The Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University (UKSW) in Warsaw is launching a new field of study in the 2022/203 academic year for students interested in traveling, biblical knowledge and obtaining a tour guide certificate. Christian religious tourism is the only three-year undergraduate studies of this type in Poland.

Polish religiosity is a phenomenon on a European scale. Statistics show that 7 million Poles make pilgrimages each year in various ways. Individually, in groups, by bike and even on roller skates. Pilgrimage routes lead, for example, to Częstochowa, Wadowice, places related to John Paul II, but also to Santiago de Compostela in Spain, Rome, and the Holy Land. “This is a market that still needs new employees”, says Dr Barbara Strzałkowska from UKSW.

Students will get to know the roots of Christian Europe and Marian routes, referring to the sentence of Goethe who said “Europe was born from pilgrimage, and its mother tongue is Christianity”.

“We want to prepare students to propagate a Christian culture that can be told in a beautiful and accessible way”, emphasizes Dr Strzałkowska.