Pope John Paul II, canonised as Pope Saint John Paul II
Family
Karol Wojtyła's father - Karol senior - was born in Lipnik near Biała on 18 July 1879. At the age of 21, he was called up to the Imperial Army and began his military service in the 56th Infantry Regiment stationed in Wadowice (56 Galizisches Infanterieregiment 'graf Daun') and then, with the rank of senior private (gefreiter), was transferred to the Lvov Infantry Cadet School as an instructor. In 1904, platoon sergeant (zugsführer) Wojtyla returned to his home barracks in Wadowice.
Two years later, on 10 February 1906, at the Garrison Church of St Peter and St Paul in Kraków, Karol married Emilia Kaczorowska (1884-1929). Being an account officer, the father of the future Pope worked for the next few years in the regimental command, and the young couple's life went on between Wadowice and Kraków. In Kraków, Edmund Antoni, the Wojtyła's first son, was born on 28 August 1906. The family of the future saint moved permanently to Wadowice in 1913.
During the First World War, when Karol senior was temporarily evacuated to Hranice in Moravia, on 7 July 1916 in Biała, the only daughter of the Wojtyła's, Olga Maria, was born and died on the same day.
Wadowice
'[- -] here, in this city everything started. And life began, and school began, and study began, and theatre began. And the priesthood began'
(John Paul II, homily during his pilgrimage to his hometown, 16 June 1999)
Karol Józef Wojtyła - the future pope and saint - was born just after 5 p.m. on 18 May 1920 in a small flat rented by the Wojtyła family on the first floor of a tenement owned by the Jewish merchant Chiel Bałamuth. One entered the two-room flat at 7/4 Kościelna Street through the kitchen. First, however, one had to climb a winding staircase leading from a small courtyard to the balcony, where the front door was located. Looking out of the kitchen window onto Kościelna Street, one could see the cobbled street running down towards 3 Maja Street, where young Lolek played football with his friends. From the other windows, one could see the parish church and, on its wall, a sundial with the inscription 'Time escapes, eternity awaits'.
It was in the parish church of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary that the Wojtyła family baptised their second son. The sacrament was administered by military chaplain Father Franciszek Żak. The boy's godparents were Józef Kuczmierczyk, his mother's brother-in-law, and her sister, Maria Wiadrowska.
The first school of Karol, usually referred to as Lolek, was the four-year M.Wadowita Public Common School on the Market Square, located in the Magistrate's building. The young Wojtyla was a very talented and diligent pupil - at the end of each class he had all very good grades, and over the four years of his education he missed only 40 days of lessons!
The first years of the future pope's life were spent in the company of his nearest and dearest - his loving parents on the one hand, and his older brother Edmund (usually called Mundek) on the other. In 1924, Mundek graduated from the Wadowice secondary school and began five years of studies at the Faculty of Medicine at Jagiellonian University. Despite the age difference, he would take Lolek to football matches and on trips.
In Grade III, Karol and his schoolmates prepared for his First Confession and Holy Communion, which he took part in on 24 and 25 May, before the Feast of the Holy Trinity. However, this celebration was preceded by a family tragedy. In April 1929, Karol's mother Emilia died of myocarditis nephritis.
After Emilia's death, his father took even greater care of his younger son than before. They were very close to each other - Karol senior occupied a very important place in the life of the future Pope, as John Paul II mentioned on many occasions. His father's modesty, diligence, conscientiousness and piety shaped his character and spiritual formation. Together they took part in pilgrimages to Kalwaria Zebrzydowska, to the Marian shrine in Częstochowa, and at home they read the Holy Scriptures together. It was also thanks to his father that Karol became an ardent altar boy.
His spirituality in his teenage years was shaped not only by parish priests, especially the altar boys tutor, Father Kazimierz Figlewicz, and the secondary school catechist Father Edward Zacher, but also by religious congregations in Wadowice.
The Sisters of the Holy Family of Nazareth were close to him because of the orphanage they ran, which he attended as a boy. He often visited the Carmelite Fathers monastery 'na Górce', a place of special veneration of Our Lady of the Scapular. The Scapular devotion, promoted by the monks from the beginning of their stay in Wadowice, i.e. from 1892, was very popular among the faithful, also among young people who were encouraged to participate in the novena by the Wadowice catechists.
The scapular, a sign of Marian devotion hanging around the neck, was also widely accepted. Lolek Wojtyła also received the scapular and this most probably took place on 16 July 1930, on the feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. It was a great spiritual experience for the less than ten-year-old boy. The Carmelite scapular accompanied Wojtyla throughout his life - from Wadowice to Kraków and Rome.
In March 1930, when he was still a fourth-grade pupil at primary school, Lolek went with his father to Kraków for a very momentous ceremony. His older brother received his doctor's degree and the title of doctor of all medical sciences. The young doctor enthusiastically set to work, first at the Children's Clinic in Kraków and then, from April 1931, at the General Municipal Hospital in Bielsko as a second assistant. Lolek, for whom his older brother was a role model, used to visit Mundek in the Bielsko hospital. Unfortunately, after several months of work, Edmund contracted septic scarlet fever from one of the patients and died on 4 December 1932.
In June 1930, Karol took the entrance examinations to gymnasium and that same year began his eight-year education at the M.Wadowita State Gymnasium in Mickiewicza Street. As in primary school, Lolek was also a very good student in secondary school. He had a wide range of interests, but he excelled best in the humanities - his favourite subjects were Polish, Latin, Greek and religion.
It was during this time that a fascination with the theatre emerged in Karol Wojtyla's life. There he revealed his abilities as an actor, director and soon also as a poet. He performed in plays prepared by the Dramatic Circle, including Halina Królikiewiczówna and Kazimiera Żakowna.
'When we were in the fifth gymnasium' - he recalled with a sense of exuberance in 1999 during a pilgrimage to his hometown - 'we played Sophocles Antigone. Antigone - Halina, Ismena - Kazia, my God.... And I played Haymon - Oh, beloved sister ma Ismena, do you not see that of the Oedipal calamities none in the world is spared to us by fate? - I remember to this day ...'
Lolek also starred in 'Kordian' ( as Kordian), 'Maiden Vows' (Gucio), 'Balladyna' (Kirkor, Fon Kostryn), 'Sulkowski', 'Zygmind August' (Zygmind August), 'Judasz z Cariothu' and 'Nie-boska komedia' (Count Henry), which he co-directed. His love of the theatre and the art of the word resulted in unique bonds of friendship - on the basis of shared religious, patriotic and artistic ideals - which connected him to Mieczysław Kotlarczyk, teacher, director and actor, and the sculptor Wincenty Bałys.
The grammar school period also saw spiritual growth. In 1935 Karol was accepted into the Marian Sodality, of which he soon became secretary and twice president. In May 1938, during the canonical visitation of the Wadowice parish, the future Pope received the Sacrament of Confirmation from the hands of Archbishop Adam Stefan Sapieha and took the name Hubert. His witness was Józef Siłkowski, father of his school friend Zbigniew Siłkowski.
Kraków
'I have always been strongly attached to the city of my childhood and early youth, a city that has given me much, much. I have the impression that it has given me more than Krakow could have given.'
(Karol Wojtyła, Letter to the Kotlarczyks, 7 October 1940)
In May 1938, Karol passed his matriculation exams, which consisted of religion, Polish, German, Greek and Latin, receiving very good grades in all of them. In the summer, together with his father, he left his hometown and moved to Kraków, where, in October, he began studying Polish philology at the Faculty of Philology of the Jagiellonian University. In the spring of the following year, his first volume of poetry, 'Psałterz Dawidów / Slavonic Book' (also known as 'Renaissance Psałterz'), was written.
The period of Nazi occupation was a watershed moment in the young Wojtyla's life. Above all, he was no longer able to continue his studies in Polish philology. He continued to develop his artistic sensibility, co-creating an underground theatre of the word with Mieczysław Kotlarczyk - he played Bolesław Śmiały in Słowacki's 'Król Duch' (The Ghost King), the first production of the Rhapsodic Theatre. He also wrote dramas - 'David' (lost), 'Job' and 'Jeremiah', in which he wove events from Polish history into biblical themes. But his spiritual quest was already moving in a different direction by then.
In early 1940, Wojtyla met Jan Tyranowski, a Christian mystic who became the future pope's spiritual guide. It was thanks to Tyranowski, who worked in the quarries in Zakrzówek and, from 1941, at the 'Solvay' factory in Borek Fałęcki, that Wojtyla became acquainted with the works of the Carmelite mystics - St John of the Cross and St Teresa of Avila. It was then that his priestly vocation crystallised, and in October 1942 he entered the clandestine Metropolitan Seminary and began to study philosophy.
Before Karol made this decision, he lost the last person close to him. In February 1941, his beloved father, Karol senior, died after a long and difficult illness. The funeral service was conducted by Father Kazimierz Figlewicz, and the deceased was buried in the Rakowicki Cemetery.
Karol Wojtyła was ordained a priest by the Metropolitan of Krakow, Cardinal Sapieha, on 1 November 1946. A few days after his Primate Mass in the crypt of St Leonard on Wawel Hill, the young priest celebrated his Primacy in his home parish. The following years were filled with theological studies and pastoral work.
At the end of 1946, Karol Wojtyla went to Rome, where he studied at the Athenaeum Angelicum, while also travelling in the countries of Western Europe - France, Belgium, the Netherlands. He concluded his studies on the writings of the Carmelite mystic St. John of the Cross with a doctorate ('The Concept of Faith in St. John of the Cross') in theology, defended in June 1948 at the Faculty of Theology of the Jagiellonian University.
After his studies, Fr Wojtyła was assigned to work at the parish of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Niegowici (1948-1949) and as a catechist at schools in Wiatrowice, Pierzchów, Cichawa and Nieznanowice. and then to pastoral work at the parish of St Florian in Kraków (1949-1951). The young curate quickly gathered a group of students around him as part of the academic ministry. Karol Wojtyła, nicknamed 'Uncle', organised numerous mountain hikes, canoeing trips and winter skiing trips for his 'Family', which integrated the group and were a kind of retreat.
In the academic year 1953/1954, the future Pope began lecturing in social ethics at the Faculty of Theology of the Jagiellonian University. This was at the same time the last year of the Faculty's existence, which was liquidated by the communist authorities. From 1954, Wojtyla lectured at the Theological Seminary in Kraków and at the Catholic University of Lublin.
By a decision of Pope Pius XII in 1958, Karol Wojtyła was appointed auxiliary bishop of the archdiocese of Kraków, and in 1962, after the death of Archbishop Eugeniusz Baziak, he was appointed chapter vicar - temporary administrator of the archdiocese of Kraków. As early as 30 December 1963, Pope Paul VI decided to appoint Bishop Wojtyła as Archbishop Metropolitan of Kraków, and the ceremonial ingress to Wawel Cathedral took place in March of the following year.
All these events were celebrated solemnly in his home town. The bishop himself, and later the archbishop, used every possible opportunity to come to Wadowice, although as the years went by and he had more and more responsibilities, this became increasingly difficult. Among other things, he visited the parish during the parish mission (December 1960), celebrated his episcopal primacy here (June 1964) and took part in the decanal millennium celebrations (November 1966). Archbishop Wojtyła also came to his home town on 2 July 1966 and celebrated Mass with a sermon to mark the 100th anniversary of the Wadowice secondary school. However, the school's extra-church jubilee celebrations were cancelled by the party and educational authorities, as the Archbishop had announced his participation in the alumni reunion.
Not only did the Archbishop of Kraków efficiently lead the Archdiocese under his authority, but he was becoming a well-known figure outside the country. Participating in the Second Vatican Council, he was one of its most active participants. His speeches on the sources of Revelation, the clergy, the liturgy, the dignity of the human person, the apostolate of the laity and ecumenism were understandably praised by reformed theologians and Pope Paul VI himself. The Council's decisions were to become the benchmark of John Paul II's future pontificate.
In June 1967, during a consistory in the Aula Pia at the Vatican, Archbishop Wojtyła accepted the cardinal's hat from the hands of Paul VI, thus becoming the youngest cardinal. The 1970s were filled with pastoral work and trips abroad (including to Italy, Canada and the United States). At that time, he convened the 44th Synod of the Archdiocese of Kraków (1972-1979), so different from the earlier ones in that it was attended by the laity (the Secular Apostolate Commission).
The last time before his election to the Holy See, Cardinal Wojtyła visited his hometown on 29 March 1978, attending the funeral of Anna Siłkowska, wife of his school friend Zbigniew.
Rome
"I come to you from a distant country."
(John Paul II, Rome, 16 October 1978)
Pope Paul VI died in June 1978. The conclave following his death lasted nearly a month and the College of Cardinals elected the Patriarch of Venice, Cardinal Albino Luciani, who took the name John Paul I, as head of the Church. 'The Smiling Pope', as the cheerful and affectionate pope was called, died after only 33 days of pontificate. Another conclave was called, which met from 14 to 16 October. On the last day, the choice was made - on 16 October 1978, 103 out of 111 cardinals decided that Karol Wojtyła, a Kraków cardinal, would become the new Bishop of Rome, taking the name John Paul II (Ioannes Paulus Secundus). He was the first pope from Poland, the first non-Italian pope since 1522, and under the conditions of the Cold War reality of the time, a pope from a country behind the 'Iron Curtain' sat on the Holy See.
The pontificate of John Paul II was one of the longest and at the same time one of the most groundbreaking in the history of the Church. It was marked above all by apostolic journeys. 'The Pilgrim Pope' visited all continents and 135 countries of the world during 104 pilgrimages, some of them repeatedly - he went to his homeland eight times.
Working for peace and reconciliation between religions, he was the 'Pope of Ecumenism'. In February 1986 - as the first head of the Catholic Church - he visited a synagogue in Rome, and in October of the same year, he brought together in Assisi during the 'World Day of Prayer for Peace' representatives of 47 religious communities and 13 world religions. He appealed for peace during all armed conflicts at the turn of the century - from the Falklands War to the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center.
As head of the Church, he issued 14 encyclicals and dozens of exhortations, constitutions and apostolic letters. He convened 6 special assemblies of the Synod of Bishops, discussing the problems of Europe, Africa, America, Asia, Oceania and Lebanon. He appointed a total of 232 cardinals - more than any pope before him.
He was a great advocate for the participation of young people in the life of the Church - in March 1985 he inaugurated the 'World Youth Day' in Rome, which in subsequent years brought together ever larger crowds of young people. On 15 January 1995, nearly 5 million World Youth Day participants gathered around the Pope in Luneta Park in Manila, Philippines - the largest gathering of people in the history of the world.
As 'Pope of the Saints and Blesseds', he has elevated more people to the altars than any of his predecessors. He canonised 482 Blesseds and beatified 1,338 Servants of God.
The intensity of his pontificate, the effects of the attempt on his life by Mehmet Ali Agca in St Peter's Square at the Vatican on 13 May 1981, and illnesses (including Parkinson's disease) adversely affected the Pope's health. The last months of his life were marked by great suffering. At the same time, the Pope's attitude towards his own weakness became a symbol of dignified suffering for the sick. John Paul II died on 2 April 2005 as a result of complications from influenza, which he had contracted in February.
His embalmed body was put on public display in the Clementine Hall of the Apostolic Palace and later in St Peter's Basilica. The funeral ceremony, presided over by Cardinal Josef Ratzinger, took place on 8 April.
They were attended by, among others, 200 presidents and prime ministers, as well as representatives of various religions, including Muslims and Jews. In St Peter's Square, 300,000 faithful gathered, and throughout Rome, nearly 5 million people, including 1.5 million Poles, watched the funeral on special telebims. After the ceremony, the coffin was deposited in the Vatican Grottoes.
The beatification process of the Polish Pope began with the consent of Benedict XVI just two months after the death of John Paul II, bypassing the canonical procedures mandating a five-year waiting period. The miracle necessary for the beatification through the intercession of the Servant of God was approved by the Congregation for the Causes of Saints in January 2011, and it was the healing of the French nun Marie Simon-Pierre Normand from Parkinson's disease. The ceremony of beatification took place on 1 May 2011, the Feast of Divine Mercy, in St Peter's Square in Rome. Two years later, on 5 July 2013, Pope Francis decreed a miracle through the intercession of the blessed Pope - the healing of a Costa Rican lawyer, Floribeth Mora Diaz, suffering from a brain aneurysm. On 27 April 2014, John Paul II was canonised. The saint's tomb is now located in St Peter's Basilica, in the Chapel of St Sebastian.
John Paul II and Wadowice
There is a museum in Wadowice dedicated to the life and pontificate of Saint John Paul II, which dates back to the 1980s. On 18 May 1984, the papal museum at 7 Kościelna Street was officially opened by Cardinal Franciszek Macharski. From the very beginning, the Nazareth nuns took care of the flat made available to visitors. Extensive renovation of the building began in 2010, during which the exhibition was temporarily moved to the Catholic House. After several years of construction work, the entire building (more than 1,000 m²) was adapted for the new museum. The opening of the new exhibition took place on 9 April 2014.
John Paul II has been an honorary citizen of the city (since 2 June 1981) and its patron (since 18 May 2012). Amongst others, the following have been named after him: Wadowice Market Square (now John Paul II Square), Primary School No. 1 on the Pod Skarpą housing estate and the County Hospital.
His parents and brother Edmund also have their own street in the town.