Rome: Fr. Mirosław Cichoń, PhD is the new Director of the John Paul II Pontificate Center
The Center for Documentation and Research of the Pontificate of John Paul II in Rome, run by the John Paul II Vatican Foundation, has a new director. The Administrative Council of our Foundation has appointed Rev. Fr. Mirosław Cichoń, PhD, former Prefect of the Higher Seminary of the Archdiocese of Kraków. The new director succeeds Rev. Fr. Prof. Andrzej Dobrzyński, who worked at the Center for more than 18 years.
A One of a Kind Institution Worldwide
The Center is one of the institutions belonging to the John Paul II Vatican Foundation, and at the same time one of the largest and oldest academic centers in the world dedicated to the pontificate of the Polish Pope. Its mission is to document, promote, and develop the teaching and heritage of the Polish Pope. The institution was established by a papal decree of St. John Paul II signed in the Vatican on October 16, 1981. The Center is located at Via Cassia 1200 in Rome, within the Pilgrim House run by our Foundation. From 1981 to 2024, Sisters of the Congregation of the Servants of the Sacred Heart of Jesus worked at the Center
Over more than 44 years of activity, the Center has prepared nearly 50 book publications and dozens of scholarly and popular articles. It has also organized numerous academic conferences (including in Rome, Paris, Lugano, and Kraków), thematic meetings, and various exhibitions in Italy, Poland, and other countries. For several years, the Center has also hosted one of the postgraduate JP2 Studies courses for students of the Angelicum University in Rome.
The Center consists of three departments: the Archive, the Library, and the Museum. The Archive preserves the writings of Karol Wojtyła from his episcopal period (1958–1978) and papal period (1978–2005), as well as audiovisual, photographic, and philatelic materials. The Library holds an impressive collection of more than 30,000 volumes in all European languages and some oriental ones. The Museum houses gifts presented to the Pope during audiences, pilgrimages, and private meetings: in total about 20,000 exhibits from various fields of art. Its rich history, wide-ranging activity, abundant resources, international recognition, and above all its uninterrupted functioning for nearly half a century, begun by St. John Paul II himself, make the Center a unique institution worldwide.
The New Director: Fr. Mirosław Cichoń, PhD
From now on, this exceptional institution in the Eternal City will be led by Rev. Fr. Mirosław Cichoń, PhD. He was born on June 28, 1979, in Wadowice (the city of St. John Paul II). After primary and secondary education, he completed studies in telecommunications at AGH University in Kraków. He then began formation and studies at the Higher Seminary of the Archdiocese of Kraków, preparing for priestly ordination, which he received in 2009 from Card. Stanisław Dziwisz, secretary of the Polish Pope.
From 2009 to 2014, he worked in parish ministry. In September 2014, the then Metropolitan of Kraków, Card. Dziwisz, sent him to study Old Armenian in Armenia, which he continued for the next five years at the Pontifical Oriental Institute in Rome, completing a doctorate in Oriental Patrology. After returning to Poland, he served for a year at the Parish of St. John Paul II in Kraków, and then for more than four years was the formator and superior of the seminarians at the Higher Seminary of the Archdiocese of Kraków.
“My passion has become the Christian East, which fascinated me during my stay in Armenia. It was linked to the discovery of a desire to meet new people and accompany them in their daily lives, which could be realized in the Seminary. I now take on the next chapter of my ministry as director of the Center with maximum commitment, fully aware of the efforts of many people who have built this place over decades. I therefore wish, while remaining myself, to bring to the Center my joy and enthusiasm in building the fullest possible vision of the pontificate of St. John Paul II,” says Fr. Cichoń.
After a solemn farewell at the Kraków Higher Seminary on November 19, Fr. Cichoń moved to Rome, where he formally assumed responsibility for the Center on December 1, during a meeting at the Pilgrim House. The handover of the Center was attended by: Msgr. Paweł Ptasznik (President of the Foundation), Msgr. Dariusz Giers (Administrator of the Foundation), Msgr. Jan Główczyk and lawyer Filip Walis (Foundation auditors), Fr. Mateusz Wójcik (Director of the Pilgrim House), and Fr. Tomasz Podlewski (Director of the Office for Media and Events).
