Polish Syndonological Centre
Mariusz Kiełbasa 
Polish Syndonological Centre, Kraków, Poland
Was established in 2017 as a Delegation of the International Centre of Sindonology (ICS) in Turin on the initiative of Dr Gian Maria Zaccone, its director at the time, and in collaboration with Fr Mariusz Kiełbasa LC.
The aim of the Centre is to unite, motivate and coordinate the Polish community associated with the Turin Shroud in order to carry out joint initiatives, both in the scientific, educational and pastoral fields in Poland and among the Polish diaspora. This range of activities is carried out by: conducting research on the Shroud in various scientific fields, disseminating knowledge of the Shroud and all that is associated with it, using the Shroud for evangelisation, coordinating the above activities on a national level and among the Polish diaspora along with taking care of the truthfulness and reliability of the information provided.
The director of the PSC is a delegate appointed by the ICS. The appointee appoints three directors responsible for the activities of the various committees—scientific, educational and pastoral—with which he jointly forms the PSC College of Directors. One may become a member of the Centre by submitting a written declaration of membership and upon acceptance by the PSC College of Directors. Once a year, the PSC Director convenes a PSC Membership Meeting, which all PSC members are entitled to attend. Each PSC Committee may act independently of each other. It presents the results of its activities to the other PSC members at least once every six months at the annual PSC Members’ Meeting.
The ceremonial opening of the PSC was held on 21 October 2017—on the eve of the liturgical commemoration of Saint John Paul II—at the John Paul II Sanctuary in Krakow. On this occasion, the 1st Shroud Day in Krakow was organised, attended by numerous guests from Poland and abroad, together with a delegation of the ICS from Turin with its then director Dr G.M. Zaccon. At the end, a solemn Mass was celebrated by Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz, who five years earlier had personally blessed the exhibition “Who is the Man from the Shroud?,” which is now in the care of the PSC. In 2017, the work of the PSC was blessed by Archbishop Marek Jędraszewski, who personally visited the Centre.
The activities of the PSC were the impulse to organise two more Shroud Days (the 2nd Shroud Day in Kraków in 2018 and the 3rd Shroud Day in Miechów in 2019), a series of interdisciplinary syndonological seminars (in cooperation with the Jagiellonian University in Kraków, the Pontifical University of John Paul II in Kraków, the AGH University of Science and Technology in Kraków and the University of Gdańsk) and to start work on the Digital Syndonological Lexicon project. Several scientific publications have also been published under the auspices of the Polish ISC delegation. The activities of the Centre can be followed on the website.
References
Jędraszewski M., Błogosławieństwo Księdza Metropolity, Polskie Centrum Syndonologiczne, [on-line:] https://calun.info/o-wystawie/blogoslawienstwo/ – 10 VII 2022.
md//bd, Powstało Polskie Centrum Syndologiczne, Ekai.pl, 22 X 2017, [on-line:] https://www.ekai.pl/krakow-powstaje-polskie-centrum-syndologiczne/ – 10 VII 2022.
Publikacje, Polskie Centrum Syndonologiczne, [on-line:] https://calun.info/pcs/publikacje/ – 10 VII 2022.
Source of Images
1.–4. Collection and ownership of the Polish Syndonological Centre in Krakow