For the second time, the “St John Paul II Days at the Pontifical Universities of Rome” were held from 20 to 24 April 2026, Monday to Friday, featuring lectures at three Pontifical universities of the Eternal City dedicated to the teaching and writings of the Polish Pope.
This year’s edition was held under the theme: “Solidarity and Identity in the Teaching and Writings of Karol Wojtyła – John Paul II.” The initiative is jointly organized by the Church of Saint Stanislaus in Rome, the John Paul II Vatican Foundation, and the John Paul II Pontifical University in Kraków. The previous, inaugural edition, under the theme “Faith and Reason in the Thought of Saint John Paul II,” took place in autumn 2024.
From the beginning, the event has been prepared in collaboration with three Roman universities: the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas (Angelicum), the Pontifical Gregorian University, and the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross. In addition to academic conferences, participants could attend the theatrical performance “John Paul II. Roman Triptych: Meditations” directed by Prof. Jarosław Kilian, presented in the Basilica of Our Lady in Trastevere, where the awards for the student and doctoral competition were also handed out.
Participants were tasked with writing an academic article related to the theme of this year’s edition. The organizers received several dozen submissions, from which a committee of professors from the Roman Pontifical universities selected three winning papers. The following monetary prizes, funded by the Vatican John Paul II Foundation, were awarded: 2000 euros for first place, 1500 euros for second place, and 1000 euros for third place. All winners this year are doctoral students at the Pontifical Gregorian University.
- 1st place – Fr Elia Coviello (Italy)
- 2nd place – Fr Sudhakar Yellapu (India)
- 3rd place – Fr Jorge Alonso Tello Calmet (Peru) — as in the first edition.
