Monday, October 16, marks the 45th anniversary of the election of Cardinal Karol Wojtyła to the See of Peter. John Paul II was the first pope from Poland, the first non-Italian successor to St. Peter in 455 years, and the youngest head of the Catholic Church since 1864.
Karol Wojtyła was born on May 18, 1920, in Wadowice, near Kraków, as the second son and youngest of three children of retired lieutenant Karol Wojtyła and Emilia, née Kaczorowska. He was baptized a month later at the local parish.
Karol Wojtyła was ordained a priest in 1946. In 1958 he became bishop and suffragan of the Archdiocese of Krakow, and in June 1967 he was made cardinal.
During the Second Vatican Council, which convened between October 11, 1962, and December 8, 1965, he participated in all four sessions, among other things, as a member of the commission that drafted and edited the so-called Schema XIII, the text of “Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World” and “Dogmatic Constitution on the Church,” as well as the “Declaration on Religious Freedom” and the “Decree on the Apostolate of Laity”.
On October 16, 1978, he was elected pope by a conclave, taking the name John Paul II. This was a symbolic sign of the continuation of John Paul I’s 33-day pontificate, cut short by his sudden death.
“Be not afraid! Open, open wide the door to Christ.”
These words, uttered on October 22, 1978, in St. Peter's Square during the Mass inaugurating his pontificate, were one of the social and theological foundations of the pontificate of the Pope from Poland.
John Paul II was 58 years old at the time. He was the first pope from Poland, the first non-Italian successor to St. Peter in 455 years, and the youngest head of the Catholic Church since 1864.
His pontificate lasted more than 26 years and was the second longest in the history of the Church. During that time, he convened nine consistories, appointed some 240 cardinals, including five Poles, and 2,500 bishops; ordained more than 2,000 priests; beatified 1,338 people, and canonized 482.
He wrote 14 encyclicals in which he presented the Church’s creed and its humanist teaching in a new way, as well as 14 apostolic exhortations, 11 apostolic constitutions, 45 apostolic letters, and 31 Motu Proprios, i.e. papal letters in the nature of a decree.
Less than three years after his election as Pope, on May 13, 1981, as he was greeting the pilgrims from an open-roofed car at St. Peter’s Square in Rome in an open car at the start of a general audience, he was shot by Mehmet Ali Ağca.
A year after the assassination attempt, the Pope traveled to Fatima on his 11th apostolic journey in gratitude for the life he saved. As a votive offering at the Fatima shrine, he left the bullet that the assassin fired at him. It was placed in the crown adorning the statue of Our Lady of Fatima. In turn, he donated the shot-through belt of his cassock to Jasna Góra. Today it is an important relic for pilgrims.
Among other things, the pontificate of John Paul II saw the collapse of the communist system in Central and Eastern Europe.
The Pope repeatedly spoke about the subjectivity of the nation. In a speech at UNESCO in Paris on June 2, 1980, he stressed that “The Nation exists ‘through’ culture and ‘for’ culture, and it is therefore the great educator of men in order that they may ‘be more’ in the community. It is this community which possesses a history that goes beyond the history of the individual and the family.”
When addressing the U.N. General Assembly in 1995, he said “It was only when freedom was restored to the nations of Central and Eastern Europe that the promise of the peace which should have come with the end of the war began to be realized for many of the victims of that conflict.”
He also stressed that “no one — neither a State nor another nation, nor an international organization — is ever justified in asserting that an individual nation is not worthy of existence.”
Karol Wojtyła was ordained a priest in 1946. In 1958 he became bishop and suffragan of the Archdiocese of Krakow, and in June 1967 he was made cardinal.
During the Second Vatican Council, which convened between October 11, 1962, and December 8, 1965, he participated in all four sessions, among other things, as a member of the commission that drafted and edited the so-called Schema XIII, the text of “Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World” and “Dogmatic Constitution on the Church,” as well as the “Declaration on Religious Freedom” and the “Decree on the Apostolate of Laity”.
On October 16, 1978, he was elected pope by a conclave, taking the name John Paul II. This was a symbolic sign of the continuation of John Paul I’s 33-day pontificate, cut short by his sudden death.
“Be not afraid! Open, open wide the door to Christ.”
These words, uttered on October 22, 1978, in St. Peter's Square during the Mass inaugurating his pontificate, were one of the social and theological foundations of the pontificate of the Pope from Poland.
John Paul II was 58 years old at the time. He was the first pope from Poland, the first non-Italian successor to St. Peter in 455 years, and the youngest head of the Catholic Church since 1864.
His pontificate lasted more than 26 years and was the second longest in the history of the Church. During that time, he convened nine consistories, appointed some 240 cardinals, including five Poles, and 2,500 bishops; ordained more than 2,000 priests; beatified 1,338 people, and canonized 482.
He wrote 14 encyclicals in which he presented the Church’s creed and its humanist teaching in a new way, as well as 14 apostolic exhortations, 11 apostolic constitutions, 45 apostolic letters, and 31 Motu Proprios, i.e. papal letters in the nature of a decree.
Less than three years after his election as Pope, on May 13, 1981, as he was greeting the pilgrims from an open-roofed car at St. Peter’s Square in Rome in an open car at the start of a general audience, he was shot by Mehmet Ali Ağca.
A year after the assassination attempt, the Pope traveled to Fatima on his 11th apostolic journey in gratitude for the life he saved. As a votive offering at the Fatima shrine, he left the bullet that the assassin fired at him. It was placed in the crown adorning the statue of Our Lady of Fatima. In turn, he donated the shot-through belt of his cassock to Jasna Góra. Today it is an important relic for pilgrims.
Among other things, the pontificate of John Paul II saw the collapse of the communist system in Central and Eastern Europe.
The Pope repeatedly spoke about the subjectivity of the nation. In a speech at UNESCO in Paris on June 2, 1980, he stressed that “The Nation exists ‘through’ culture and ‘for’ culture, and it is therefore the great educator of men in order that they may ‘be more’ in the community. It is this community which possesses a history that goes beyond the history of the individual and the family.”
When addressing the U.N. General Assembly in 1995, he said “It was only when freedom was restored to the nations of Central and Eastern Europe that the promise of the peace which should have come with the end of the war began to be realized for many of the victims of that conflict.”
He also stressed that “no one — neither a State nor another nation, nor an international organization — is ever justified in asserting that an individual nation is not worthy of existence.”
John Paul II was also the originator of World Youth Day.
He died at the age of 84 on the eve of Divine Mercy Sunday, April 2, 2005, at 9.37 p.m. at the Vatican. During the funeral ceremony, on April 8, 2005, the faithful gathered at St. Peter’s Square chanted “Santo subito” (Immediately a Saint).
Pope Benedict XVI agreed to open John Paul II’s beatification process a month after his death, thus waiving the five-year waiting period requirement.
It is estimated that the celebrations for the beatification of the Polish Pope, held on May 1, 2011, were attended by more than a million people from all continents, including about 300,000 of his Polish compatriots. Those who could not fit into St. Peter’s Square in front of the Vatican Basilica watched the celebrations at other points in Rome.
Three years after the beatification, on April 27, 2014. John Paul II was declared a saint by Francis, in the presence of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI.
The liturgical memory of St. John Paul II is celebrated by the Catholic Church on October 22.
He died at the age of 84 on the eve of Divine Mercy Sunday, April 2, 2005, at 9.37 p.m. at the Vatican. During the funeral ceremony, on April 8, 2005, the faithful gathered at St. Peter’s Square chanted “Santo subito” (Immediately a Saint).
Pope Benedict XVI agreed to open John Paul II’s beatification process a month after his death, thus waiving the five-year waiting period requirement.
It is estimated that the celebrations for the beatification of the Polish Pope, held on May 1, 2011, were attended by more than a million people from all continents, including about 300,000 of his Polish compatriots. Those who could not fit into St. Peter’s Square in front of the Vatican Basilica watched the celebrations at other points in Rome.
Three years after the beatification, on April 27, 2014. John Paul II was declared a saint by Francis, in the presence of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI.
The liturgical memory of St. John Paul II is celebrated by the Catholic Church on October 22.
Source: TVP Kraków
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