The Centro Giovanni Paolo II Research Center, located at 111 Lacson Street in Bacolod, will be inaugurated February 15, Monsignor Victorino Rivas, vicar general of the Diocese of Bacolod, said.

The family of the late Antonio and Gloria Esteban will turn over their ancestral home to the John Paul II National Institute for Marriage and the Family for its use as a research center, Rivas, who is also the director of the Institute, added, in a press release.

Gloria Esteban, a former vice governor of Negros Occidental, was one of the original benefactors of the John Paul II Institute, Rivas said.

“On their own, the Esteban family decided to donate their ancestral home to the JP II Institute,” he added.

Rivas said he was very happy that they can continue the legacy of Blessed John Paul II through this facility.

The Centro Giovanni Paolo II Research Center is one of the two facilities in support of the John Paul II Institute. The other one is the Centro Giovanni Paolo II Retreat and Resort at Brgy. Punta Taytay in Bacolod, which will open on February 14 with a Valentine celebration, he said.

The formal launch of the two facilities will be held during the Totus Tuus! Week slated from February 13 to 20, a weeklong celebration of the 31st anniversary of the visit to Bacolod of then Pope John Paul II on February 20, 1981.

Totus Tuus! Week will be highlighted by a national conference on nuptial theology on February 13 to 17 at the Planta Centro Bacolod Hotel and Residences.

The conference, titled “Blessed John Paul II’s Nuptial Theology: Call to Family Ministry, Agenda for Humanity” will be hosted by the Pope John Paul II National Institute for Studies on Marriage and the Family.

About 200 participants are expected to attend the conference, including the diocesan directors and executive officers of the Commission on Family and Life, heads of Family Life Movements, heads of Catholic schools, Family Life ministers, and clergy.

‘Totus Tuus’, a Latin phrase for “All Yours!” or “Completely Yours!,” means “a total commitment to God.” It was the motto of then Pope John Paul II during his Papacy, and was the people’s cry that rang out in the major streets of Bacolod as the Pope’s motorcade passed through in 1981, Rivas said.

The Sangguniang Panlungsod has unanimously passed a resolution declaring February 13 to 20, 2012 as the Blessed John Paul II Week in Bacolod.*

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