Andrzej Jawień, A.J., Stanisław Andrzej Gruda, Piotr Jasień – what do these names have to do with Karol Wojtyła? Karol was a young priest, but also a poet and a playwright. He wrote often, but kept his writings in a drawer and published them rarely under the selected pseudonyms.

A document from 8 July 1967 appointing Archbishop Karol Wojtyła a cardinal. The text of the manuscript is written in Latin, partly rubricated with customary wording, distinguished by majuscule: Paulus Servus Servorum Dei  [Paul Bishop, Servant of the Servants of God].

This case is large for a rosary. Externally, it has been intricately embroidered with gold thread; it has been lined with white material, decorated with fine sequins, inside. Everything was made by Sister Lucia, who—alongside Hyacinth and Francis—was one of the three children to whom the Mother of God appeared... 

Sneakers are usually an attribute of children’s games. The ones in the collection of Małopolska’s Virtual Museums are big (size 44!). Judging from the state of preservation, they were used by Karol Wojtyła many times when hiking.
His love for sport was inculcated in Karol by his brother, 14 years older Edmund, who played in a football team. Very often Karol accompanied him; however, due to the age difference he could not run on a football pitch.

Karol Wojtyła obtained his master’s degree in theology from the Jagiellonian University on 24 November 1948. The document contains information about studies completed between 1942 and 1947 and exams passed. Earlier, before joining the seminary, Wojtyła also studied Polish at the Jagiellonian University.

The presented object is a wooden paddle, joined in the middle (screwed-on, detachable), which served Karol Wojtyła  during canoeing trips with young people. The ends of the paddle are covered with metal; it is coloured brown and made of natural wood.

The presented object is a hat, which belonged to Karol Wojtyła. It is a very popular fedora hat, which is characterised by a concave fold along the head and a fairly wide brim. It is decorated with haberdashery in the form of a ribbon that wraps around the head with a bow on the side. The object was made of petersham ribbon in the Krakow tailor’s workshop of H. Frydel.

Jokingly, we can say that John Paul II owes his career to Nowa Huta. The troubles connected with the construction of the new church in Nowa Huta, created by the communists, had compelled Bishop Eugeniusz Baziak to take action. He appointed Karol Wojtyła, despite his young age, as his deputy.

A Volker Hildebrandt series of works titled Popes came into being as a result of transforming a picture that already existed in the visual sphere. In this case, it was three parts of a documentary film: the appointment of Karol Wojtyła as Pope, the administration of Holy Communion by John Paul II to Joseph Ratzinger, and the Pope bestowing a blessing from a window of the Papal Apartments towards the end of his life. The artist breaks the shots down into their constituent parts, showing a given event frame by frame.