The ties between the Resurrectionists and Saint John Paul II date back to his time as a student at the Jagiellonian University. Some of our fathers attended lectures with him, while others were his students during the 1950s. As the Archbishop of Krakow, he visited our church on Łobzowska Street almost every year on Easter Monday, where the Major Seminary was also located at the time. Some Resurrectionists received priestly ordination through the ministry of the Metropolitan of Krakow. Cardinal Wojtyła also visited Resurrectionist-run Polish parishes in Vienna, Chicago, and Hamilton, Canada. As bishop and later as pope, he made dozens of pilgrimages to the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Grace in Mentorella, run by the Resurrectionists, and was a guest at the Generalate in Rome on Via San Sebastianello.

During his apostolic visit to Austria on September 12, 1983, the Pope blessed the organ in the Church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross in Vienna, and the next day he visited Kahlenberg to commemorate the 300th anniversary of the Polish victory at the Battle of Vienna. On May 25, 2002, during a pilgrimage to Bulgaria, he crowned the image of Our Lady, Patroness of Christian Unity, in Malko Tarnovo.

A particularly special moment for our Congregation was the celebration of the 150th anniversary of the founding of the Resurrectionists together with the Holy Father. The celebration took place on January 4, 1987, at the Generalate in Rome. John Paul II, thanking us for the first volume of the Congregation’s history that was given to him, said: “You have given me here the history of the Congregation of the Resurrectionists to read, in English. I must tell you that if there are any congregations whose history I know at least somewhat, yours is certainly one of them (...) The very truth of the resurrection, which is the greatest truth of our Christian faith, was, in the 19th century after the fall of our Homeland, a great light for the entire Nation. Your Founders also reached for this truth of faith, preserving its nature as an inspiration both for their fellow countrymen and for the society of their time.”

At the conclusion of the visit, referring to the Second Vatican Council, he reminded the Resurrectionists of the great challenge they face today: “Your Founders acted in a prophetic spirit, as if anticipating Vatican II with its entire focus on the paschal mystery, that is, precisely on the mystery of the resurrection—of course, the entire paschal mystery from Good Friday to Easter Sunday. In this way, the guiding idea and charism of your Congregation have been renewed and made relevant in this century thanks to the Council (...) Your task today is to work toward the resurrection—the spiritual resurrection of society.”