"Prayer can truly change your life, for it turns your attention away from yourself and directs your mind and your heart towards the Lord."

- Saint John Paul II

NEWS & FEATURES

Spring 2024

Greeting from Dr. John Hittinger

Dear Friends of St John Paul II

As we approach Easter Sunday, we recall that Pope John Paul II exhorted us “Be not afraid” because our faith in Jesus Christ: “The power of Christ’s Cross and Resurrection is greater than evil which man could or should fear.” (Crossing the Threshold of Hope)

The St. John Paul II Institute celebrates the completion of its fifth year of existence as an entity devoted to deepening the faith of the Church through the prayerful study of St John Paul II in the context of Polish history and culture. We are grateful to Richard Ludwick, President of UST, who arranged for the founding of this Institute to express his dedication to this Polish saint, as well as St. Maximillian Kolbe. We have provided hundreds of people with opportunities for study, travel to Poland, and cultural events. The Institute is blessed with some dedicated people; we introduce them below.

Our signature academic program is a comprehensive study of the 14 encyclicals of John Paul II; these encyclicals, according to Pope Benedict XVI, constitute a comprehensive account of Catholic faith in defense of the human person. The curriculum has been continuously improved through the work of our outstanding faculty. We have recently proposed for implementation in Fall 2024 a course on the fundamentals of philosophy as taught by Karol Wojtyła and a new emphasis on presentation skills in the final project. Please spread the word about this program granting an MA or a Certificate in John Paul II Studies. It includes both philosophy and theology, the two wings of both faith and reason.

Through our collaboration with Polish scholars we have participated in conferences on the thought of John Paul II in the United States and Poland. We have joined with the Pontifical University of John Paul II in Kraków to initiate a new journal, Wojtyła Studies, dedicated to the pre-papal writings of John Paul II and we assist with the journal Philosophy and Canon Law, hosted by the University of Silesia/Katowice.

After Divine Mercy Sunday, on Tuesday April 9, Fr. Witold Kania, a visiting faculty member of the Institute, will present a talk on “John Paul II as a prophet of life.” I hope you can join us for this event so as to better understand John Paul II’s impassioned struggle for the absolute respect for the dignity of human life.

Please continue to offer your prayers for our mission, and we would grateful for any financial support you could offer for promoting the work of the Saint John Paul II, a sure guide and gift for the Church in the new millennium.

Yours in Christ

John Hittinger

Director of SJPII Institute

Meet our Team in a new lineup!

We are pleased to introduce our new Assistant Director and Assistant Professor of the SJPII Institute-

-DR. JOHN CORRIGAN

John Corrigan is a single, Catholic professor and professional who comes from a large Irish and Swedish heritage with a bit of German and Dutch thrown in for good measure. Many of his formative years were spent in Polish parishes and in Polish founded parishes. Early in his undergraduate studies he developed a passion for the thought of Karol Wojtyła/John Paul II and began to pursue this as an area of concentration in philosophy.

In Chile, Dr. Corrigan earned a second M.A. and a Ph.D. from the Pontifical Universidad Catholica de Chile with two notes of distinction in philosophy. He was the recipient of numerous scholarships and grants during that time including a seven-month resident, research scholarship at the John Paul II Archives at Dom Polski, Rome.

Earlier Dr. Corrigan earned an M.Phil., Summa cum Laude from The International Academy of Philosophy in Liechtenstein, in philosophy and political science.

His undergraduate work was done at Christendom College, VA.

In the private sector Corrigan has served as a Director of Sales and Marketing in Human Machine Interface manufacturing and as a Director of Subscriptions for journals in the not-for-profit sector.

He has worked in the auto brokerage market in Europe assisting in multi-million dollar, multi-vehicle deals and in the U.S. real estate market assisting in the recovery and purchase of lost inheritance properties.

The East Coast Swing Dance revival movement in Philadelphia was a passion of his for a number of years and he shares in a wide variety of interests from outdoor sports and activities to travel and languages.

He has designed and taught a wide variety of courses in philosophy and theology for over twenty years and has published and spoken in the U.S. and Chile on the philosophy of Karol Wojtyła. He is very excited to join the faculty at the University of St. Thomas Houston as the assistant director of the Saint John Paul II Institute.

DR. PIOTR PRZYBYLSKI - Director for Polish Studies

Dr. Piotr Przybylski, Assistant Director of Polish Studies in the St John Paul II Institute is a Polish native with proven expertise in Polish history and heritage. Since November 2020, he has co-led in the development of the Polish Studies program by creating classes, hiring faculty, and recruiting students. He also promotes the Polish Studies Program at the state, national, and international levels among the Polish diaspora and in Poland, applying for grants and looking for potential donors for the St. John Paul II Institute's Polish Studies program.

• Born and raised in Kraków, Poland

• Energetic contributor and prominent leader of Texas

Polonia, with more than two decades of collaboration with various key academic and

governmental institutions and companies in Poland, the US, and the European Union

• Fluent in Polish, English, and German, with conversational skills in Russian and Spanish

• 1st Vice President of the Polish-American Council of Texas

• Advisor of the Polish-American Chamber of Commerce in Texas

• Expert in Polish history and heritage

• Accomplished geoscientist and engineer working over 20 years in Academia, the oil & gas

industry, mining industry, and civil and marine engineering

MRS. EMILIA PIECHOTA - Administrative Assistant

Emilia joined SJPII Institute in August 2023. She moved to Houston from Brooklyn, NY in 2022, along with her husband and daughters, where she lived for almost 10 years.

She was born and raised in Poland. She graduated from the Faculty of Political Science, majoring in international relations at the Maria Curie-Skłodowska University (Lublin, Poland) where she received MA degree in 2010.

Emilia actively participated in many student's activities e.g. she graduated from Young Diplomats Academy, was a member of AIESEC - student's organization and Ambassador of PricewaterhouseCoopers Poland at universities in Lublin in 2006-2008. As an honor she completed an internship in PricewaterhouseCoopers, Human Capital Student's Attraction Department, Warsaw, Poland in 2008.

In 2009 she completed an internship in the Consulate General of the Republic in Poland in New York, and the same year she spent one semester at Mykolo Romerio University in Vilnius, Lithuania (Faculty of Policy and Strategic Management), participating in Erasmus student exchange. At the same time, Emilia supported the office of Trade and Investment Section of the Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Vilnius.

Her great achievements were receiving Minister of Science and Higher Education Scholarship (Poland) for good results and Ferszt-Buynoski Scholarship in Political Science in recognition of excellent academic achievement and future potential (2009).

She mainly held administrative positions in her professional life. Emilia worked for companies such as Page Personnel, Colliers (Warsaw, Poland), Trade and Investment Section of the Consulate General of the Republic of Poland in New York or D2 Properties in Brooklyn, NY.

She puts God and her family first, along with Polish traditions, and tries to pass on these values to her children. In her free time she enjoys activities with her family, planting flowers, watching document series about geology and cosmos and reading Scandinavian crime stories.

She chose SJPII Institute because she loves her country of origin, Poland, its culture, and language. Same as St. John Paul II who loved his country and Polish tongue, and always put Poland in the spotlight.

ANNOUNCEMENTS AND EVENTS

March 21st, 2024 - Polish Culture and Nature in Poetry and Music, Cullen Hall, UST

It was a pleasure to host this amazing event of Saint John Paul II poetry and music of Polish composers!

We would like to express our gratitude to great artists in the following lineup: magnificent Kinga Skretkowicz-Ferguson (soprano) and outstanding Duo Dramatique-Dominika Dancewicz (violin) and Andrew Schneider (piano).



We are also grateful for our wonderful Karol Wojtyła's poetry readers: Małgorzata Bujak (reading in Polish) and Dr. Janet Lowery (reading in English).

We appreciate a generous support from the Consulate General of the Republic of Poland in Houston, co-sponsoring our evening.

As well as UST Dining Services for helping us in hosting it.

Many thanks to everyone engaged in organizing our event and especially to Everyone who joined us and participated in our special evening, dedicated to SJPII and Polish composers!

We hope to see You all on our next events!

April 10th, 17th, 24th – Encyclical Program:

Divine Mercy

DIVINE MERCY...is when God's love meets us and helps us in the midst of our suffering and sin.

This April, join our in-depth exploration of Pope John Paul II's DIVES IN MISERICORDIA!

For three consecutive Wednesdays - April 10th, 17th, and 24th, from 6:30-8:00pm CST, we delve deep into the teachings of Divine Mercy via Microsoft Teams.

CLICK HERE to register

Dive into the profound messages and lasting significance of this encyclical with our esteemed instructor, author and professor, Dr. Richard Bulzacchelli.

FOR MORE DETAILS VISIT OUR WEBSITE (then click ENCYCLICALS tab)

April 9th, 7:00pm,

Black Lab, University of St. Thomas

Fr. Witold Kania will present a lecture:

Saint John Paul II: Prophet of Life

Fr. Witold will explore the message of John Paul II’s The Gospel of Life. As Pope Benedict XVI commented on this great encyclical - “John Paul II, together with the Church’s faith, sees in each human person - little or great, weak or strong, as useful or useless as he may appear - the image of God; Christ, the Son of God himself made man, died for every man. This confers infinite value and absolutely inviolable dignity upon every individual. . . . The pope defends man against an apparent morality that threatens to crush him.”



MORE DETAILS COMING SOON!



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