The jubilee year 2020, officially announced the year of Saint John Paul II, will be full of memories and celebrations dedicated to the Great National, and his family Wadowice will again become the heart of events. The culmination of the ceremony will be World Memorial Days of John Paul II. These will last from 16 to 24 May and gather crowds of believers from Wadowice, Poland and the whole world. We will be hosting pilgrims, friends from partner cities, artistic groups and young people, including from Italy, Portugal, Germany and Hungary.

MAY 16 – INAUGURATION OF MEMORY DAYS

We planned a great inauguration of  Memorial Days under the slogan „Reborn” on Saturday, May 16. Father Adam Szustak – the Dominican, traveling preacher, author of books and audiobooks will speak from the outdoor stage on the market square in Wadowice. His motto is: „To preach the Gospel to everyone, everywhere and in all ways.” He speaks at thousands of stadiums, in churches and assembly halls, in parishes and private homes. Father Adam will lead worship and will be accompanied by the OWCA music band.

17 MAY – GREAT TV CONCERT

On Sunday, May 17, we invite you to a solemn thanksgiving Mass in the Basilica of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary.  After the mass, on an impressive outdoor stage, the greatest stars of Polish pop music will perform in the concert dedicated to the Holy Memory, co-organized by the Polish Television and the Museum of the Family Home of the Holy Father John Paul II.

MAY 18 – KAROL WOJTYŁA’S BIRTHDAY

Monday, May 18 is the core of the jubilee year. Precisely 100 years earlier, in a tenement house at  Kościelna Steet in Wadowice, Karol Wojtyła was born. Every year that day, the residents of Wadowice celebrate the anniversary of their Patron’s birthday. Hundred anniversary will be really unique!

John Paull II’s the Nationwide School Rally  has been organized for 20 years. In the morning around 8.30 will set off the march of children and young people with banners, official delegations, guests from partner cities, residents and pilgrims. through the streets of the town, from Primary School No. 1 in Wadowice to  John Paul II’s Square.

The solemn session of the Town Council convened by our local government will culminate in the signing of a long-planned cooperation agreement with Fatima (Ourem Municipality, Portugal), which will join our international partners. Binding Wadowice with Fatima on the hundredth anniversary of the birth of John Paul II is a symbolic undertaking of his spiritual will.

At 11:00 a.m. residents and guests will meet at the solemn outdoor Holy Mass. We invited the bishop of Cracow Janusz Mastalski to chair the Eucharist.

After the mass, we invite you for a birthday cake, musical group performances, film screenings and Feast of Wadowice with a highlander note, organized by LAG Wadovian, with the participation of Country Housewife Clubs.

Another strong point of the day will be the great concert „Firemen of St. To John Paul II in homage „performed by brass bands from all over Poland. The concert will end with a common singing, as part of the nationwide campaign of the John Paul II Family Home Museum „All Poland is Singing a Barge”. The event will culminate in the ceremonial release 100 pigeons symbolizing peace and reconciliation by the Polish Association of Pigeon Breeders Branch of Wadowice.

The final „MemorialConcert” that day will be a joint venture of the choir of Wadowice and children from municipal school and kindergarten institutions, who in a joyful concert will remind us the most moving moments of the pontificate.

19-24 MAY – POPE AS A SPORTSMAN, POPE AS AN ARTIST, POPE AS A MOUNTAINEER

The next days will be filled with sporting and cultural events for children and youth. They refer to the youthful years of Karol Wojtyła, when as a teenage boy he played sports, played in the theater, walked in the mountains. On Tuesday, we planned a trip to Groń of John Paul II, while Wednesday and Thursday are the days planned for the implementation of sports competitions for young people organized together with the MKS Skawa Wadowice sports club. There will be a great football tournament and athletics championships. The program will include games and activities, artistic performances, concerts and international integration. On Friday evening we invite you to an outdoor cinema dedicated to our patron.

Saturday, May 23, we will start again with sports emotions. „Wadowice celebrates football on the pitch on the pitch, 100th anniversary” is a nationwide tournament organized by the PUKS Karol Wadowice club. On the other hand, in the evening, John Paul II Square will transform into a Greek agora, where the performance of „Antigone” will be presented by the JaNowy Teatr from Andrychów – a theater group based on Christian values. Sophocles’s drama was particularly close to Karol Wojtyla, who in his youth played the role of Hajmon – Antigone’s fiance. Years later, when during his pilgrimage to Poland he visited his home town of Wadowice, he referred to art, quoting extensive fragments from memory and listing the names of the actors who played with him on stage.

Also the National Bank of Poland has planned a special celebration of the jubilee year 2020. On the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the birth of John Paul II, three collector coins will be issued: gold and two silver. The coins will be issued on May 23, in Wadowice!

We will close the celebrations on Sunday, May 24 with the 6th edition of the Wadowicki Race. Athletes from all over Poland will once again meet in Wadowice to try their hand at running along the beautiful routes of the Papal Town and finally try traditional cream.

The above information is the preliminary plan of the year-long celebrations and „World Memorial Days of St. John Paul II „. The organizer reserves the right to change. You find the update at www.wadowice.pl