Blessed John Paul II and his teaching about culture was the subject of an academic session which took place on February 13, at the UNESCO principal headquarters in Paris. About 500 people took part in the event, including more than 40 ambassadors accredited to the organization and a number of French bishops including Cardinal André Vingt-Trois, Archbishop of Paris. The session was organized by the John Paul II Foundation (The Centre for Research and Documentation of the Pontificate) and the Observer Mission of the Holy See to UNESCO.

The participants of the session were greeted by Monsignor Francesco Follo, the observer of the Holy See to UNESCO, Cardinal Stanislaw Rylko, President of the John Paul II Foundation and Hans d'Orville, UNESCO Deputy Director. The session was led by professor Krzysztof Zanussi, who at the beginning spoke of his meetings with John Paul II.

13 February 2013 from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m.

UNESCO House, Room II, 125, avenue de Suffren, Paris 7^th

The Symposium is organized by the Observer Mission of the Holy See to UNESCO and the John Paul II Foundation (Pontificate Center for Documentation and Research in Rome). Ms Irina Bokova, Director General of UNESCO, is patron of the event.

The session will allow us to present John Paul II’s contribution to the debate on contemporary culture. In addition to this, it will also provide an opportunity to reflect on important matters concerning contemporary culture in light of John Paul II’s teachings, especially with regard to the content of the memorable speech he gave at the UNESCO headquarters June 2^nd 1980.

General Secretary of the John Paul II Foundation Paris Chapter

JAN KONIECZNY died on January 28, 2013 in the morning. On that day, He was born to haven leaving the Earth on which He spent the life in happiness and in drudgery.  And, the last time of His life was certainly a long path full of suffer.  Following Christ, He was walking through a long and painful Stations of the Cross’ path.  On August 14, 2012, He suffered a stroke that paralyzed his body.  For five months, He was bravely fighting to be able to regain feeling in His fingers and to be able to communicate with words.  He was trying to communicate with gestures or by using a board, which He mostly used to communicate with His friends, who visited Him a lot.  The hospital employees who worked on His side can attest how often His friends were taking turns by His bedside.   There was always somebody in His room, beginning with Polish notables to the most humble of his friends – they all loved Him and they were trying to help in any possible manner.