Second Anniversary of the St. John Paul II Institute of Culture in Rome and the 102nd anniversary of the birth of John Paul II

• The stage play “Job” based on the drama by Karol Wojtyla
• A Lecture by George Weigel
• Recruitment for the second year of “JP2 Studies”

1. “Job” by Karol Wojtyla

On 18 May, the 102nd anniversary of the birth of John Paul II, you are cordially invited to the premiere of Karol Wojtyła’s “Job”, directed by Jarosław Killian with Angelicum students.

Based on the biblical Book of Job, the twenty-year-old Karol Wojtyła created a moving meditation on human fate, reinterpreting the story of man from the land of Uz in the spirit of Christian Hope. During a workshop organised by the St John Paul II Institute of Culture, students from the Pontifical University of St Thomas Aquinas analysed the drama and prepared for its staging under the supervision of Professor Kilian.

The performance, which will take place on the second anniversary of the establishment of the St John Paul II Institute of Culture, will begin at 6.30 p.m. in the church of St Dominic and Sixtus at the Pontifical University of St Thomas Aquinas in Rome. Admission free!

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Karol Wojtyła was involved with the theater for many decades as a critic, essayist, philosopher-theoretician, and dramatist. As a young student of Polish philology in Kraków, he co-founded the Rhapsodic Theatre with Mieczysław Kotlarczyk during World War II in 1941. He was not only one of the leading actors of that theater, but also contributed to the formation of its core ideas, which simultaneously prepared him for his vocation in future pastoral ministry.

Bolesław Taborski, renowned English translator of  “Job”, once wrote: Wojtyła as a playwright was indebted to no one and consistently built his own vision of a drama of human existence: the vision of man’s place on earth in the divine plan of creation.

Professor Jarosław Kilian is an art historian and stage director. He has been a scholar of the British Council and for the United States Department of State. As a stage director, he trained under the guidance of Peter Brook in Vienna. Since 2016 he has been the director of the Teatr Lalka in Warsaw. He has directed operas, outdoor performances, plays for children, and primarily stage performances of European and Polish classic masterpieces of Molière, William Shakespeare, Juliusz Słowacki and Aleksander Fredro.

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This performance is sponsored by the Angelicum’s Saint John Paul II Institute of Culture and the Polish Institute of Rome.

The St. John Paul II Institute of Culture is a new institute and an academic chair within the faculty of Philosophy at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas (Angelicum). The launch of this Institute on 18 May 2020 coincided with the historic centenary of the birth of the Angelicum’s most distinguished alumnus, Pope St. John Paul II.

The primary focus of the Institute is to examine the teachings of Karol Wojtyła as a starting and continuous reference point in reflecting on current challenges the Church in the modern world.

2. George’s Weigel lecture

May 18, 2022 – the day of the 102nd anniversary of Karol Wojtyła’s birth

George Weigel: Reconsidering Vatican Ostpolitik: The Statecraft of a Saint

You are invited for the next lecture of the 2021/22 series of “JP2 Lectures”, to be held on Wednesday, 18 May 2022 – the 102nd anniversary of Karol Wojtyła’s birth. The lecture by George Weigel (Ethics and Public Policy Center, Washington D.C.) will be  “Reconsidering Vatican Ostpolitik: The Statecraft of a Saint”, and will start at 4.30 PM (CET) in the Aula Minor of the Angelicum (Largo Angelicum, 1, 00184 Roma). The lecture will explore the theory behind the Vatican Ostpolitik of the 1960s and 1970s, the Ostpolitik’s effects on the Church in east central Europe and in the Vatican, and the distinctive statecraft of Pope John Paul II.

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George Weigel – born 1951 in Baltimore, Maryland is an American Catholic philosopher and theologian.  He is the author of over twenty books, among them the biography of St. John Paul II in two volumes: Witness to Hope and The End and the Beginning. He is Distinguished Senior Fellow and Chair of Catholic Studies at the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington, D.C.  Weigel has received 18 honorary doctorate degrees, as well as the papal cross Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice.

• The lecture will be delivered in English.
• The lecture will also be broadcast live: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kOwSGZ7JCmM
• For on-site participants: please register at:  https://www.eventbrite.it/e/jp2-lecture-george-weigel-reconsidering-vatican-ostpolitik-tickets-310612027937?fbclid=IwAR2C_chGecvQ2Zzp-vbOFTAD0k5yxJt-vptEk45TaI1RQIE7hUI2_hevqAY
• Join the facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/995998031034081

Monthly open John Paul II lectures delivered by scholars from around the world are organized by the St. John Paul II Institute of Culture under the Faculty of Philosophy of the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas – Angelicum in Rome, Karol Wojtyla’s Roman Alma Mater.

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The Institute of the Culture of Saint John Paul II is an interdisciplinary scientific and didactic institution established at the Faculty of Philosophy of the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas (Angelicum) in Rome on the centenary of the birth of John Paul II. The mission of the Institute is to reflect on the most important problems of the Church and the world today, inspired by the life and thought of St. John Paul II. Thus, the goal of the Institute is not only to study the achievements of the Great Pope, but also to think with him about the most important issues of spiritual culture, such as solidarity, mercy, Christian art, the place of the Church in the modern world, and the spiritual crisis of Europe.

The Saint Nicholas Foundation is a co-organizer of the Saint John Paul II Institute of Culture – an institution financed by private donors from Poland. We cordially invite you to join their group! >> https://teologiapolityczna.pl/jp2

Contact: Fr. Benedict Croell OP

Tel.: +1 (202) 642 35 97 | WhatsApp

e-mail: angepr@pust.it

3. “JP2 Studies” Recruitment

We invite you to enroll in “JP2 Studies” – a one-year interdisciplinary program of study on the thought and work of St. John Paul II. Classes are held in the English language at the Roman university – the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas (Angelicum) – where John Paul II wrote his doctorate.

More information for those interested in studying at: JP2studies@pust.it