Upcoming Exhibition
Richmond - May 2020

PILGRIM'S JOURNEY, TOLD THROUGH STAMPS
ISSUED BY WORLD POSTAL ADMINISTRATIONS
SINCE HIS ELECTION AS POPE IN 1978
A TRIBUTE TO SAINT POPE JOHN PAUL II TO CELEBRATE HIS CENTENARY
ST.PAUL’S PARISH CENTER, RICHMOND BC
MAY 1 - 4, 2020

The countdown for John Paul II’s centenary has already begun and the people in Poland and the world over are eager to celebrate it in 2020. The story began 99 years ago at this place, Wadowice. It is here where Karol Wojtyla was born. He did not have an easy life. At the age of 19 he had to work as a stone cutter in a quarry, whilst trying to avoid being deported to Germany by the Nazi.

When he was 22 years old he entered the bishop of Krakow’s clandestine seminary to prepare secretly for priesthood. Pious XII appointed him bishop in 1958, and in 1967, Paul VI made him cardinal. In 1978, after two days in the conclave, he was elected as successor of St. Peter. He decided to take the name John Paul II.
His first words, “Do not be afraid” provoked a flood of enthusiasm that culminated in the fall of totalitarian Communism in Eastern Europe. 

During his pontificate, he visited 129 countries spanning 104 trips. In each place wherever he went he touched the hearts of millions of people. Pope John Paul II was the first and only pontiff to set foot on Canadian soil. In September 1984 on his first 12-day cross -Canada visit, great crowds flocked to him.

In 2002 he came to Toronto for the World Youth Day. John Paul also visited Canada in 1987 but only stopped in the Northwest Territories. 

As part of the worldwide centenary celebration, it is proposed that the Knights of Columbus Richmond BC organize an Exhibition of Postage Stamps and other postal items issued by numerous Postal Administrations of the world in honor of Pope John Paul II during the last 41 years. The exhibits will come from the personal collection of Brother Anthony Sales a member of Council 6855.

Brief details of the exhibition are as follows:
Title of the Exhibition : “A Pilgrim’s Journey” St. John Paul II (1920-2005)
Date of the Exhibition : MAY 1 - 4, 2020
Venue : St. Paul’s Parish Center, 8251 St. Albans Rd, Richmond B.C. V6Y 2L2
Size of the Exhibition : 180 Frames (2,880 pages)

Introduction

Saint John Paul the Great
Karol Józef Wojtyła also referred to as “The Pilgrim Pope”

Stamps Issued

Stamps issued by world Postal Administrations in honor of Saint John Paul II

Exhibit

This collection has been exhibited twice before:
Richmond, BC – May 25 to 27,2007
Ottawa, ON - Apr 11 to 14, 2011

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