The starting point of this article is the question of whether there is a connection between the Slavic theme in the early poetry of Karol Wojtyła and the papal teaching of John Paul II addressed to the Slavic nations. The main inspirations and ideas present in Wojtyla’s juvenilia are identified through the analysis of three aspects of his poetry: the creation of the subject, the literary kinship by choice and the historiosophical ideas evoked. The results of this comparative research indicates that the author’s poetic imagination is rooted primarily in the Bible and in the works of the Polish Romantic poets. A particularly privileged place here is occupied by Cyprian Norwid, the author of the poems Promethidion and Chopin’s Piano. The concept of nations and their historical mission in the papal teaching has numerous points in common with the Slavic thoughts of Adam Mickiewicz (in his Paris lectures) and Norwid in his poetry. The threads of selected homilies and the encyclical Slavorum Apostoli testify to this.