Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni visited the Pontifical Polish College in Rome – a place inseparably connected with Karol Wojtyła’s journey to the Papacy. The visit on December 22 marked the inauguration of the Museum of St. John Paul II. “I entrusted my path to John Paul II” – Giorgia Meloni emphasized. She was accompanied, among others, by Cardinal Stanisław Dziwisz – reports Vatican News.
Inauguration of the museum
The head of the Italian government toured the new museum space housed in the Pontifical Polish College. The Museum of St. John Paul II was also established with financial support from the Italian government as part of initiatives related to the Jubilee.
Cardinal Wojtyła’s house in Rome
The Pontifical Polish College holds a special place in the biography of Cardinal Karol Wojtyła. It was here that he stayed during his visits to Rome before being elected Pope, and on the eve of the 1978 conclave he departed from here to the Vatican. The exhibition presents, among other things, his study and bedroom with the original furnishings used by the future Pope.
Words in the guestbook
At the end of her visit, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni wrote in the guestbook:
“This museum is a treasury of faith, spirituality, and love. Here remain the ‘traces’ of an ordinary yet extraordinary man, who moved my life and to whom I entrusted my path. I will keep in my heart the experience of this visit, a balm for the soul and for the heart”, wrote the Italian Prime Minister in the guestbook.
Guests at the event
The visit of the Italian Prime Minister was accompanied, among others, by Cardinal Stanisław Dziwisz, personal secretary of St. John Paul II and senior Metropolitan Archbishop of Kraków. Also present were the pro-prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelization, Archbishop Rino Fisichella, Fr. Jan Antoni Główczyk, rector of the Pontifical Polish College in Rome, and representing the John Paul II Vatican Foundation, Fr. Paweł Ptasznik, rector of the Church of St. Stanislaus Bishop and Martyr.