A Tribute to His Holiness, Pope John Paul II

Heart to Heart A Tribute To His Holiness, Pope John Paul II

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His Holiness Pope John Paul IIKarol Wojtyla

Bishop of RomeVicar of Jesus Christ

Successor of Saint PeterServant of the Servants of God

Born: May 18, 1920Ordained Priest: November 1, 1946

Ordained Bishop: July 4, 1958Created Cardinal: June 26, 1967Elected Pope: October 16, 1978

Installed as Pope: October 22, 1978Died: April 2, 2005

A Final PrayerPope John Paul II

I leave you now with this prayer: that the Lord Jesus will reveal Himself to

each one of you, that He will give youthe strength to go out and profess that

you are Christian, that He will show you that He alone can fill your hearts.

Accept His freedom and embrace His truth, and be messengers of the

certainty that you have been truly liberated through the death and

resurrection of the Lord Jesus. This will be the new experience, the powerful

experience, that will generate, through you, a more just society and a better world.

God bless you and may the joy of Jesus be always with you!


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The outpouring of compassion from people all over the world during our Holy Father’s final hours reminds us of the message of the gospel that he brought to people everywhere who were without hope. “We are all one family, all beloved children of our heavenly Father. We must learn to love one another as the Lord loves us.”

Through the suffering of his final days it is reported that he prayed with a deep spirit of faith. He asked that those in attendance not weep for him. “I am happy, and so must you be as well. Let us pray together in joy.” Thousands of young people stayed throughout the night near the Holy Father’s residence when it was announced that his death was imminent. He expressed gratitude for their presence, and taught them even in his final days as he had so often done at World Youth Congresses. “Do not be afraid. The Lord is with us, and loves us.”

The Saint Vincent Community joins with people of all faiths all over the world in prayer of gratitude for this good man — a man of faith, hope, and love.

Archabbot Douglas R. Nowicki, O.S.B.

HearttoHeart,from the Latin

“Cor ad Cor Loquitur,” or “Heart Speaks to Heart,” is the motto of Archabbot Douglas R. Nowicki,

O.S.B. It refers to the Archabbot’s prayer that giving and receiving

authentic love may always be the chief characteristic of the Saint

Vincent monastic community. This was also the motto of

Cardinal John Newman.

Publisher Archabbot Douglas R.

Nowicki, O.S.B.

Development DirectorWilliam P. Malloy

Director of Archabbey Public Relations

Kimberley A. Metzgar

Contributors to this issue:Br. Bonaventure Curtis, N.O.S.B.

Rev. Omer U. Kline, O.S.B.Rev. Peter Augustine Pierjok, N.O.S.B.

Sarah Yaple

Cover photo:Pope John Paul II, Mass of Pardon,

December 3, 2000.

All photos printed with permission of L’Osservatore Romano, the

official newspaper of the Vatican, unless otherwise indicated.

Text selections from the writings and speeches of Our Holy Father Pope John Paul II. Biographical data from the Vatican website.

Saint Vincent Archabbey300 Fraser Purchase

Road, Latrobe,Pennsylvania 15650-2690

724-805-2601kim.metzgar@email. stvincent.edu http://benedictine. stvincent.edu/

archabbey/

Pope John Paul II: A Prophet of Hope

“A special greeting goes to Saint Vincent Archabbey. Upon all, I invoke the grace and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ.” — Pope John Paul II, September 18, 1996.


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• Karol Józef Wojtyla born May 18, 1920, in Wadowice, Poland, and baptized in the Church of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary on June 20, 1920.

• Red Army invasion of Europe repelled at the “Mir-acle on the Vistula,” August 16, 1920.

• Emilia Kaczorowska Woj-tyla, mother, died April 13, 1929.

• Edmund Wojtyla, older brother, died December 5, 1932.

• Confi rmed May 3, 1934.• Graduated from high

school May 27, 1938, and was class valedictorian.

• Moved with his father to Kraków, August 1938, where he began studies at the Jagi-ellonian University.

• Germany invaded Poland September 1, 1939, beginning WWII.

• Jagiellonian University professors arrested and deported November 6, 1939; Began underground stud-ies and cultural resistance activities.

• Began work as a quarry-man September 1940 at the Zakrzówek mine.

• Father died February 18, 1941.

“The Church, immersed in civil

society, does not seek any type of political

power in order to carry out her mission; she wishes only to be

the fruitful seed of everyone’s good by her presence in the

structures of society.” — Homily in Santiago, Cuba

January 24, 1998


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Fidel Castro welcomes the Holy Father to Cuba

81st Apostolic Pilgrimage

“Listen, then, to the voice of Christ.”

— To the Youth of CubaJanuary 23, 1998


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• Parish priests arrested by the Gestapo May 23, 1941.

• Accepted by Archdiocese of Kraków, Fall 1942, as a clandestine seminarian and began underground studies in philosophy.

• Ordained a priest by Car-dinal Sapieha November 1, 1946.

• Received doctoral degree from Jagiellonian University Faculty of Theology Decem-ber 26, 1948.

• Appointed to the phi-losophy department of the Catholic University of Lublin October 12, 1954.

• Appointed Chair of Ethics at the Catholic University of Lublin December 1, 1956.

• Named auxiliary bishop of Kraków July 4, 1958, by Pope Pius XII.

• Began celebrating Christmas midnight Mass in an open fi eld in Nowa Huta December 24, 1959.

• His book, Love and Responsibility, is published in 1960.

• Vatican II opened October 11, 1962.

• Pope John XXIII died June 3, 1963. He is succeeded by Pope Paul VI on June 21.

• Bishop Wojtyla entered the Council debate on “the Church as the People of God.”

• Installed as Archbishop of Kraków March 8, 1964.

Holy Father in AustriaJune 19-21, 1998

83rd Apostolic Pilgrimage

“Vocations are obtained from God thanks to prayer. I

invite you to ask, with fervor and constancy,

for the reaping of new vocations to the

priesthood and to consecrated life from

the Master.” — Homily, Saint Polten, Austria

June 20, 1998


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• Poland celebrated the millennium of its Christianity 1966.

• Created Cardinal by Pope Paul VI June 28, 1967.

• Broke ground for Ark Church in Nowa Huta Octo-ber 14, 1967.

• Defied Czechoslova-kian communist regime, as speaker at the funeral of Cardinal Stefan Trochta in Litomerice April 16, 1974.

• Preached Lenten retreat to Pope Paul VI and the Roman Curia March 7-13, 1976.

• Dedicated the Ark Church in Nowa Huta May 15, 1977.

• Defended basic human rights of Poles during Kraków’s annual Corpus Christi procession May 25, 1978.

• Paul VI died August 6, 1978, at Castel Gandolfo and was buried in St. Peter’s Basilica on August 12.

• College of Cardinals elected Albino Luciani as pope August 25, 1978; Luciani selected the unprec-edented double-name, John Paul I, and declined the papal tiara at his installation Mass on September 3.

• Pope John Paul I died September 28, 1978.

• Conclave opened Octo-ber 14, 1978.

• Karol Wojtyla elected pope October 16, 1978, takes the name “John Paul II.”

Holy Father in MexicoMay 8, 1990

47th Apostolic Pilgrimage

“Catholics of Mexico, men and

women ... you cannot remain indifferent to the sufferings of

your brothers, to poverty, corruption,

outrageous acts against truth and

against human rights.”


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• Pope John Paul II sol-emnly inaugurates his minis-try as universal pastor of the Church October 22, 1978.

• The KGB and the Cen-tral Committee of the Soviet Communist Party commis-sion analyzed Karol Wojtyla’s election as pope in October of 1978.

• Soviet foreign minister Andrei Gromyko visited Pope John Paul II in the Vatican January 24, 1979.

• First pilgrimage to Poland June 2, 1979.

• Fourteen new cardinals created June 30, 1979, at fi rst consistory.

• Made fi rst pilgrimage to the United States October 1, 1979.

• Urged reexamination of the Galileo case by the Church November 29, 1979.

• The international Synod of Bishops considered the Christian family in the modern world September 26, 1980.

• Gdansk shipyard strike, August 14, gave birth to Solidarity trade union and movement.

• Message to Polish Church leaders supported strikers demands on August 20, 1980.

• Polish bishops’ confer-ence supported strikers’ call for independent unions on August 27, 1980.

Brazil


“Faith gives us a glimpse of the

face of Christ.”


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• Warsaw Pact invasion of Poland halted by Soviet government, December 5, 1980.

• Wrote Leonid Brezh-nev December 16, 1980, in defense of Polish sover-eignty.

• Met Solidarity delegation at the Vatican January 15-18, 1981.

• Soviet press intensi-fied attacks on John Paul II because of Bydgoszcz crisis in March of 1981.

• Pope John Paul II shot May 13, 1981, in St. Peter’s Square by Mehmet Ali Agca.

• First Solidarity national congress opened September 5, 1981, in Gdansk.

• Formal written verdict in Agca’s trial, given on Sep-tember 25, 1981, suggested a plot to assassinate the Pope.

• Papal letter to Jaruzelski on December 18, 1981, urged end to violence and creation of a national dialogue.

• Met President Ronald Reagan June 7, 1982.

• Canonized St. Maximilian Kolbe as a martyr on October 10, 1982.

• General Jaruzelski for-mally lifted “state of war” in Poland, July 21, 1983.

Holy Father and Mother Teresa of CalcuttaGeneral Audience

May 25, 1983

“In a world which is too often forgetful

of spiritual realities, you are called to bear

prophetic witness to the primacy of

God and to the transcendent human vocation which alone reveals life’s meaning

and purpose.”


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• Lech W a l e s a a w a r d e d Nobel Peace Prize, Octo-ber 5, 1983.

• Sent letter to Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping, November 16, 1983, request-ing contact with the Chinese government.

• Visited Mehmet Ali Agca in prison on December 27, 1983.

• Father Jerzy Popieluszko murdered by Polish state security officers, October 19, 1984.

• Addressed 80,000 young Muslims in Casablanca August 19, 1985.

• Marked the twentieth anniversary of “Nostra Aetate,” with an address to the International Catholic-Jewish Liaison Committee on October 28, 1985.

• Addressed the Roman Jewish community at the Synagogue of Rome on April 13, 1986.

• Wrote letter to Mikhail Gorbachev on June 7, 1988, indicating openness to a wide-ranging conversation.

• Counseled Andrei Sakha-rov in the Vatican, February 1989.

• Polish roundtable nego-tiations resulted in partially-free elections on June 4, swept by Solidarity.

• Full diplomatic relations established July 17, 1989, between Poland and the Holy See.

Holy Father in PolandMay 31 to June 10, 1997


“Strong faith, from which is born limitless

hope, a virtue so needed today, frees man from fear and

gives him the spiritual strength to resist all

life’s storms.”


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Prayer for Peace

“O God, hear myvoice and grant unto the world

Your everlasting peace.”


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“I leave you with the reminder and promise

of the farewell words of Jesus, who

illiminates the future and revives our hope: ‘And surely I am with you always, to the very

end of the age.” — (Mt. 28, 20)

• Preached at the closing Mass for second international World Youth Day, Santiago de Compostela, Spain, on August 20, 1989.

• Tadeusz Mazowiecki became post-war Poland’s first non-communist prime minister on September 12, 1989.

• Letter from Cardinal Frantisek Tomasek aligned the Catholic Church with Czechoslovakia’s Velvet Revolution on November 24, 1989.

• Received Mikhail Gor-bachev at the Vatican on December 1, 1989.

• Roman Catholic/Russian Orthodox consultation in Moscow failed to resolve the situation of the renascent Greek Catholic Church, Ukraine, on January 12, 1990.

• The Holy See established diplomatic relations with the Union of Soviet Social-ist Republics on March 1, 1990.

• Pilgrimage to Czechoslo-vakia, April 21, 1990.

• Sunday Angelus address on August 26, 1990, set the framework for the Holy See’s response to the Persian Gulf crisis.

• Sent letters to presidents Saddam Hussein and George Bush on January 15, 1991, urging a negotiated settle-ment to the Gulf crisis.

• Addressed third inter-national World Youth Day in Czestochowa, Poland, August 14, 1991.


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Holy Father in MexicoJanuary 25, 1999



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Holy Father in the United StatesOctober 7, 1995


“I recommend a special prayer to the families: the one we have

just recited, the Rosary. And in a special way, the joyous mysteries,

which help us meditate on the Holy Family of Nazareth.”

The Luminous MysteriesIntroduced by the Holy Father for the new millennium

• Baptism of Jesus in the Jordan• Manifestation of Jesus at the Wedding at Cana

• Proclamation of the Kingdom of God• Transfiguration of Jesus

• Institution of the Eucharist


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• Ecumenical Patriarch Dimi-trios I died October 2, 1991, and was succeeded on Octo-ber 22 by Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I.

• Holy See recognized the independence of Croatia and Slovenia on January 13, 1992.

• Announced a World Day of the Sick to be observed annu-ally on February 11, feast of Our Lady of Lourdes.

• The Holy See established full diplomatic relations with Mexico on September 21, 1992.

• Participated in Fourth Gen-eral Conference of Latin Ameri-can bishops in Santo Domingo, October 9-14, 1992.

• Received report of the papal commission on the Gali-leo case. Urged new dialogue between science and religion on October 31, 1992.

• Asserted a “duty” of “humanitarian intervention” in cases of impending genocide on December 5, 1992.

• Public presentation of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, December 7, 1992.

• Declared the “Hour of the Laity in Polish Catholicism” on January 12, 1993.

• Condemns persecution of Sudanese Christians in address at Khartoum during Tenth African pilgrimage, Feb-ruary 10, 1993.

• On April 9, 1993, wrote the Carmelite nuns living in a convent just outside the Aus-chwitz concentration camp asking them to continue their ministry in a new location.

Pope John Paul II at the Holy DoorChristmas Eve, 1999

“To believe in Christ means to desire unity; to desire unity means to desire the Church; to desire the Church means to desire the

communion of grace which corresponds to the Father’s plan from

all eternity.”


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• Ordained four new bishops in Albania April 25, 1993.

• Made a most vigorous pro-test against the Mafia during three-day pilgrimage to Sicily May 8-10, 1993.

• At the Roman Catholic/Orthodox consultation in Balamand, Lebanon, in June of 1993, attempted to repair ecumenical divisions of post-communist period.

• Pilgrimage to Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia Septem-ber 4, 1993.

• Fourth international World Youth Day in Denver, Colo-rado, August 12-15, 1993.

• “Fundamental Agreement” between the Holy See and the State of Israel signed on December 30, 1993.

• Condemned the idolatry of nationalism in his annual address to the diplomatic corps on January 15, 1994.

• Rededicated the Sistine Chapel April 8, 1994, following restoration of Michelangelo’s frescoes.

• Publishes Crossing the Threshold of Hope, October 19, 1994.

• “Common Christological Declaration” with the Assyrian Church of the East, November 11, 1994, ended 1,500 years of theological estrangement.

• The Holy See established “official relations” with the Pal-estine Liberation Organization on October 25, 1994.

• Ecumenical Patriarch Bar-tholomew I visited the Vatican June 27, 1995.

• Fourth World Conference on Women opened in Beijing on September 4, 1995.

“Compassionate love knows no enemies, only brothers and

sisters; it is universal.”— John Paul II

on Reconciliation


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• Celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of his ordination with priestly golden jubilar-ians from around the world on November 7, 1996.

• Published his vocational memoir, Gift and Mystery, November 15, 1996.

• Hosted Holocaust Memo-rial Concert April 7, 1994, in the Paul VI Audience Hall.

• Mother Teresa of Calcutta died on September 5, 1997.

• Addressed Vatican-spon-sored symposium on “The Roots of Anti-Judaism in the Christian Milieu,” October 31, 1997.

• History’s fi rst papal pil-grimage to Cuba, January 21, 1998.

• The Holy See’s Commis-sion for Religious Relations with the Jews issues “We Remember: A Refl ection on the Shoah,” March 16, 1998.

• Opening of the Holy Door at Saint Peter’s Basilica, January 1, 2000.

• In the Paul VI Hall, Com-memoration of Abraham “Our Father in the Faith,” as the fi rst gesture of his jubilee pil-grimage to the places linked with the history of salvation, February 22, 2000.

• Visit of the President of South Korea, Kim Dae-jung, March 4, 2000.

• Ecumenical Commemora-tion of the Witnesses to the Faith of the 20th century, held at the Coliseum, Rome, May 7, 2000.

Benin, Uganda, Sudan, Africa, 1993


“Let us give thanks for all those who

have followed the work of the martyrs by committing them

to building a truly Catholic and African

Church.”


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Holy Father at Wailing Wall, Jerusalem

91st Apostolic Pilgrimage

“God of our Fathers ... We are deeply saddened by the

behavior of those who in the course

of history have caused these children

of Yours to suffer and, asking Your

forgiveness, we wish to commit ourselves to genuine brotherhood with the people of the

Covenant. ”

• John Paul II receives in audi-ence the President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, June 5, 2000.

• Clemency granted to Ali Agca by the President of Italy on June 13, 2000. Pope John Paul II expressed his satisfaction with the clemency.

• June 18-25 marked the cel-ebration of the 43rd International Eucharistic Congress in Rome.

• Visit of H.M. Queen Elizabeth II of England and of H.R.H. Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, on October 17, 2000.

• His Holiness Karekin II, Catholicos of All Armenians, visits the Holy Father and the Church of Rome on November 8, 2000, to sign the joint com-munique.

• Conclusion of the Greater Jubilee of the Year 2000 and closing of the Holy Door of Saint Peter’s Basilica on January 1, 2001.

• Beatification of 233 Servants of God, martyrs in Spain from 1936 to 1939 on March 11, 2001.

• Denounces terrorist attacks upon the United States, Septem-ber 11, 2001.

• Apostolic Visit in Toronto for the XVII World Youth Day, Guate-mala City and Mexico City, July 23 to August 2, 2002.

• An honorary citizenship of Rome is conferred on Pope John Paul II, October 31, 2002.

• Visit to the Italian Parliament in a public session held in the Palace of Montecitorio, Rome, November 14, 2002.


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“There can be no authentic Christian witness unless

we have first been strengthened by prayer. Prayer is the source of

inspiration, energy and courage in the face of

obstacles: it is the source of perseverance and of the

ability to take initiatives with renewed strength.”

— John Paul II

• The Holy Father named Cardinal Roger Etchegaray as his Special Envoy to the Iraqi Authorities in Iraq, February 10, 2003, and Cardinal Pio Laghi to the President of the United States of America in Washington, March 1, 2003,

• June 5 - 9, 2003 — makes 100th foreign trip, visiting Croatia.

• Beatification of Mother Teresa, October 19, 2003.

• October 2003 - Saint Peter’s square in Rome is filled with pilgrims from around the world as Pope John Paul II celebrates his Silver Jubilee.

• March 14, 2004 - pontificate of Pope John Paul II overtakes Pope Leo XIII’s as the longest in the history of the papacy other than Pope Pius IX and Saint Peter.

• August 14 - 15, 2004 - visits Lourdes, France marking his 104th and final pastoral visit.

• Celebration of Mass, Adoration and Eucharistic Blessing on the occasion of the opening of the Year of the Eucharist, October 17, 2004.

• Died, April 2, 2005.

1979

1 January 25 - February 1Dominican Republic, Mexico, Bahamas

2 June 2 – 10Poland

3 September 29 – October 8Ireland, United States

4 November 28 – 30Turkey

1980

5 May 2 – 12Zaire, Congo, Kenya, Ghana, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast

6 May 30 – June 2France

7 June 30 – July 12Brazil

8 November 15 – 19Germany

1981

9 February 15 – 19Germany

1982

10 February 12 – 19Nigeria, Benin, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea

11 May 12 – 15Portugal

12 May 28 – June 2Great Britain

13 June 10 – 13Argentina and Brazil

14 June 15Switzerland

15 August 28San Marino

16 October 28 – November 9Spain

1983

17 March 2 – 10Portugal, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Panama, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Belize


19 August 14 – 15Lourdes, France

20 September 10 –13Austria

1984

21 May 2 – 12United States, South Korea, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Thailand

22 June 12 – 17Switzerland

23 September 9 – 21Canada

24 October 10 – 13Spain, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico

1985

25 January 26 – February 6Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Trinidad, Tobago

26 May 11 – 21Luxembourg, Belgium

27 August 8 – 19Ivory Coast, Cameroon, Togo, Republic of Central Africa, Zaire, Kenya, Morocco

28 September 8Switzerland, Liechtenstein

1986

29 January 28 – February 11India

30 July 1 – 8Colombia, Saint Lucia

31 October 4 – 7France

32 November 18 – December 1Bangladesh, Singapore, Fiji, New Zealand, Australia, Seychelles

1987

33 March 31 – April 13Chile, Uruguay, Argentina

34 April 30 – May 4Germany


36 September 10 – 21United States, Canada

1988

37 May 7 – 19Uruguay, Bolivia, Peru, Paraguay

38 June 23Austria

39 September 10 – 19Zimbabwe, Botswana, Lesotho, Swaziland, Mozambique

40 October 8 – 11France

1989

41 April 28 – May 6Madagascar, Reunion, Zambia, Malawi

42 June 1 – 10 Norway, Iceland, Finland, Denmark, Sweden

43 August 19 – 21Spain

44 October 6 – 16South Korea, Indonesia, Mauritius

1990

45 January 25 – February 1Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Chad, Burkina Faso

46 April 21 – 22Czechoslovakia

47 May 6 – 14 Mexico

48 May 25 – 27Curaçao, Malta

49 September 1 – 10 Tanzania, Burundi, Rwanda, Ivory Coast

1991


Pastoral Visits


52 August 13 – 20Poland, Hungary

53 October 12 – 21Brazil

1992

54 February 19 – 26Senegal, Gambia, Guinea

55 June 4 – 10Angola, Sao Tome, Principe

56 October 9 – 14Dominican Republic

1993

57 February 3 – 10Uganda, Sudan, Benin

58 April 25Albania

59 June 12 – 17Spain

60 August 9 – 16Jamaica, Mexico, United States

61 September 4 – 10Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia

1994

62 September 10 – 11Croatia

1995

63 January 11 – 21Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Australia, Sri Lanka

64 May 20 – 22Czech Republic, Poland

65 June 3 – 4Belgium

66 June 30 – July 3Slovakia

67 September 14 – 20Cameroon, Republic of South Africa, Kenya

68 October 4 – 9United States

1996

69 February 5 –12Guatemala, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Venezuela

70 April 14Tunisia

71 May 17- 18Slovenia

72 June 21 – 23Germany

73 September 6 – 7Hungary

74 September 19 – 22France

1997

75 April 12 – 13Bosnia-Herzegovina

76 April 25 – 27Czech Republic

77 May 10 – 11Lebanon

78 May 31 – June 10Poland

79 August 21 – 24France

80 October 2 – 6Brazil

1998

81 January 21 – 26Cuba

82 March 21 – 23 Nigeria

83 June 19 – 21Austria

84 October 2 – 4Croatia

1999

85 January 22 – 28Mexico, United States

86 May 7 – 9Romania


88 September 19 Slovenia

89 October 5 – 9India, Georgia

2000

90 February 24 – 26Egypt, Sinai

91 March 20 – 26Jordan, Israel


2001

93 May 4 – 9Greece, Syria, Malta

94 June 23 – 27Ukraine

95 September 22 – 27Kazakstan, Armenia

200296 May 22 – 26

Azerbaijan, Bulgaria97 July 25 – August 2

Canada, Guatemala, Mexico98 August 16 - 19

Poland2003

99 May 3 - 4Spain

100 June 5 - 9Croatia

101 June 22 Bosnia and Herzegovina

102 September 11 - 14Slovak Republic

2004103 May 5 - 6

Switzerland104 August 14 - 15

Lourdes, France


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Foto Felici


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ENCYCLICAL

1REDEMPTOR HOMINISJesus Christ, “the Redeemer of man”

March 4, 1979

2DIVES IN MISERICORDIAIt is “God, who is rich in mercy,” whom Jesus Christ has revealed to us as Father

November 30, 1980

3LABOREM EXERCENSOn Human Work on the ninetieth anniversary of Rerum novarum

September 14, 1981

4SLAVORUM APOSTOLIThe Apostles of the Slavs, Saints Cyril and Methodius, are remembered with the great work of evangelization after eleven centuries

June 2, 1985

5DOMINUM ET VIVIFICANTEMOn the Holy Spirit in the Life of the Church and the world

May 18, 1986

6REDEMPTORIS MATEROn the Blessed Virgin Mary in the life of the Pilgrim Church

March 25, 1987

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SOLLICITUDO REI SOCIALISThe social concern of the Church, directed towards an authentic development of man and society for the twentieth anniversary of “Populorum progressio”

December 30, 1987

8REDEMPTORIS MISSIOOn the permanent validity of the Church’s missionary mandate

December 7, 1990

9CENTESIMUS ANNUSOn the Centenary of the promulgation of the Encyclical “Rerum novarum”

May 1, 1991

10VERITATIS SPLENDORJesus Christ, the true light that enlightens everyone

August 6, 1993

11EVANGELIUM VITAEThe Gospel of life is at the heart of Jesus’ message

March 25, 1995

12UT UNUM SINTThe call for Christian unity

May 25, 1995

13FIDES ET RATIOFaith and reason are like two wings on which the human spirit rises to the contemplation of truth

October 14, 1998

14ECCLESIA DE EUCHARISTIAThe Church draws her life from the Eucharist

April 17, 2003

Encyclicals of John Paul II


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The Holy Father at the Mass celebrating the 25th Anniversary of his election.

Karol Jozef Wojtyla, known as John Paul II, was born in Wadowice, Poland, on May 18, 1920. He was the second of two sons born to Karol Wojtyla and Emilia Kaczorowska. His mother died in 1929. His elder brother Edmund, a doctor, died in 1932, and his father died in 1941.

Upon graduation from Marcin Wadowita high school in Wadowice, he enrolled in Kraków’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 fac-tory 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 Kraków, run

by Cardinal Adam Stefan Sapieha. He continued his studies in the major seminary of Kraków until his priestly ordination in Kraków on November 1, 1946.

Soon after, Cardinal Sapieha sent him to Rome where he worked under the guidance of the French Domini-can, Garrigou-Lagrange. He finished his doctorate in theology in 1948 with a thesis on the topic of faith in the works of St. John of the Cross.

In 1948 he returned to Poland and was vicar of various parishes in Kraków as well as chaplain for the uni-versity students until 1951. In 1953 he defended a thesis on “the evalu-ation of the possibility of founding a Catholic ethic on the ethical system of Max Scheler” at Lublin Catholic Uni-versity. Later he became professor of moral theology and social ethics in the

major seminary of Kraków and on the faculty of theology at the Jagiellonian University.

On July 4, 1958, he was appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Kraków by Pope Pius XII, and was consecrated Sep-tember 28, 1958, in Wawel Cathedral, Kraków, by Archbishop Baziak.

On January 13, 1964, he was nomi-nated Archbishop of Kraków by Pope Paul VI, who made him a Cardinal on June 26, 1967.

He played an active role in Vatican Council II, with an important contribu-tion to the elaboration of the Constitu-tion Gaudium et Spes.

Since his election as Pope on October 16, 1978, Pope John Paul II completed 104 pastoral visits out-side of Italy and 143 within Italy. As Bishop of Rome he visited 301 of the 325 parishes.

His principal documents included 14 encyclicals, 14 apostolic exhor-tations, 11 apostolic constitutions and 42 apostolic letters. The Pope also published five books: “Crossing the Threshold of Hope” (1994); “Gift of Mystery: On the 50th Anniversary of My Priestly Ordination” (1996); “Roman Triptych – Meditations”, a book of poems (2003); “Rise, Let Us Be On Our Way” (2004) and “Memory and Identity” (2005).

John Paul II presided at 147 beati-fication ceremonies (1,338 Blesseds proclaimed) and 51 canonization ceremonies (482 Saints) during his pontificate. He held 9 consistories in which he created 231 (+ 1 in pec-tore) cardinals.

No other Pope encountered so many individuals as John Paul II: more than 17,600,000 pilgrims have participated in the General Audiences. At the start of his pontificate the Holy See had diplomatic relations with 85 countries. It now has relations with 174 countries.

A Pope for the Ages


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India, 198629th Apostolic Pilgrimage

“Society as a whole must respect, defend and promote the dignity of every human person, at every

moment and in every condition of that person’s life.”


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His Holiness Pope John Paul II lies in state at Saint Peter’s Basilica in Rome, April 4-7, 2005.

Date post:	20-Mar-2016
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A Tribute to His Holiness, Pope John Paul II

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