Vatican City, 26 April 2014 (VIS) –
Karol Jozef Wojtyla, known as John Paul II since his October 1978
election to the papacy, was born in the Polish town of Wadowice, a small
city fifty kilometres from Krakow, on 18 May 1920. He was the youngest
of three children born to Karol Wojtyla 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.
He
was baptised on June 20, 1920 in the parish church of Wadowice by Fr.
Franciszek Zak, 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 Krakow'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 Krakow, run by Cardinal Adam Stefan Sapieha,
archbishop of Krakow. At the same time, Karol Wojtyla was one of the
pioneers of the "Rhapsodic Theatre," also clandestine.
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
afterwards, 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). 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 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 "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 Krakow and in 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 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 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 to drafting the Constitution Gaudium et spes,
Cardinal Wojtyla participated in all the assemblies of the Synod of
Bishops.
The
Cardinals elected him Pope at the Conclave of 16 October 1978, and he
took the name of John Paul II. On 22 October, the Lord's Day, he
solemnly inaugurated his Petrine ministry as the 263rd successor to the
Apostle. 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 by a sense of openness
and charity to the entire human race, John Paul II exercised the Petrine
ministry with a tireless missionary spirit, dedicating it all his
energy. 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 1160), 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 brought 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 the Jews and with the
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 Therese 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 (1980, 1983, 1987, 1990, 1994 and 2001), one Extraordinary
General Assembly (1985) and eight Special Assemblies (1980,1991, 1994,
1995, 1997, 1998 (2) and 1999).
His
most important Documents include 14 Encyclicals, 15 Apostolic
Exhortations, 11 Apostolic Constitutions, 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.
As
a private Doctor 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 priest" (November 1996), "Roman
Triptych" poetic meditations (March 2003), "Arise, Let us Be Going" (May
2004) and "Memory and Identity" (February 2005).
In
the light of Christ risen from the dead, on 2 April a.D. 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, 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 up to twenty-four 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.
He was beatified by Pope Benedict XVI on 1 May 2011, who, in his homily, remembered him thus:
“Today
our eyes behold, in the full spiritual light of the risen Christ, the
beloved and revered figure of John Paul II. Today his name is added to
the host of those whom he proclaimed saints and blesseds during the
almost twenty-seven years of his pontificate, thereby forcefully
emphasizing the universal vocation to the heights of the Christian life,
to holiness, taught by the conciliar Constitution on the Church, Lumen
gentium”.
“In
his Testament, the new Blessed wrote: 'When, on 16 October 1978, the
Conclave of Cardinals chose John Paul II, the Primate of Poland,
Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski, said to me: "The task of the new Pope will be
to lead the Church into the Third Millennium"'. And the Pope added: 'I
would like once again to express my gratitude to the Holy Spirit for the
great gift of the Second Vatican Council, to which, together with the
whole Church - and especially with the whole episcopate - I feel
indebted. I am convinced that it will long be granted to the new
generations to draw from the treasures that this Council of the
twentieth century has lavished upon us. As a Bishop who took part in the
Council from the first to the last day, I desire to entrust this great
patrimony to all who are and will be called in the future to put it into
practice. For my part, I thank the Eternal Shepherd, who has enabled me
to serve this very great cause in the course of all the years of my
Pontificate'. And what is this 'cause'? It is the same one that John
Paul II presented during his first solemn Mass in Saint Peter's Square
in the unforgettable words: 'Do not be afraid! Open, open wide the doors
to Christ!' What the newly-elected Pope asked of everyone, he was
himself the first to do: society, culture, political and economic
systems he opened up to Christ, turning back with the strength of a
titan - a strength which came to him from God - a tide which appeared
irreversible. By his witness of faith, love and apostolic courage,
accompanied by great human charisma, this exemplary son of Poland helped
believers throughout the world not to be afraid to be called Christian,
to belong to the Church, to speak of the Gospel. In a word: he helped
us not to fear the truth, because truth is the guarantee of liberty. To
put it even more succinctly: he gave us the strength to believe in
Christ, because Christ is Redemptor hominis, the Redeemer of man. This
was the theme of his first encyclical, and the thread which runs though
all the others”.
“When
Karol Wojtyla ascended to the throne of Peter, he brought with him a
deep understanding of the difference between Marxism and Christianity,
based on their respective visions of man. This was his message: man is
the way of the Church, and Christ is the way of man. With this message,
which is the great legacy of the Second Vatican Council and of its
'helmsman', the Servant of God Pope Paul VI, John Paul II led the People
of God across the threshold of the Third Millennium, which thanks to
Christ he was able to call 'the threshold of hope'. Throughout the long
journey of preparation for the great Jubilee he directed Christianity
once again to the future, the future of God, which transcends history
while nonetheless directly affecting it. He rightly reclaimed for
Christianity that impulse of hope which had in some sense faltered
before Marxism and the ideology of progress. He restored to Christianity
its true face as a religion of hope, to be lived in history in an
'Advent' spirit, in a personal and communitarian existence directed to
Christ, the fullness of humanity and the fulfilment of all our longings
for justice and peace”.
credits: http://www.news.va/en/news/biography-of-pope-john-paul-ii
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