PREMIUM --

Museum of Pope John Paul II in Wadowice, his home city, on March 30, 2005. The Museum of the Family Home of Pope John Paul II was opened in 1984, on the Pope's 64th birthday, at the initiative of Archbishop Franciszek Macharski and Mitred Prelate Edward Zacher, who had been for many years Karol Wojtyla's catechist. The Museum traces the Pope's childhood and his journey from Wadowice to the Holy See in Rome. It was in this house that the Pope was born on 18 May 1920, and later also took his first steps. The room where he was born and the adjacent kitchen are furnished with items surviving from the Wojtyla family's original belongings, and also with those Karol Wojtyla used as a priest and bishop. On display is, for example, the hiking gear he used in the mountains and to the Masurian Lakes; documents marking major events of his life; his writings; photographs from his childhood, adolescence and the German occupation, as well as from his work as a priest and bishop. Visitors can also see some of the many publications which were published in conjunction with Karol Wojtyla election, the attempt on his life and his pastoral trips to various countries. Photo by Wojtek Laski/Laski Diffusion/ABACA.