Karol Józef Wojtyła,
known as John Paul II
since his October 1978
election to the papacy,
was born in Wadowice, a
small city 50 kilometres
from Cracow, on May 18,
1920. He was the second
of two sons born to
Karol Wojtyła and Emilia
Kaczorowska. His mother
died in 1929. His eldest
brother Edmund, a doctor,
died in 1932 and his
father, a
non-commissio-ned army
officer died in 1941.
He made his First
Holy Communion at age 9
and was confirmed at 18.
Upon graduation from Marcin Wadowita high
school in Wadowice, he
enrolled in Cracow's
Jagiellonian University
in 1938 and in a school
for drama.
The Nazi occupation
forces closed the
university in 1939 and
young Karol had to work
in a quarry (1940-1944)
and then in the Solvay chemical
factory to earn his
living and to avoid
being deported to
Germany. In 1942, aware
of his call to the
priesthood, he began
courses in the
clandestine seminary of
Cracow, run by Cardinal
Adam Stefan Sapieha,
archbishop of Cracow. At
the same time, Karol
Wojtyła was one of the
pioneers of the "Rhapsodic
Theatre", also
clandestine.
After the Second
World War, he continued
his studies in the major
se-minary of Cracow,
once it had re-opened,
and in the faculty of
theology of the
Jagiellonian University,
until his priestly
ordination in Cracow on
November 1, 1946. Soon
after, Cardinal Sapieha
sent him to Rome where
he worked under the
guidance of the French
Dominican,
Garrigou-Lagrange. He
finished his doctorate
in theology in 1948 with
a thesis on the topic of
faith in the works of St.
John of the Cross. At
that time, during his
vacations, he exercised
his pastoral ministry
among the Polish
immigrants of France,
Belgium and Holland.
In 1948 he returned to
Poland and was vicar of
various parishes in
Cra-cow as well as
chaplain for the
university students
until 1951, when he took
up again his studies on
philosophy and theology.
In 1953 he defended a
thesis on "Evaluation of
the possibility of
founding a Catholic
ethic on the ethical
system of Max Scheler"
at Lublin Catholic
University. Later he
became professor of
moral theology and
social ethics in the
major seminary of Cracow
and in the Faculty of
Theology of Lublin.
On July 4, 1958, he was
appointed Auxiliary
Bishop of Cracow by Pope
Pius XII, and was
consecrated September
28, 1958, in Wawel
Cathedral, Cracow, by
Archbishop Baziak.
On January 13, 1964,
he was nominated
Archbishop of Cracow by
Pope Paul VI, who made
him a cardinal June 26,
1967. Besides taking
part in Vatican Council
II with an important
contribution to the
elaboration of the
Constitution Gaudium
et spes, Cardinal
Wojtyła participated in
all the assemblies of
the Synod of Bishops.
He was elected Pope on
October 16, 1978 and on
October 22 began His
Universal Pastoral
Ministery in the Church.
Pope John Paul II has
completed 104
pastoral visits outside
of Italy and 146
within Italy. As
Bishop of Rome he has
visited 317 of
the 332 parishes.
His principal documents
include 14
encyclicals, 15
apostolic exhortations,
11 apostolic
constitutions and 45 apostolic letters.
The Pope has also
published five books:
"Crossing the Threshold
of Hope" (October 1994);
"Gift and Mystery: On
the 50th Anniversary of
My Priestly Ordina-tion"
(November 1996); "Roman
Triptych - Meditations",
a book of poems (March
2003); "Rise, Let Us Be
On Our Way" (May 2004)
and "Memory and Identity"
(pubblication spring
2005).
John Paul II has
presided at 147
beatification ceremonies
(1,338 Blesseds
proclaimed) and 51 canonization
ceremonies (482
Saints) during his
pontificate. He has held 9 consistories in
which he created 231
(+ 1 in pectore)
cardinals. He has
also convened six
plenary meetings of the
Col-lege of Cardinals.
John Paul II has
presided at 15 Synods
of Bishops: six
ordinary (1980, 1983,
1987, 1990, 1994, 2001),
one extraordinary (1985)
and eight special (1980,
1991, 1994, 1995, 1997,
1998[2] and 1999).
No other Pope has
encountered so many
individuals like John
Paul II: to date, more
than 17,600,000
pilgrims have
participated in the
General Audiences
held on Wednesdays (more
than 1,160). Such figure
is without counting all
other special audiences
and religious ceremonies
held [more than 8
million pilgrims during
the Great Jubilee of the
Year 2000 alone] and the
millions of faithful met
during pastoral visits
made in Italy and
throughout the world. It
must also be remembered
the numerous government
personalities
encountered during 38
official visits and
in the 738 audiences
and meetings held with
Heads of State, and
even the 246
audiences and meetings
with Prime Ministers.
He died in Rome, in
Vatican, at 9.37 p.m. on
saturday April 2, 2005.
His funeral took place
in St. Peter's Square on
Aprile 8, 2005.
