An open-air exhibition of photographs and quotations prepared by the Institute of National Remembrance (IPN) to recall the visit of Pope John Paul II to the cities of northeastern Poland. On the 30th anniversary of these events, an exhibition was opened on Wednesday in Białystok. In the afternoon, a similar exposition will also be opened in Łomża and next week in Olsztyn.
The exhibition, which can be seen on the grounds adjacent to the Ton Cinema building downtown, is titled “Behold, I make all things new. On the anniversary of the 4th Pilgrimage of the Holy Father to the Homeland”. John Paul II was in Łomża on 4-5 June 1991, in Białystok on 5 June and in Olsztyn on 5-6 June.
The photographs gathered at the exhibition come, among others, from private collections of people who sent them to IPN, some were taken by professional photographers. You can also find there a description of the course of the pilgrimage to the given cities and quotes from papal homilies delivered then.
Patrycja Leszczyńska from the Białystok branch of the Institute of National Remembrance (IPN), the author of the exhibition, thanked everyone who shared their photographs and memories. She said that from the homily she tried to choose universal quotes that could reach everyone, and in the photos, she also tried to show the emotions of the pilgrims.
The director of the IPN Białystok branch, PhD Piotr Kardela, said during the opening of the exhibition that the mission of the Institute was not only, as he put it, ‘to collect files on the secret police, vetting, showing communist informers, but also to educate, remind, and commemorate important events and figures.
“An exhibition about the Holy Father’s fourth pilgrimage to his homeland (…) we also treat in categories of showing the man who not only preached the truths of faith, instilled in us patriotism, love for God and homeland, but also was a great advocate of regaining independence by Poland (…). He was also the one who not only outside Poland, but also in Poland, including the communist one, contributed significantly to Poland regaining its independence” – said Kardela.
In Białystok and Łomża, the exhibition will be on display until the end of June; in Olsztyn – until June 22.