Secret studies
Karol Wojtyła was born in Wadowice, a town in southern Poland, on May 18, 1920. His sister, Olga, died in infancy before Karol was born. His mother died when he was nine years old. His brother Edmund died just three years later.
The Nazi occupation of Poland in 1939 forced Wojtyła to study for the priesthood in secret and he also organised a clandestine theatre group. His father died suddenly in 1941, leaving him with no close family members.
After the war he continued his studies at Kraków’s Jagiellonian University until he was ordained in 1946.
On July 4, 1958, Wojtyła was named auxiliary bishop of Kraków by Pope Pius XII. The young bishop was an influential figure at the Second Vatican Council.
On January 13, 1964, he was nominated Archbishop of Kraków by Pope Paul VI, who made him a cardinal on June 26, 1967.
Cardinal Wojtyła was elected pope on October 16, 1978. During his long papacy he travelled a great deal and proclaimed many saints.
Assassination attempts
Wojtyła survived two assassination attempts. The first, in St Peter’s Square in 1981, left him seriously injured. Following his recovery he visited his would-be assassin in jail and forgave him. In 1982, a priest lunged at him with a bayonet in Fátima, but he was not badly hurt.
Following his death in April 2005, a miracle was quickly attributed to his intercession. Sister Marie Simon-Pierre said that she was fully healed from Parkinson’s disease after praying to the late pope.
Benedict XVI beatified John Paul II on May 1, 2011. That same day, a Costa Rican woman, Floribeth Mora Diaz, lay partially paralysed at home when she had a vision of the Polish pope.
“Floribeth, get up, what are you doing here?” the vision said. “Why don’t you go into the kitchen and see your husband?” From that moment she was cured.
John Paul II was canonised on Divine Mercy Sunday. 2014.
.jpg)
