Pope's Family House up for Sale

Radio Polonia
December 2005

The modest house in the southern Polish town of Wadowice, where the Late Pope John Paul II was born has been put up for sale for one million US dollars. The house holds many artifacts and family heirlooms of Karol Wojtyla and his family. The Polish Roman Catholic church as well as the Polish Jewish community are interested in buying the property.

Karol Wojtyla was born in the southern Polish town of Wadowice in 1920. He and his family had a small modest house there. Currently his home is the Museum of the Holy Father Family House. Over 5000 visitors walk through the house each year and browse through a collection of objects which once belonged to the Wojtyla family. There are also memorabilia relating to the papacy. Jesuit priest Father Adam Zak still remembers the many times he visited Karol Wojtlya's house. Each visit brought about new exciting surprises.

For Polish people, the Wojtyla family house is more than than just a Museum, it's a reflection of just how great a man the Holy Father actually was. The Polish Episcopate is interested in buying the property, but finds the asking price rather steep. The Jewish community in Poland is also thinking about buying the property but with the intention of donating it back to the Church as a means of Polish-Jewish reconciliation. Piotr Kadlick President of the Union of Jewish communities in Poland thinks that such a gesture of goodwill should be considered by the entire Jewish community worldwide. Both members from the Roman Catholic Church and the Jewish community in Poland believe that such a joint venture could prove promising in bringing the two faiths closer together.