In Rome, the Board session of the John Paul II Vatican Foundation, held on 11–12 February, has come to an end. The assembly opened with Holy Mass in St Peter’s Basilica and a personal meeting with Leon XIV. Cardinal Grzegorz Ryś participated in the session for the first time; by virtue of the Statute he exercises ex officio pastoral care over the Foundation.
The John Paul II Vatican Foundation is a Church non-profit organisation which, uninterruptedly since 1981 and under the auspices of the Holy See, runs several of its own institutions as well as many initiatives and projects promoting throughout the world the legacy of the Polish Pope. The Foundation is governed by an Administrative Council, which meets in Rome twice a year.
According to the Statute of the Foundation, Cardinal Stanisław Dziwisz holds a permanent mandate on the Council, while the Metropolitan Archbishop of Kraków in office exercises what is known as higher authority within it. Consequently, at the session just concluded, Cardinal Grzegorz Ryś—appointed a few months ago by the Holy Father as the new pastor of the Archdiocese of Kraków—took part for the first time. The following also participated in the assembly: 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 Cardinal Ryś. Among the concelebrants were Cardinal Dziwisz, Bishop Oder, priests associated with the Foundation, and the rectors of KUL and UPJP2, institutions with which the Foundation has cooperated for many years. Members of the Council, staff and friends of the Foundation, as well as the Sisters of the Sacred Heart (Sercanki) involved in its activities in Rome, were also present at the Eucharist. Afterwards, during the General Audience in the Paul VI Hall, the participants of the meeting had a personal encounter with the Holy Father Leon XIV, who expressed his gratitude for the work of the Foundation and blessed its future activity.
In the afternoon, the directors of the five units run by the Foundation presented their reports and plans for the coming year: Msgr Dariusz Giers (Administrative Secretariat), Fr Mateusz Wójcik (Pilgrim House in Rome), Fr Jan Strzałka SCJ (Student House in Lublin), Fr Mirosław Cichoń (Centre for Documentation and Study of the Pontificate of John Paul II in Rome) and Fr Tomasz Podlewski (Office for Media and Events).
The first day of the session concluded with presentations by representatives of partner institutions. The first was given by Fr Prof. Mirosław Kalinowski, Rector of the Catholic University of Lublin, where the Foundation has been running its scholarship programme for several decades. The Rector presented KUL’s achievements in the scientific and media promotion of the teaching of St John Paul II and shared the results of research on the religiosity of young people. The Council then met with Dr Dariusz Karłowicz, founder and Programme Director of the Saint John Paul II Institute of Culture at the Angelicum University in Rome (alma mater of John Paul II and Leon XIV), who is also President of the Saint Nicholas Foundation. The John Paul II Vatican Foundation and the John Paul II Institute of Culture in Rome are currently among each other’s closest strategic partners, jointly implementing many important projects, such as the JP2 Studies programme at the Angelicum, the Days of St John Paul II at the Pontifical Universities in Rome, the painting cycle “Painting Catholicism Anew”, blessed by Leon XIV last year, and mountain hikes for students.
Second day of the session
The second day of the meeting opened with morning Holy Mass in the church of St Stanislaus BM in Rome, after which the reports were analysed and a discussion was held on the Foundation’s directions of action in the near future. A key topic was the forthcoming 45th Anniversary Jubilee of the John Paul II Vatican Foundation, to be held in Rome on 19–22 October 2026, when the entire Foundation community gathers every five years. In addition to the Board, directors and staff, sympathisers, benefactors and members of dozens of Circles of Friends from several countries around the world come to Rome on this occasion. The celebrations are an opportunity to strengthen the Foundation’s international community, to hold meetings of the Polish diaspora and to look together at the future of the institution. During the previous Jubilee, the several-hundred-strong Foundation community was received in the Vatican by Pope Francis. This year, an audience with the Holy Father is again planned. The programme also foresees: a scientific conference, a solemn Eucharist in St Peter’s Basilica, a concert, a gala, the unveiling of a commemorative plaque and other initiatives about which the Foundation will provide information in the coming months.
Another important topic was the upcoming third edition of the Saint John Paul II Award “Premio San Giovanni Paolo II”, which the Foundation has been granting since 2024 to a person or institution that puts into practice the teaching of St John Paul II and thereby effectively contributes to improving the situation in the world. The laureate of the first edition was the John Paul II Justice and Peace Centre in Uganda, founded in 2007 as a response to the encyclical Ecclesia in Africa. The Centre tackles social problems such as poverty, human rights violations, inequality and violence against women and children. Last year’s laureate was Archbishop Jacques Mourad of Syria, kidnapped, tortured and miraculously freed from the hands of ISIS, who, inspired by the spirit of the interreligious meeting convened by John Paul II in Assisi, has for many years undertaken generous efforts in favour of peace between Christians and Muslims. The “Premio” gala is held in the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican. The originator of the Award and organiser of its first two editions is Fr Andrzej Dobrzyński, habilitated doctor, who until the end of October 2025, for almost nineteen years, directed the Centre for Documentation and Study of the Pontificate of John Paul II in Rome, run by the John Paul II Vatican Foundation. The Chairman of the Award Committee is Cardinal Kurt Koch, Prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity.
During the two-day session, Cardinal Grzegorz Ryś emphasised that in the coming months he wishes to get to know the Foundation “in a synodal spirit”, to discern its mission in depth and to adapt its directions of action to contemporary needs, in fidelity to its statutory mission: to care for the preservation, transmission and development of the teaching and legacy of the Polish Pope; to work on behalf of students; to support Christian culture in the spirit of values dear to John Paul II; and to care for pilgrims and Polish communities abroad.
