Archives

The John Paul II Pontificate's Center for Documentation and Research is taking care of a collection of archival documents. The goal of the Center is to provide protection, systematic elaboration and cataloguing of the archives. Six sections have been created for that purpose:

• The first section collects documents regarding the work and teachings of bishop, Archbishop and Cardinal Karol Wojtyla, and then later of John Paul II. Notable among those is a group of documents. pertaining to the Kraków period (1958-1978), provided by the Archives of the Metropolitan Curia in Kraków. These are typescripts of sermons, speeches, articles, papers, lectures and memorials for the authorities of the Polish People’s Republic (PRL).
• The second section consists of documents written by John Paul II during his pontificate (1978-2005). Access to the papal scripts needs to be granted by church authorities.
• Documents regarding the work and teachings of John Paul II constitute the third section and are divided among three archival teams: the Polish Secretary of State Section, Most Rev. Cardinal Stanisław Dziwisz’s (John Paul II’s personal secretary) and sister Emilia Erlich OSU.
• The fourth pontificate archival section contains audio-visual materials. These include Pope’s addresses, commercial CDs and cassettes and a rich collection of photographs.
• The fifth section includes documentation regarding academic titles and honorary citizenships granted to the Pope, institutions, streets and squares named after John Paul II, as well as His memorials.
• The sixth section is composed by an enormous numismatic collection of silver coins, as well as collections of stamps which, by commemorating the events of the pontificate, are valuable archival items.