John Paul II Biography

John Paul II was the pope of the Catholic Church; he was also the head of the Sovereign of the Vatican. John Paul II is best known as the first non- Italian pope of the Catholic Church. He was also known for his advocacy for human rights. He was declared saint posthumously in the year 2013. He served as pope and head of the Vatican from 1978 until his death in 2005. Apart from being a vocal advocate for human rights, he was also known to have influenced world politics greatly. 

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Image of St John Paul II

Early Life of St John Paul II

He was born on May 18, 1920. He was born in Wadowice, Poland. At birth, he was named as Karol Józef Wojtyla. Karol Józef Wojtyla was born in a modest household. Karol Wojtyła and Emilia Kaczorowska were his parents. He had a particularly hard childhood. As mentioned in St John Paul II biography, his mother,  Emilia Kaczorowska, was a school teacher who died when he was very young. He was only eight years old when Emilia Kaczorowska died. 

Pope John Paul II not only suffered from the loss of his mother at a young age, but his brother also died when he was very young. He had a sister who died before Pope John Paul II was born. His sister was named Olga. His brother was named Edmund, and he shared a deep connection with his brother. His brother Edmund died from scarlet fever when Karol Józef Wojtyla was only 12 years old. 

As mentioned in the Pope John Paul II biography, is that he was baptised as an infant. He was only a month old when he was baptised. He attended his first communion at the age of 9 years old, and he was accepted eighteen years old. 

He was defined as an athletic child. He particularly excelled in sports like swimming and skiing. He was also good at his studies. To pursue his university studies, he left his hometown and moved to the town of Kraków. He attended the Jagiellonian University in 1938, and he had particularly developed an interest in art forms like theatrics and poetry. During his term in the university, he studied 15 languages which included,  Polish, Latin, Italian, English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, German, Luxembourgish, Dutch, Ukrainian, Serbo-Croatian, Czech, Slovak and Esperanto. The knowledge of these languages especially helped him in his later life while serving as a Pope for the Catholic Church.   

Important facts about John Paul II term at university include his opposition to compulsory military training. During that time, it was compulsory to know how to fire a weapon and was taught to university students, and John Paul II opposed firing a weapon. The school he attended, Jagiellonian University, was shut down by the Germans during the German occupation of Poland.

Determined to continue his study John Paul II joined the secret seminary run by the archbishop of Krakow. He was particularly trained in religious studies and philosophy by the archbishop of Krakow. He was ordained in 1946 after completing his studies after the German fled the city after losing the second world war. 

During the regiment of the German army in the city, everyone suffered great loss, including the young Pope. It was during this time that his father died. One of the lesser-known Pope John Paul facts includes his escape from the tragic day of “Black Sunday" on  6 August 1944. This day was called Black Sunday because of the mass execution of  600–800 Polish hostages by the German army as a way to curb the uprising protest. John Paul survived the massacre by hiding in the basement of his uncle’s house. He then escaped to the Archbishop's residence, where he lived till the German’s left the city.  He also helped a girl named d Edith Zierer, who had escaped from a Nazi labour camp in Częstochowa. He helped him secure her a safe passage. She later thanked and credited young  Wojtyła in her book and other official documents. 

Life as a Church Priest

After completing his studies and getting ordained in the year of 1946, he was sent to Rome to study Theology. He was sent at the expense of the church to study theology at the present day  Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas, which was known as Rome's Pontifical International Athenaeum Angelicum in 1946. He attended the institute in November 1946. During his term at the institute, he stayed in the Belgian Pontifical College. He remained under the rectorship of Maximilien de Furstenberg.

He earned his licence in July 1947. Following this, he earned his doctoral degree in theology on 14 June 1948. During his time as a student, he published his doctoral thesis named Doctrina de fide apud S. Ioannem a Cruce (which, when translated to English, is The Doctrine of Faith in St. John of the Cross). 

He returned back to Poland in 1948. Upon returning from Rome, he served in several parishes in Krakow and nearby areas. He was then ordained as a bishop of Ombi in 1958. He was then offered the position of archbishop of Krakow. He was designated as archbishop of Krakow in 1962, after six years of service as a bishop of Ombi. 

He was one of the prominent thinkers of the Catholic Church, according to St John Paul II biography. Because of this, he attended the Second Vatican Council, which is sometimes called Vatican II. it is also mentioned in St John Paul II biography books that it was during the Second Vatican Council, St. John Paul proposed two most important doctrines, these were named Decree on Religious Freedom (which, when translated in Latin, is Dignitatis Humanae) and the Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World.

The council started reviewing the doctrines, and the process continued for few years. During this, John Paul provided extraordinary assistance. Because of his hard work and brilliant insight into the position of the Vatican in the world, he was appointed as cardinal in 1967 by Pope Paul VI.

St John Paul II as Pope

John Paul made history in 1978 by becoming the first non-Italian Pope. He succeeded John Paul I, the pope of the Catholic church and the head of Vatican Sovereign before John Paul II was elected. The main supporters of John during the elections were  Giuseppe Siri, Stefan Wyszyński. Most of the cardinals of the United States of America were led by John Krol and some other moderate cardinal. He served as pope from 1978 till his death in 2005. 

During his term as pope, he also influenced world politics. He was a very vocal advocate of human rights. He openly criticised and was against the Apartheid in South Africa, and he was also a firm opposer of capital punishment. He canonised opposed the death penalty for any crime. He addressed the issue at a papal mass in St. Louis, Missouri, in the United States.

As a religious leader and the head of the Catholic Church, Pope John Paul II travelled to approximately 129 countries. During his visit to various countries, he mentioned the message of peace and love. He also worked towards creating harmony among different religions like Islam and Jewish. He was the first pope to visit the White House in October 1979, where he was greeted warmly by then-President Jimmy Carter. Following his visit to the United States, he also visited Mexico. He was also the first pope to travel to the United Kingdom in 1982, where he met Queen Elizabeth II, the Supreme Governor of the Church of England. He also visited and prayed in an Islamic mosque, in Damascus, Syria, in 2001. He visited the Umayyad Mosque, a former Christian church. 

Death and Legacy of The Pope

Pope John Paul II died on April 2, 2005, at his Vatican City residence. He was 84 years old during his time of death.his funeral was held on 8 April. More than three million people gathered to bid farewell to the religious leader, as mentioned in the Karol Wojtyla biography. According to St John Paul II biography, the official canonisations of Pope John Paul II occurred on April 27, 2014. This ceremony was attended by four popes. Pope Francis led the event to elevate Pope John Paul II and Pope John XXIII to sainthood, and Emeritus Pope Benedict also attended the ceremony.  

He was declared a saint on July 5, 2013, five years after his death. The main motto of the pope is mentioned in documents signed by the pope by Totus Tuus, which, when translated to English, refers to totally yours. He devoted his life to creating peace and respect among different religions.