Karol Józef Wojtyła, known as John Paul II since his election to the papacy in October 1978, was born in the Polish town of Wadowice, a small city 50 kilometers from Krakow, on May 18, 1920. He was the youngest of three children 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-commissioned army officer, died in 1941. A sister, Olga, had died before he was born.
“I lost my mother before my First Communion at the age of 9, and therefore I remember her less and am less aware of her contribution to my religious education, which was certainly very large.”
“My father was a military man by profession, and when he was widowed, his life became even more a life of constant prayer. Sometimes I happened to wake up at night and found my father on his knees, just as I always saw him on his knees in the parish church.”
“My brother Edmund worked in a hospital in Bielsko. I know he was very dedicated to the hospital and took his work among the sick very seriously. His premature departure left a deep mark on my heart. Seventy years after his death, I still remember him with fraternal love and entrust his soul to merciful God.”
He was baptized on June 20, 1920, in the parish church of Wadowice by Fr. Franciszek Zak. He received his First Holy Communion at age 9 and was confirmed at 18.
“When I look back, I see how the path of my life through the local environment, through the parish, through my family, leads me to one place, to the baptismal font in my parish church in Wadowice. By this baptismal font, I was accepted into the grace of God’s sonship and faith of my Redeemer, to the community of His Church on June 20, 1920. I kissed this baptismal font solemnly once, as Archbishop of Kraków in the millennium year of the Baptism of Poland. Later, I did it a second time, on the 50th anniversary of my baptism as a cardinal, and today, for the third time, I kissed this baptismal font, coming from Rome as the successor of St. Peter.”
Upon graduation from Marcin Wadowita High School in Wadowice, he enrolled in Krakow’s Jagiellonian University in 1938 and 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 avoid being deported to Germany.
In 1942, aware of his call to the priesthood, he began courses in the clandestine seminary of Krakow, run by Cardinal Adam Stefan Sapieha, Archbishop of Krakow. At the same time, Karol Wojtyła was one of the pioneers of the “Rhapsodic Theatre.”
After the Second World War, he continued his studies in the major seminary of Krakow, once it had re-opened, and in the faculty of theology of the Jagiellonian University. He was ordained to the priesthood by Archbishop Sapieha in Krakow on November 1, 1946.
Shortly afterward, 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 subject of faith in the works of St. John of the Cross (Doctrina de fide apud Sanctum Ioannem a Cruce). During this time, he also exercised his pastoral ministry among Polish immigrants in France, Belgium, and Holland during his vacations.
In 1948, he returned to Poland and served as vicar of various parishes in Krakow, as well as chaplain to university students. This period lasted until 1951 when he again took up his studies in philosophy and theology. In 1953, he defended a thesis on “the possibility of founding a Catholic ethic on the ethical system of Max Scheler” at Lublin Catholic University. Later, he became a professor of moral theology and social ethics in the major seminary of Krakow and the Faculty of Theology of Lublin.
On July 4, 1958, he was appointed titular bishop of Ombi and auxiliary of Krakow by Pope Pius XII and was consecrated on September 28, 1958, in Wawel Cathedral, Krakow, by Archbishop Eugeniusz Baziak.
On January 13, 1964, he was appointed Archbishop of Krakow by Pope Paul VI, who made him a cardinal on June 26, 1967, with the title of S. Cesareo in Palatio of the order of deacons, later elevated pro illa vice to the order of priests.
Besides taking part in Vatican Council II (1962-1965), where he made an important contribution in drafting the Constitution Gaudium et spes, Cardinal Wojtyła participated in all the assemblies of the Synod of Bishops.
The Cardinals elected him Pope at the Conclave of October 16, 1978, and he took the name of John Paul II. On October 22, he solemnly inaugurated his Petrine ministry as the 263rd successor to the Apostle Peter. His pontificate, one of the longest in the history of the Church, lasted nearly 27 years.
Driven by his pastoral solicitude for all Churches and a sense of openness and charity to the entire human race, John Paul II exercised the Petrine ministry with a tireless missionary spirit, dedicating all his energy to it. He made 104 pastoral visits outside Italy and 146 within Italy. As bishop of Rome, he visited 317 of the city’s 333 parishes.
He had more meetings than any of his predecessors with the People of God and the leaders of nations. More than 17,600,000 pilgrims participated in the General Audiences held on Wednesdays (more than 1,160), not counting other special audiences and religious ceremonies [more than 8 million pilgrims during the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000 alone], and the millions of faithful he met during pastoral visits in Italy and throughout the world. We must also remember the numerous government personalities he encountered during 38 official visits, 738 audiences, and meetings held with Heads of State, and 246 audiences and meetings with Prime Ministers.
His love for young people led him to establish the World Youth Days. The 19 WYDs celebrated during his pontificate brought together millions of young people from all over the world. At the same time, his care for the family was expressed in the World Meetings of Families, which he initiated in 1994.
John Paul II successfully encouraged dialogue with Jews and representatives of other religions, whom he several times invited to prayer meetings for peace, especially in Assisi.
Under his guidance, the Church prepared herself for the third millennium and celebrated the Great Jubilee of the year 2000 in accordance with the instructions given in the Apostolic Letter Tertio Millennio adveniente. The Church then faced the new epoch, receiving his instructions in the Apostolic Letter Novo Millennio ineunte, in which he indicated to the faithful their future path.
With the Year of the Redemption, the Marian Year, and the Year of the Eucharist, he promoted the spiritual renewal of the Church.
He gave an extraordinary impetus to Canonizations and Beatifications, focusing on countless examples of holiness as an incentive for the people of our time. He celebrated 147 beatification ceremonies during which he proclaimed 1,338 Blesseds and 51 canonizations for a total of 482 Saints. He made Thérèse of the Child Jesus a Doctor of the Church.
He considerably expanded the College of Cardinals, creating 231 Cardinals (plus one in pectore) in 9 consistories. He also called six full meetings of the College of Cardinals.
He organized 15 Assemblies of the Synod of Bishops – six Ordinary General Assemblies, one Extraordinary General Assembly, and eight Special Assemblies.
On October 16, 1981, he established the John Paul II Foundation, which with great commitment fulfills the goals that the Founder himself established.
His most important documents include 14 Encyclicals, 15 Apostolic Exhortations, 11 Apostolic Constitutions, and 45 Apostolic Letters.
He promulgated the Catechism of the Catholic Church in the light of Tradition as authoritatively interpreted by the Second Vatican Council. He also reformed the Eastern and Western Codes of Canon Law, created new institutions, and reorganized the Roman Curia.
He also published five books of his own: “Crossing the Threshold of Hope” (October 1994), “Gift and Mystery, on the fiftieth anniversary of my ordination as a priest” (November 1996), “Roman Triptych” poetic meditations (March 2003), “Rise, Let us Be on Our Way” (May 2004), and “Memory and Identity” (February 2005).
In the light of Christ risen from the dead, on April 2, 2005, at 9.37 p.m., while Saturday was drawing to a close and the Lord’s Day was already beginning, the Octave of Easter and Divine Mercy Sunday, the Church’s beloved Pastor, John Paul II, departed this world for the Father.
From that evening until April 8, the date of the funeral of the late Pontiff, more than three million pilgrims came to Rome to pay homage to the mortal remains of the Pope. Some of them queued for up to 24 hours to enter St. Peter’s Basilica.
On April 28, the Holy Father Benedict XVI announced that the normal five-year waiting period before beginning the cause of beatification and canonization would be waived for John Paul II. The cause was officially opened by Cardinal Camillo Ruini, vicar general for the diocese of Rome, on June 28, 2005.
The beatification ceremony of John Paul II took place on May 1, 2011, on Divine Mercy Sunday. The Beatification Mass at the Vatican was celebrated by several thousand Cardinals, Archbishops, and Bishops from all over the world. It was attended by one and a half million faithful.
On September 30, 2013, during the consistory, Pope Francis announced that John XXIII would be declared a saint along with John Paul II.
On April 27, 2014, on Divine Mercy Sunday, John Paul II was proclaimed a saint.
In the historic ceremony in St. Peter’s Square in Rome, more than 800,000 pilgrims from all over the world participated.
“We declare and define Blessed John XXIII and John Paul II to be saints and we enroll them among the saints, decreeing that they are to be venerated as such by the whole Church. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” – Pope Francis.