities, receives reports from the directors of its institutions, adopts the budget, sets goals for the upcoming year, and invites experts and partners to collaborate.
According to the Statute of the Foundation, Card. Stanisław Dziwisz holds a permanent mandate on the Council, and each successive Metropolitan Archbishop of Kraków exercises what is known as higher authority within it. In connection with this, Card. Grzegorz Ryś—appointed a few months ago by the Holy Father as the new pastor of the Archdiocese of Kraków—participated for the first time in the just-concluded session. Also participating in the meeting were: Msgr. Paweł Ptasznik (chairman), Bishop Sławomir Oder (vice-chairman), Marek Markiewicz (secretary), Bogdan Chmielewski (councillor from the USA), Wojciech Halarewicz and Fr. Michał Wilkosz (councillors from Germany), Henryk Rogowski (councillor from France), and Fr. Tomasz Szopa (councillor from Poland).
First Day of the Session
The meeting began on 11 February with the Eucharist at the tomb of St. John Paul II in the Vatican, presided over by Card. Ryś. Among the concelebrants were Card. Dziwisz, Bishop Oder, priests associated with the Foundation, and the rectors of the John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin (KUL) and the Pontifical University of John Paul II in Kraków (UPJP2), with which the institution has cooperated for years. The Eucharist was also attended by members of the Council, employees and friends of the Foundation, as well as the Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (Sercanki) involved in its activities in Rome. Afterwards, during the general audience in the Paul VI Hall, the participants of the meeting personally met with Pope Leo XIV, who expressed his gratitude for the Foundation’s work and blessed its future activities.
In the afternoon, the directors of the five units run by the Foundation presented their reports and plans for the coming year.
