The John Paul II Vatican Foundation received with deep sorrow the news of the passing of the late Ewa Bednarkiewicz (1938–2026), who returned to the Lord in Warsaw at the age of 88. For three terms (a total of 12 years), she served as a member of the Administrative Council of our Foundation, and for more than a quarter of a century she was the founder and president of the Circle of Friends of the Foundation in Poland, in which she was actively involved together with her husband, the late attorney Maciej Bednarkiewicz (1940–2016). The funeral Mass will be celebrated on Monday, 27 July 2026, at 12:00 noon in the Church of St Martin on Piwna Street in Warsaw.
Until the very end, she cared for our scholarship holders, supporting the Foundation’s mission and helping to attract new benefactors. She organised numerous cultural, social, and religious events in Poland and abroad. For decades she served the Church and the legacy of St John Paul II with dedication, engaging in countless initiatives connected with the life and work of the Polish Pope. She was an exceptionally important and respected figure in many Catholic and academic circles.
She was honoured with the Order of St Sylvester, bestowed by Pope Benedict XVI, as well as the Order of Polonia Restituta, the Centennial Medal of the National Philharmonic, and the Centennial Medal of the John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin.
In 2025, her autobiography It Was Not a Coincidence was published, prepared in interview form by journalist Ewa Czaczkowska for Rosikon Press. The author wrote: “It was in her home, among her family, on the night of the death of John Paul II, that the idea was born to place a cross in Piłsudski Square to commemorate the first Holy Mass celebrated in Poland by the Pope. Thanks to this initiative, the papal cross now stands in the heart of Warsaw. It is one of the lasting signs of the values by which Ewa lived.”
In 2021, Ewa Bednarkiewicz gave an insightful interview to Teologia Polityczna:
She concluded her book It Was Not a Coincidence with the words: “I would be grateful if someone who reads about my life’s adventures could come to the same awareness I have — that before saying that something in life happened by chance, one should consider that it is not chance, but Divine Providence.”
We bid farewell to a person who carried throughout her life a profound love for the Church and fidelity to the legacy of St John Paul II. We thank God for the gift of her life, remembering her in prayer and offering our deepest condolences to her Family, Friends, and all those who mourn her passing. May the Risen Christ welcome her into His kingdom of light and peace.
