Karol Wojtyla was deeply attached to Rome. Here, as a young priest, he studied at the Angelicum immediately after the Second World War (1946 – 1948); here he came first as a bishop, and later as an archbishop, to participate in the Second Vatican Council (1962 – 1965). His Roman visits became regular after he was created cardinal in 1967. Card. Wojtyla also had his home in Rome, a small apartment at the Pontifical Polish College located on the Aventine Hill. Every time he came to Rome for his commitments at the Vatican, he stayed here; on September 14, he departed from here for the second conclave of 1978. He returned to the College a year later, but already as Pope. His clothes, documents, writings, and various objects remained here.

​Twenty-five years after the death of John Paul II, thanks to the commitment of Card. Dziwisz and the rector of the College, Rev. Msgr. Jan Glowczyk, and the precious collaboration of the Italian government, a place of remembrance for Karol Wojtyla—Bishop of Rome for 27 years—has been established at the College so dear to him, in commemoration of the 2025 Jubilee.

​And precisely at the Polish College, within the Wojtyla Museum, a special photographic exhibition was inaugurated on May 30, which tells the story of Karol Wojtyla/John Paul II as seen through the eyes of a Polish friar, Marian Markiewicz, who worked at the College from 1976 to 1982 performing many duties: he did the shopping, served at the table, worked as a gardener, and acted as a driver for all the guests of the College. And throughout all those years, he was in close contact with Card. Wojtyla.

​Marian Markiewicz entered the Polish congregation of the Brothers of the Heart of Jesus (Congregatio Fratrum Cordis Iesu – CFCI) in Puszczykowo. In 1977, he was sent to work in Rome at the Polish College: he arrived in Rome on January 21. He was the College driver and would pick up guests at the airport. That is how he met Card. Wojtyla, who came to Rome frequently. He accompanied him to the Vatican, but not only there: they often went to the mountains (he liked the Mentorella sanctuary very much), to the seaside, or to the Verbite fathers who had a swimming pool. Wojtyla, who was a titan of work, read or wrote even in the car.

​For Brother Marian, the year 1978 was a particular year: the year of the death of two Popes and of two conclaves. In August, Markiewicz was on a retreat in Ariccia when the news of Paul VI’s death arrived: he went with the Pauline fathers to Castel Gandolfo, where the Pope’s body was lying in state, and immediately afterward rushed to Rome because it was necessary to prepare the College for the arrival of guests coming for the funeral and the conclave. Three days before the conclave, Card. Wojtyla invited four cardinals to the College, including Albino Luciani. The brother, who served at the table, remembers that the future Pope ate little but smiled a lot. On August 25, it was he who accompanied Wojtyla to the conclave in a Ford Escort. The next day, August 26—which is also the feast of the Our Lady of Czestochowa—Brother Marian saw the cardinal he had met a few days earlier on the Loggia of St. Peter’s Basilica. The following day, he went to pick up Card. Wojtyla from the Vatican again.

​On September 27, Markiewicz, along with a doctor friend of his, attended the audience of John Paul I. The doctor, seeing the Pope’s complexion, noted that he must have some problem with his heart, perhaps high blood pressure. The next day, shocking news arrived: Pope Luciani is dead!

​For Brother Marian, another highly intense period began, starting with the Pope’s funeral on October 4. Before the conclave, the brother, along with Father Stanislaw Dziwisz, took the cardinal’s luggage to room number 91 of the Apostolic Palace, where Wojtyla was to stay during the second conclave. On the evening of October 13, the cardinal asked: “Marinuccio (he used the diminutive endearment), could you perhaps cut my hair?” Markiewicz did so, keeping the cut hair, as if presaging something.

​On October 14, the day of the conclave, Card. Wojtyla participated in the Mass with all the cardinals in St. Peter’s Basilica and, after lunch, had himself driven to the Gemelli Polyclinic to visit his friend, Msgr. Andrzej Maria Deskur, who had suffered a stroke, and to speak with the doctors. From the Polyclinic, in a beige-colored Audi 60, they went directly to the Vatican, where Wojtyla changed his clothes in Msgr. Deskur’s apartment. At 3:50 PM, everyone presented themselves before the large door that would close at 4:00 PM. The cardinal said goodbye to Father Stanislaw and Brother Marian: this scene can be seen in Krzysztof Zanussi’s film “From a Far Country”.

​At the Polish College, everyone was following the conclave on TV, and when Card. Felici pronounced the name “Carlo”, Markiewicz had no doubts: “his” cardinal had been elected Pope! Within a short time, the College was overrun by journalists from all over the world filming and seeking news about the new Pontiff. On the evening of October 17, Father Dziwisz also came to the College: together with Brother Marian and the rector of the College, they had to bring all the Pope’s belongings to the Apostolic Palace. It was the first opportunity to meet the new Pope and see the Papal Apartment. From this first visit, the cardinal’s “driver” already remembers the phrase that John Paul II would often repeat to him: “This is the culprit who brought me here and left me.” Saying goodbye, the Pope told him: “Marian, we won’t be going to the Verbites’ pool anymore…”

​The following months were intense because Brother Marian was, in a certain sense, a link between the Apostolic Palace and the College. He would inform Father Stanislaw when he came to the College, and the secretary would decide whether to invite a guest to lunch, dinner, or private Mass. Everyone was driven to the Vatican by the brother. This daily routine was interrupted by the assassination attempt on May 13, 1981. Markiewicz was able to see the Pope again, together with the rector, at Castel Gandolfo on October 16, 1981, on the third anniversary of the election.

​In July 1982, Brother Markiewicz was recalled by his superiors to Poland. He went to say goodbye to John Paul II. The Pope told him with a certain nostalgia: “You are returning and I remain.” They would see each other when Brother Marian came to Rome with pilgrim groups, and the Pope would grant him a private audience. One day, while receiving a group of pilgrims, the Pope pointed him out, saying: “I wouldn’t be here if he hadn’t been here to bring me.”

​Markiewicz shared all these stories and many other anecdotes at the inauguration of the photographic exhibition opened at the College on May 30, in the presence of, among others, Msgr. Pawel Ptasznik, rector of the Polish church of St. Stanislaus in Rome and at the same time President of the John Paul II Vatican Foundation; Father Jan Glowczyk, rector of the College; and Prof. Michal Bialkowski of the Nicolaus Copernicus University in Torun, representing the authorities of the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship who sponsored the exhibition and the publication of a photo album containing Brother Markiewicz’s memories.

​The exhibition and the place of remembrance of John Paul II at the Polish College, located at Piazza Remuria 2A, can be visited every Saturday from 9 AM to 2 PM, subject to telephone reservation: 3473039189.

​The article in Italian was published on ACI Stampa.