The 4th of July in Tarnów starts one-week camp for ‘Dzieło Nowego Tysiąclecia’ scholars. At invitation of bishop Andrzej Jeż and the president of the city Mr. Roman Ciepiela about 700 students are going to arrive to Tarnów in order to know history of the region and deepen faith by patterning on Saint Kinga and Blessed Karolina Kózkówna. With those women’s names is also connected this year’s camp motto ‘K2 The Peak of Holiness ‘. Scholars will follow John Paul II steps, for whom region of Małopolska and Tarnów was very dear.
The camp is going to be inaugurated on 5th of July with a Holy Mass in Good Shepherd Church at 10 a.m., which will be conducted by bishop Andrzej Jeż. After the Eucharist – at 12 p.m. in parish hall –representatives of the Foundation, Tarnów Curia, city and region government are going to meet with journalists on press conference, where details and plans relative to scholars’ stay in town will be presented. The same day guests will spend the afternoon on sightseeing the city. Inhabitants will be able to recognize them after their characteristic yellow T-shirts.
July 6 will be devoted to getting to know Blessed Karolina Kózkówna and establishing a spiritual bond with youth patron. Students will visit nearby place called Wał-Ruda. That’s where ‘Catechism under the Pear‘, Way of the Cross and sightseeing of Third Bridge Airport will be waiting for them. Visitors will take part in ‘Holy Mass in Joy’, where they are going to pray for victims of traffic accidents and their families.
On July 7 the youth will gather on so called ‘Scholars of the Foundation Summit’ which is a place of future of the Foundation and scholar program dialog. During the meeting there will be presented inter alia academic societies’ activities and students’ work at organization of Pope John Paul II Day. One of the touched-on issues will be the way of presentation of John Paul II’s person and His teaching. Especially to young generation of Poles. The special guest of the event is Mr. Dariusz Kowalski – an actor playing the part of Blessed Karolina’s father in ‘Broken ear’ movie.
On July 8 scholars will visit Stary Sącz, where Holy Mas at Pope Altar is going to be celebrated at 10 a.m. Train, which will take scholars to the place, was provided by Marshal of Małopolskie voivodeship – Mr. Jacek Krupa. Scholars are going to sightsee Poor Clares Monastery and historic city.
The next day scholars will come back to their homes. Some of them will go – as volunteers – to another camp in Białystok where about 700 junior high and high school students from our Foundation will spend two weeks.
The idea of organization of the first camp came up in 2001 – the second year of activity of the Foundation. In those days its main purpose was to integrate youth from all corners of Poland. At first there were only a junior high school students in it. Because scholars are supported by the Foundation until they don’t get degree in the Foundation have also appeared university students. It’s the reason why camp formula has been evaluated. Now instead of one, there are three camps: one for junior and high school students, another for high school graduates and third for university students. Thanks to diocese representatives, presidents of Polish cities, marshals of voivodeships, rectors of universities and many other institutions’ kindness scholars have got an opportunity to visit the biggest towns of Poland and attractive tourists resorts of our country. They can deepen their knowledge about regions and history of cities, where they arrive. They get to know about spiritual and intellectual wealth of our Fatherland. So far scholars visited inter alia Cracow, Warsaw, Tri-City, Poznan, Gniezno, Wroclaw, Silesia and Zagłębie, Lodz, Częstochowa, Bydgoszcz, Toruń, Lublin, Zamość, Olsztyn, Frombork, Szczecin, Świnoujście, Przemyśl, Rzeszów, Wadowice, Ełk and Augustovo.
Tłumaczenie: Patrycja Suchocka
