Poland's capital wants to honour Pope John Paul II by opening an institute focusing on his life and teachings, to be built on the site of his triumphal 1979 return to the country. Warsaw Mayor Lech Kaczynski told the Gazeta Wyborcza newspaper that the city wants to rebuild the Saski Palace, which was destroyed by Germany in 1944, and use it to house a museum and institute focusing on John Paul's teachings, beliefs and 26-year papacy.
John Paul, who died April 2 at the age of 84, celebrated mass at the site, located at Pilsudski Square, when he returned to Poland in his first visit as Pope. More than one million people defied the communist government and gathered to see him.
|