Saint John Paul II
Pope
- Feast Day
- October 22
- Life
- 1920–2005
- Canonized
- 2014
- Born
- Wadowice, Poland
Karol Józef Wojtyła was born at Wadowice in southern Poland on 18 May 1920. The death of his mother (1929), brother (1932), and father (1941), the German occupation of Poland and the Nazi closing of the universities all marked his youth. From 1942 he attended the clandestine seminary of Cardinal Adam Stefan Sapieha in Krakow while working in a quarry and then in a chemical factory. He was ordained priest at Krakow on 1 November 1946, completed doctoral studies in theology at the Angelicum in Rome (1948), and a second doctorate at Lublin (1953) on Max Scheler. From 1954 he taught ethics at the Catholic University of Lublin.
Named auxiliary bishop of Krakow in 1958 and archbishop in 1964, he attended all four sessions of the Second Vatican Council and contributed substantially to Lumen Gentium and Gaudium et Spes. Pope Paul VI created him cardinal in 1967. Elected pope on 16 October 1978, the first non-Italian since 1523, he chose to be inaugurated on 22 October. His pontificate of more than twenty-six years (the third longest in history after Saint Peter and Pope Pius IX) was marked by 104 international apostolic journeys, fourteen encyclicals, the new Code of Canon Law (1983), the new Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches (1990), the Catechism of the Catholic Church (1992), the Roman Synod's twenty-five sessions on social doctrine, theology of the body, family, life, and ecumenism. He survived an assassination attempt on 13 May 1981 in Saint Peter's Square. His public moral and political witness against communism, his active support of Solidarity in Poland, and his consistent defense of the dignity of human life from conception to natural death helped reshape the late twentieth century.
He died at the Apostolic Palace on the eve of Divine Mercy Sunday, 2 April 2005. Pope Benedict XVI beatified him on 1 May 2011. Pope Francis canonized him together with John XXIII on 27 April 2014. The 22 October Optional Memorial corresponds to the inauguration of his pontificate.
John Paul II's teaching, particularly the encyclicals Redemptor Hominis (1979), Veritatis Splendor (1993), Evangelium Vitae (1995), and Fides et Ratio (1998), and his weekly catecheses on the Theology of the Body (1979-1984), constitute a major Catholic synthesis for the close of the second Christian millennium. His pastoral motto Totus Tuus (totally yours), addressed to the Mother of God, governed his life.
Patronages
World Youth Day · families
From Saint John Paul II
"Be not afraid! Open wide the doors to Christ."
Catholic Churches Named After Saint John Paul II
20 parishes on Catholic Church Times share Saint John Paul II's name. Find their Mass times, confession schedules, and adoration hours:
- St. John Paul II Catholic Church — Mt. Olive, IL
- St. John Paul II Parish — Sorsogon, SORSOGON
- St. John Paul II Parish — Davao City, XI
- John Paul II Sub Parish of Sta. Cruz — Sta Cruz, DAVAO DEL SUR
- St. John Paul II Parish — Valladolid, NEGROS OCCIDENTAL
- St. John Paul II Parish — Antipolo, RIZAL
- St. John Paul II Mission Station — Vintar, ILOCOS NORTE
- Sr. John Paul II Parish — Kidapawan City, COTABATO PROVINCE
- St. John Paul II Parish — Roxas City, CAPIZ
- St. Francis of Assisi Church (St. John Paul II Parish) — Lincoln, NB
- St. Vincent de Paul Church (St. John Paul II Parish) — Oromocto, NB
- St John Paul II, Armadale and Toorak — Armadale and Toorak, VIC
- St. John Paul II — Tallahassee, FL
- Saint Pope John Paul II Catholic Church — Pagosa Springs, CO
- St. Bridget's Church (St. John Paul II Parish) — Gagetown, NB
- Holy Cross (St. John Paul II Parish) — South Portland, ME
- St. John Paul II — Sellersburg, IN
- St. John Paul II National Shrine — Washington, DC
- Saint Pope John Paul II — Yorba Linda, CA
- Saint John Paul II Catholic Church — Bigfork, MT
Sources