Pope John Paul II Biography

Pope Jon Paul II is credited with doing things that other Pope’s have not been able to do. Apart from being the leader of more than one billion Catholics all over the world, he is considered to be a true world statesman. But Pope John Paul II had very humble beginnings. He was born Karol Józef Wojtyla on May 18, 1920 in Poland.

As a young priest Karol became the chaplain to college students at St. Florian's Church in Krakow. At the time he was pursuing his Phd. in Philosophy at the Jagiellonian University. He later went on to become a visiting professor at the Catholic University of Lublin. Karol was a good linguist; he was conversant with seven different languages.

Karol Wojtyla became Pope John Paul II in 1978. The name John Paul II was chosen as a tribute to the previous Pope who was in office for a mere thirty four days. Pope John Paul II was the first non Italian Pope since Adrian VI in 1523. At the age of fifty-eight he was also the youngest Pope in one hundred and thirty two years. In 1978, the Roman Catholic Church was not exactly in the pink of health. There was turmoil within the Church because of the new reforms by the Vatican Council II. The outside world was grappling with the Vietnam war, political scandals, the arms race and the cold war. The church had lost thirty three percent of its priests. There was a danger that the Church would no longer be relevant to the world especially the youth.

Pope John Paul II met these challenges head-on. He began visiting countries and communicating with people in manner that was unrivalled by any of his predecessors. He made more trips abroad than all of his predecessors put together. Pope John Paul II was given the moniker, the Pilgrim Pope. He was also extremely media savvy. All messages from the Vatican were transformed into various media and transmitted all over the world. He got rid of the ivory tower syndrome that had afflicted the Vatican. Pope John Paul II actively protested against and criticized dictators such as Alfred Stroessner, Augusto Pinochet and Ferdinand Marcos. His encouragement of the rebel movements against these dictators gave the movement the much-needed legitimacy that helped in overthrowing the Governements.

Pope John Paul II played a pivotal role in the abolishment of communism in Poland. There are many other firsts to his credit. In May 1999 Pope John Paul II became the first ever Pope to visit Romania after the Great Schism in 1054. Pope John Paul II became the first pope ever to preach in a Lutheran church. On 10 July 1995, he released a letter to "every woman" to apologize for the injustices committed against women in the name of Christ. Pope John Paul II personally performed three exorcisms during his tenure as pope. Pope John Paul II was instrumental in establishing World Youth day in 1984. On January 15th, 1995 he preached to the largest crowd ever when he offered mass to an estimated gathering of five million people in Luneta Park, Manila. The Pope has been a prolific writer throughout his life. His encyclicals, letters and other writings fill more than 150 volumes. Pope John Paul II is the first Pope to whom Marvel Inc. had dedicated an entire comic strip. He has been referred to as John Paul the Great.

All these achievements have not come without sacrifices. On 13 May 1981, Mehmet Ali Agca, a Turkish gunman shot and critically wounded John Paul II in St. Peters Square. A year later he was almost assassinated again when a Spanish priest called Juan María Fernández y Krohn tried to stab him with a bayonet. The priest was highly opposed with the new reforms that had taken place.

There are areas where the Pope has been criticized. He has been rejected every form of contraception and abortion. Pope John Paul II views homosexuality as unnatural and a harmful trend. He has been accused of being dictator within the church. This was demonstrated by the excommunication of the Sri Lankan priest Father Tissa Balasuriya. His stand that there are some truths that are unalterable has come for criticism. Pope John Paul II’s handling of the greatest controversy to rock the Roman Catholic Church has not gone down well with many people. He was not quick enough to react to the sex abuse scandal involving young boys and priests.