Submitted by Mike Grenville on Fri, 19 Sep 2003 11:06

A Polish mobile operator and publisher are inviting Catholics to text in messages to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the pontificate that will be made into a book and delivered to the Pope.

St. Adalbert Printing House and Bookshop (DiKSW), the publisher of the “Przewodnik Katolicki” magazine from Poland, and One-2-One, Polish leading mobile provider, enable the readers of the magazine to send SMS wishes to Pope John Paul II on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of his pontificate. All messages sent before 30 September will be printed, bound and delivered to the Vatican by the representatives of the editorial office.

“25th anniversary of the pontificate will be a great celebration for the Poles. We realise that a large group of the congregation would like to participate in the celebrations that are going to take place in the Vatican. However, they cannot afford it due to the costs of travel or the lack of time. That is why we came up with the idea that we can somehow be with the Pope on this memorable day by collecting SMS messages, printing them and sending them to the Vatican” – said Roman Wolniewicz, Manager of the Promotion and Advertising Office of KiDSW.

To send SMS wishes to the Pope, enter the letters PK in the contents of the message, followed by the text of your wishes, and send your SMS message to the shortcode 7238 from a Polish mobile. All SMS messages sent by the readers will be collected, printed in their original form, e.g. with emoticons, printed and bound by St. Adalbert Printing House and delivered to the Pope by the representatives of DiKSW.

The editorial board of “Przewodnik Katolicki" shall choose three most unconventional and moving wishes and reward their authors with the new edition of the Bible.

The campaign shall be carried out under the media patronage of TVP 3 Poznan Division – local television, Wielkopolska Cable TV, Catholic Information Agency (KAI), Merkury Radio, Emaus Radio, and Glos Wielkopolski – local Poznan daily.

“I realise that for many people sending SMS wishes to the Pope may be the only opportunity to express their feelings directly. I’m very happy that we can give them such a chance” – said Slawomir Kominski, One-2-One representative.

One-2-One Sp. z o.o., www.SuperSMS.pl