A memorial plaque at St. George's Square, 5 is more than just an address. It was in the Metropolitan Chambers of the St. George complex in June 2001 that Pope John Paul II resided during his only visit to Ukraine. On those same walls where he lived, his portrait and commemorative text have now been engraved in two languages — Ukrainian and English.
The opening of the plaque became part of large-scale events marking the 25th anniversary of the visit. According to Lviv City Council, a large banner with an image of the Pope was hung on City Hall, an oratorio "Totus Tuus" was performed in the Church of St. George, and billboards with QR codes of the celebration program were placed throughout the city. Metropolitan of Lviv Ihor Voznyak and Acting Chairman of the City Executive Committee Yevhen Boyko participated in the ceremony.
What actually happened in Lviv in 2001
John Paul II's visit lasted in Lviv from June 25 to 27 — three days that had a specific, irreversible consequence for Greek Catholics. On June 27 at the Lviv Hippodrome during the Divine Liturgy in the Byzantine rite, the pontiff proclaimed 27 martyrs of the UGCC blessed — people executed or tortured for their faith in the 20th century. About 1.5 million people witnessed the event.
"Saint John Paul II recognized the martyr's path of our Church, and the beatification of our new martyrs took place under his watch."
— UGCC representatives at the events marking the 20th anniversary of the visit
A year earlier — on June 26 — a Latin rite Mass took place at the same hippodrome with the beatification of Archbishop Joseph Bilchevsky and Father Zygmunt Gorazdowski. In the evening, the Pope met with young people near the Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary at Sykhiv. Overall, more than 2 million believers participated in events in Lviv over the three days.
During his visit, John Paul II also blessed the site for the construction of the UGCC Spiritual Seminary and the Ukrainian Catholic University — institutions that are now part of Lviv's educational landscape.
Context that was absent at the opening
To understand the scale, one detail is important: this was John Paul II's 94th international visit and the first official visit of the head of the Catholic Church to Ukraine. Organizational preparation in Lviv lasted from the beginning of 2001 — given the pontiff's age and health condition, every logistical step was coordinated with the Vatican personally through Monsignor Roberto Tucci.
There was no centralized mechanism for preserving the memory of these events until 2026 in Lviv. The current plaque is the first permanent memorial sign directly at the location where the Pope stayed, rather than near places of worship.
Considering that UCU and the UGCC seminary grew from the blessing given in 2001 in Lviv itself — the question is not abstract: will these institutions mark the 25th anniversary of their own founding as publicly as the city marks the arrival of its guest?
