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 Leo XIV. For the first time, Cardinal Grzegorz Ryś took part 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 which, under the auspices of the Vatican, 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. The first of these meetings usually takes place in February and always has strategic significance: the Foundation sums up the previous year’s activities, receives reports from the directors of its institutions, adopts the budget, sets goals for the next year of activity, and invites experts and partners to cooperate.
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—took part 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 Cardi. 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 the Holy Father Leo XIV, who expressed his gratitude for the Foundation’s work and blessed its further 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 (Student House in Lublin), Fr. Mirosław Cichoń (Centre for Documentation and Research of the Pontificate of John Paul II in Rome) and Fr. Tomasz Podlewski (Media & Events Office).
The first day of the session concluded with addresses by representatives of partner institutions. The first was given by Fr. Prof. Mirosław Kalinowski, rector of the John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin, where the Foundation has been implementing 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 Prof. Dariusz Karłowicz, founder and programme director of the St. John Paul II Institute of Culture at the Angelicum University in Rome (alma mater of John Paul II and Leo XIV), and at the same time 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 St. John Paul II Days at the Pontifical Universities of Rome, the painting cycle “Let’s paint Catholicism again”, blessed by Leo XIV last year, and mountain hikes for students.
Second day of the session
The next day of the meeting began with morning Holy Mass in the St. Stanislaus B&M Church in Rome, after which the reports were analysed and a discussion was held on the directions of the Foundation’s activities in the near future. A key topic was the upcoming 45th Anniversary Jubilee of the John Paul II Vatican Foundation, which will take place in Rome on 19–22 October 2026, where the entire community of the Foundation gathers every five years. In addition to the board, directors and employees, sympathizers, benefactors and members of several dozen Friends’ Circles from a dozen or so countries around the world come to Rome on that occasion. The celebrations are an opportunity to integrate the Foundation’s international community, and to look together at the future of the institution. During the previous Jubilee, the several-hundred-strong community of the Foundation was received in the Vatican by Pope Francis. This year, an audience with the Holy Father is also planned. In addition, a scientific conference, a joint Eucharist in St. Peter’s Basilica, a concert, a gala, the unveiling of a commemorative plaque and other initiatives are foreseen, about which the Foundation will provide information in the coming months.
Another important topic was the upcoming third edition of the St. John Paul II Award “Premio San Giovanni Paolo II”, which since 2024 the Foundation has been granting to a person or institution that puts into practice the teaching of St. John Paul II and thereby makes a real contribution 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 institution combats social problems such as poverty, violations of human rights, inequality and violence against women and children. Last year’s laureate was Archbishop Jacques Mourad from Syria, kidnapped, tortured and miraculously saved from the hands of ISIS, who, inspired by the spirit of John Paul II’s interreligious meeting in Assisi, has for many years undertaken sacrificial efforts for peace between Christians and Muslims. The “Premio” gala is held in the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican. The originator of the Award and organizer of its first two editions is Fr. Prof. Andrzej Dobrzyński, who until the end of October 2025, for almost 19 years, headed the Centre for Documentation and Research of the Pontificate of John Paul II in Rome, run by the John Paul II Vatican Foundation. The chairman of the Award Chapter is Card. Kurt Koch, Prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity.
During the two-day session, Card. Grzegorz Ryś emphasized 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 the directions of its activity to contemporary needs, in accordance with its statutory mission, which is to care for the preservation, transmission and development of the teaching and heritage of the Polish Pope, to work for students, to support Christian culture in the spirit of values close to John Paul II, and to care for pilgrims in Rome.
