During the meeting, which was attended by the President of the IPN Jarosław Szarek, Ph.D, editor-in-chief of the "Gość Niedzielny" weekly Fr. Adam Pawlaszczyk, and Andrzej Grajewski, Ph.D ("Gość Niedzielny") new websites prepared for the 100th anniversary of the birth of Karol Wojtyła – Saint John Paul II were presented.
“During his visit in Cracow John Paul II left us, Poles, the words which today we can treat as his will and request: that all this spiritual heritage, whose name is Poland, should be accepted with faith, hope and love. That we should never doubt and loose strength, and never be discouraged or forget about our roots,“ said President Jarosław Szarek during the conference.
He reminded the audience that the attempts to block the influence of the Pope on the situation in the communist Poland had failed. This happened despite the intensified activity of the communist services that first tried to prevent his pilgrimages to Poland, and then limited their reach by exerting full control over them, which was aimed at diminishing John Paul II's influence on Poles. The pilgrimages of John Paul II to Poland brought far-reaching results. His memorable words: "Let your Spirit descend and renew the face of the earth, the face of this land", gave rise to the establishment of the "Solidarity" trade union a few months later.
The Institute of National Remembrance also prepared a thematic portal about the Pope's visits to Poland during the Polish People's Republic, which has been available since 15 May 2020. The website includes digital documents, Security Services’ operational photographs, leaflets and other materials from the IPN Archives.
The "W Wadowicach wszystko się zaczęło" [It all began in Wadowice” website prepared by the editors of the "Gość Niedzielny" weekly, together with the Institute of National Remembrance, presents in one place unique photographs and documents from the Archives of the Institute of National Remembrance related to John Paul II.