Happy 22nd Anniversary to His
Holiness
part one: From Cradle to
Conclave
No Pope in the history of the holy
pontiffs has a more varied background, or is more in-touch with the
needs of all his flock than Karol Jozef Wojtyla, the 263rd successor of
Peter who took the name John Paul II on October 16, 1978. Below is a
capsule look by years of his life from the cradle Catholic years of his
ethnic background to the tumultuous time of the Third Reich in his own
backyard; to his involvement in preserving the faith not only his own
but those of other faiths; to being ordained a priest of God and his
further education after the war at the world renowned Angelicum in Rome
where he would return numerous times as an active participant in the
Second Vatican Council II, then as member of the College of Cardinals
where he would eventually find himself the chosen one by his peers.
Below, in honor of the 22nd Anniversary of his Pontificate, is a trip
down memory lane with highlights of his life as young boy, a seminarian,
priest, Bishop, Archbishop, Cardinal. In the second part we detail his
years as Head of the Holy Roman Catholic Church, found at THE
PAPAL YEARS No Pope has traveled as extensively and reached out
to so many millions of people of all faiths as our present pontiff. He
truly is the "Pilgrim Pope". He truly is formed in the Immaculate Heart
of Mary and Totus Tuus - Totally Yours. He is the man God has
carefully chosen to lead us all in these troubled times.
FROM CRADLE TO CONCLAVE
THE EARLY YEARS OF FORMATION
May 18, 1920
Karol Jozef Wojtyla is born in Wadowice, Poland
during the sixth year of the reign of Pope Benedict XV, 258th
Pontiff. Wadowice in southern Poland is 20 pius miles southwest of
Krakow and 20 miles from the Czech border. He is born in a three room
flat at 7 Church St. a block away from the Parish Church of Our Lady on
the square where he is baptized on June 20. His father, Karol
Sr., a retired officer in the Austro-Hungarian army, is a Lieutenant
in the Polish Army.
1929:
Karol's mother Emelia Kaczorowska Wojtyla dies
during the 7th year of the reign of Pius XI, 259th successor of Peter.
Emelia is taken at the age of 45 during childbirth. She was a school
teacher of Lithuanian descent.
1930:
Karol receives his First Holy Communion at the Parish
of Our Lady and begins serving as an Altar Boy. He had hoped his mother
would have lived to see this. Two years later his brother Edmond,
15 years older, would die of Scarlet Fever contracted while a Medical
School intern.
1931:
Karol enters the Boys High School in Wadowice where he
excels as a talented student and athlete. One of his teachers is quoted
as saying: "He was the nearest to genius that I ever had."
1936:
Karol graduates High School in the 15th year of the
reign of Pope Pius XI, 259th Pontiff. He is anxious to pursue a
career in drama and acting as he is encouraged by his teachers.
1937:
Karol is confirmed in Krakow on May 3 during the 18th
year of the reign of Pius XI. Karol moves with his father to Krakow
where he would reside for the next 40 years. Here he enrolls in the
department of philosophy at the same university where Copernicus
studied - Jagiellonian University, 2nd oldest University in central
Europe. He also joins the "Rhapsodic Theatre."
1939:
Nazis invade Poland in September six months after
Pius XII is proclaimed the 160th Pope in the succession of Peter.
The University is closed and Karol is sent to a rock quarry and later to
a chemical plant as a manual laborer. While reflecting on the evils of
totalitarianism, Karol begins writing plays which to this day are still
being published and produced.
1940:
Karol is laid up in the hospital due to a trolley
accident. During this time he contemplates on the priesthood but opts
for continuing as an actor. A while later he is again struck, this time
by a Nazi truck and while laid up in recuperation, his vocation is
fostered in part from reading Saint John of the Cross' "Dark
Night of the Soul".
1941:
Karol's father dies of a heart attack in February
leaving him alone in a war-torn country. He becomes active in
underground movement with members of the Christian Resistance (UNIA) in
helping protect Jewish families. Under the guidance of prayer group
leader Jan Tyranowski, who, when Karol became Pope, would later
refer as "a real master of the spiritual life", he fostered a vocation
to Karol's priesthood.
1942:
Karol enters underground seminary organized by
Archbishop Adam Stefan Sapieha, who had been recruiting Karol for
some time. Earlier, when informed Karol wanted to be an actor first, the
Archbishop had said: "What a pity. We could use a man like that in the
Church." As it would turn out, Karol would lead the Church during her
most difficult times.
1944:
Karol eludes the Nazis. Because of his participation
with the underground resistance he is now on the Nazi blacklist and
becomes a hunted man. Along with his fellow seminarians, Karol is hidden
at the Archbishop's palace until the war is over.
THE PRIESTLY YEARS
1946:
Karol Wojtyla is ordained to the priesthood by
Archbishop Sapieha on the Feast of All Saints in the 8th year of the
reign of Pius XII. Karol is then sent to Rome to study advanced Theology
at the Angelicum and there develops his long-standing interest in
Christian mysticism, doing a doctoral dissertation on St. John of the
Cross.
1948:
Karol returns to Poland, assigned to Parish work as a
deacon in Niegowic and then at St. Florian's where, as pastor he pursues
working with the youth, a special interest and bond he would always have
which ultimately would lead to establishing World Youth Days in 1984.
1954:
Father Karol receives his second doctorate, this time
in Philosophy, centered on the work of Max Scheler, an early
German proponent of phenomenology. He is assigned to teach part time at
the Catholic University of Lublin behind iron curtain and where later he
would be named Chairman of the Philosophy Department.
1958:
Father Karol Wojtyla becomes the youngest bishop in
Poland when, on September 8th he is consecrated auxiliary bishop of
Krakow in Warsaw. He is elevated to the Episcopacy during the 20th and
final year of the reign of Pius XII. He's notified of this while on a
backpacking and canoeing trip with some youth from the university.
THE EPISCOPAL YEARS
1959:
Bishop Karol, in the inaugural year of the reign of
Pope John XXIII, 261st successor of Peter, is named to the Polish
Academy of Sciences in recognition of his work in philosophy. He is a
major force in the intellectual life o his country.
1962:
Bishop Wojtyla becomes an active participant of the
Second Vatican Council called by Pope John XXIII, 261st Pontiff in the
4th year of his reign. His major contribution is his Dignitalis
Humanae, the Declaration on Religious Freedom. It proves the false
humanistic tendencies of Marx and Lenin and modernism in
the west.
1964:
Bishop Karol Wojtyla is elevated to Archbishop of the
See of Krakow on January 13th during the 2nd year of the reign of
Pope Paul VI, 262nd Supreme Pontiff. He contributes to concilliar
documents: Lumen Gentium and Gaudium et Spes to name a few
while emphasizing his Declaration which would have far-reaching effects
on human rights and for the persecuted Church in communist countries.
1967:
Archbishop Wojtyla is elevated to Cardinal on June 26th
by Pope Paul VI during the fifth year of his reign. He is instrumental
in diplomacy with the Polish government in allowing worship to continue
in Poland and he takes an active role in the International Synod of
Bishops.
1972:
Cardinal Wojtyla publishes his book "Foundations of
Renewal" during the 9th year of the Paul VI's reign. The book reflects
his efforts to educate the people of his archdiocese on Vatican II.
1978:
Upon the death of Paul VI on August 6th, Cardinal
Wojtyla is called to Rome to elect John Paul I the 263rd Pontiff
on August 26th. He interrupts a camping trip with some youth to travel
to Rome and returns to Poland to resume his excursion with them.
 October 16, 2000
volume 11, no.
202
22nd ANNIVERSARY OF POPE JOHN PAUL II's PONTIFICATE - Part One
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