Fr. Paweł Rytel-Andrianik, Karol Darmoros
New functionality
The Polish Ambassador to the Holy See, Adam Kwiatkowski, speaks to Vatican News about the launch of the Polish version of the audio guide. As he points out, the Apostolic Palace, which is part of the Vatican Museums, thus joins the facilities that can be visited with a guided tour in Polish.
“It is a great joy that here too, all those who come from Poland or from all over the world, but speak our language, can visit this extraordinary place in Polish,” notes Adam Kwiatkowski, adding that it is also an important element of promoting Poland in the Vatican, which was realized thanks to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He adds that last year, the Polish language was also included in the audio guides for the Vatican Museums.
Polonica and traces of St. John Paul II
The tour leads through spaces strongly connected with the history of Poland and the pontificate of St. John Paul II. “The Apostolic Palace is associated with John Paul II for all of us, who spent so many days of his pontificate here, but it is also an extraordinary chapel with an image of Our Lady of Częstochowa. This is the work of Pius XI, who was the Apostolic Nuncio in Poland,” explains the ambassador.
The audio guide also brings closer Polish historical threads present in Castel Gandolfo.
“In the aforementioned chapel, we have two paintings commemorating great events, so important for our history. These are the defense of Częstochowa and the Miracle on the Vistula,” adds the diplomat. As he emphasizes, this is another place connected with the history of the papacy that opens up to Poles.
Voice of pilgrims
Pilgrims from Poland are already using the new form of visiting. “Despite the fact that I know many languages, it was nice to see that Polish appeared for the first time. For pilgrims who come here in large numbers from our country, it is a great convenience. I think that thanks to this, more of them will come here,” says Monika from the Drohiczyn diocese.
Castel Gandolfo remains a place of rest for Popes and spiritual strengthening for pilgrims – today also closer to Poles thanks to the audio guide in their native language. Polish is one of three languages in which the audio guide is available, alongside Italian and English.
