Badge pins worn on clothing to commemorate Pope John Paul II’s pastoral visits to Poland
As it is June now and it was June when Pope John Paul II made three pastoral visits to Poland, we would like to recall one of our past articles, which focused on badge pins commemorating these visits, and was published in June 2020,
The badge pins collection in the Historical Archives of the National Commission of the Solidarity Trade Union contains memorabilia related to the first three pastoral visits of Pope John Paul II to Poland.
The first pastoral visit took place on 2-10 June 1979, before the Solidarity Trade Union was established. On this occasion the badge pin with the Pope’s image and phrase: John Paul II in Poland, 2-10 June 1979 was issued:
Another badge in the collection, related to the same pilgrimage, commemorates the 7th of June visit in Wadowice, the birth town of the Pope. It shows the Pope’s face and inscriptions: Pope from Wadowice, John Paul II, and all Yours at the bottom of the badge:
It also contains four dates referring to events of Karol Wojtyla’s life: 18 May1920 (date of birth), 20 June 1920 (date of baptism), 16 October 1978 (election to the papal office), and 7 June 1979 (date of pastoral visit to Wadowice).
On 16-23 June 1983 John Paul II visited Poland for the second time. The most common element of badge pins commemorating this event is the Pope’s picture, as below with an inscription “WE WELCOME YOU”:
Sometimes this pope’s image is integrated into the Poland’s contours:
As in the above example, other elements used on these badges are images of the Black Madonna of Czestochowa, the Monument to the Shipyard Workers Killed in 1970, and the coat of arms of Poland.
On the same occasion a badge with all places visited during this pilgrimage was issued: Czestochowa, Gora sw. Anny, Cracow, Niepokalanow, Piekary Slaskie, Poznan, Warsaw, and Wroclaw:
The third pastoral visit of John Paul II to Poland took place on 8-14 June 1987. Badge pins from this pilgrimage contain, apart from the Pope’s image, also typical symbols such as His papal code of arms, or the logo of the II Eucharistic Congress (the official purpose of this visit):
The upper part of the badge says THE THIRD PASTORAL VISIT OF JOHN PAUL II TO POLAND, whereas at the right lower part there is an inscription (HE) LOVED THEM TO THE END.
The below badge says: (HE) LOVED THEM TO THE END, and JASNA GÓRA 1987 (the name of a shrine John Paul II visited in Czestochowa, Poland, dedicated to the Virgin Mary):
Motifs from previous years are also present, like images of the Black Madonna of Czestochowa, the Monument to the Shipyard Workers Killed in 1970, and the national flag and contours of Poland (or the northern part of these contours), and the places visited by the Pope, like SZCZECIN, GDYNIA, GDAŃSK:
The above badge’s lower part contains also phrases: PEOPLE OF THE SEA, SOLIDARY (with a Polish flag at the end), and ALWAYS FAITHFULL.
The visit to Gdańsk is commemorated on the below badge, which says HOLY FATHER JOHN PAUL II, and at the bottom GDAŃSK, JUNE ’87:
The next badge refers to the visit to Łódź, with an inscription: THE THIRD PASTORAL VISIT TO THE MOTHERLAND, ŁÓŹ ’87:
The white and red background is sometimes used, as is the white and yellow (official colours of Vatican). The white and red badge presented below includes the contours of Poland with integrated image of the Pope and the names of places he visited during his pilgrimage: Czestochowa, Gdansk, Cracow, Lublin, Lodz, Szczecin, Tarnow and Warsaw.
Around the above badge there is an inscription: THE THIRD PASTORAL VISIT OF THE POLISH POPE TO THE MOTHERLAND.
This horizontal badge says: SHIPYARD WORKERS (REMAIN) WITH YOU:
Another badge pin issued on this occasion shows the image of John Paul II at the grave of Priest Jerzy Popieluszko:
On the left there is an inscription saying God, Honor, Motherland, and at the grave: Priest Jerzy Popiełuszko, 37-years-old, murdered on October 19, 1984.
On the next pin you can see a child in a traditional Tatra mountain clothes, handing flowers to the Pope. The badge says: POPE OF HUMAN AFFAIRS, and POLAND 1987:
Another name attributed to the pope is “herald of freedom”, as in WELCOME, THEHERALD OF FREEDOM:
There is also a badge pin with the drawing of three crosses and the communion cup, and an inscription: THE THIRD PASTORAL VISIT:
Badge pins commemorating the Pope’s third pastoral visit to Poland sometimes refer to the I Eucharistic Congress in 1930, and the II Eucharistic Congress in 1987, as mentioned above. In the collection there is one badge pin commemorating this particular event. It shows – against the white and red background – the image of Christ’s face with the crown of thorns, and at the bottom of the badge the logo of the II Eucharistic Congress, Poland’s flag and inscriptions: (He) loved them to the end, the Eucharist originates from love and brings love:
Visit us at the in the Archives of the National Commission of the Solidarity Trade Union
If you are interested in the attached documents and in our other archival materials please contact us by email: . Please take into consideration that in July our archives are closed.
/Łukasz Grochowski, the Archives of the National Commission of the Solidarity Trade Union,
Iwona Flis, Stanisław Flis Foundation “Pomerania Archives”/
