Description
The John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin
(abbreviated as KUL, formerly until 2005 Catholic
University of Lublin) is one of the oldest Polish
universities. It started its activities on 8 December
1918, shortly after Poland regained its independence.
Over the one hundred years of its existence it has
become an important centre of Catholic thought,
influencing the shape of Polish science and culture.
It was the first university that restarted activities after
the Second World War. It played a special role during
the period of the Polish People’s Republic. Despite
the repression, it retained its identity, remaining
the only centre of free thought in the socialist bloc, and
was referred to as an “island of freedom”. It gave shelter
to lecturers and students who had been removed
from other universities because of their opposition
activities. For almost a quarter of a century, Father
Karol Wojtyła, later Pope John Paul II, contributed
to the development of the university as a lecturer
in ethics. The fall of communism enabled the rapid
development ofthe university - new departments and
degree programmes were created and the number of
employees and students increased significantly.
The founder of theuniversity, Father Idzi Radziszewski,
encapsulated his mission in the words: Deo et Patriae.
The aim of KUL is to educate people to be good citizens
inspired by Christian values. Remaining faithful to this
task, the university has educated 120,000 graduates.
Many of them occupy positions of responsibility, serve
the Church, fulfil important social or political roles,
excel in business, or co-create culture.
KUL is a university open to the challenges facing
civilisation and science in the modern world. It
cooperates with almost 200 universities from all over
the world. It conducts scientific research in harmony
between science and faith. This covers not only fields
that are characteristic of a Catholic university, such as
theology or philosophy, but also the humanities, law, social science, and recently natural and exact sciences.
Over 11,000 students and doctoral students, including
a growing group of foreigners, are studying 47 degree
programmes.
The importance of KUL in Polish history was recognised
by the Senate of theRepublic of Poland, which announced
2018 the Year of the 100th Anniversary of KUL.
Leszek Wojtowicz
The John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin
Obverse
On the obverse is the motto of the university, and
next to it the number 100 is a direct reference to
the anniversary of the founding of KUL.
Reverse
Father Idzi Radziszewski (1871−1922), founder and
first rector of the university, is commemorated on
the reverse of the silver coin. In the background
is the logotype of the eight currently existing
faculties of the university.
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