BIOGRAPHY

AN P ABL O I I
SAN JU

hir name is Karol Józef

1
Wojtyla, he was born in

Wadowice (Poland) on

May 18, 1920

He was the youngest of the three
children of Karol Wojtyla and

Emilia Kaczorowska, who died in

1929. His older brother, Edmund,

a doctor, died in 1932 and his

father, an army non-

commissioned officer, in 1941.

2 education
His first studies were at Wadowice

High School, in 1938 he enrolled at

the Jagiellonian University in

Krakow, then studied at the Faculty

of Theology of the Jagiellonian

University and obtained a

doctorate in theology in 1948

3 church life
He was ordained a priest in Krakow

on November 1, 1946. On July 4,

1958, Pope Pius XII appointed him

Auxiliary Bishop of Krakow. He

received episcopal ordination on

September 28, 1958. On January

13, 1964, he was appointed

Archbishop of Krakow and made a

Cardinal on June 26, 1967, finally

elected Pope on October 16, 1978.

 4 attack
On May 13, 1981, in Saint Peter's

Square, he suffered a serious

attack. Saved by the motherly hand

of the Mother of God, after a long

convalescence, he forgave his

aggressor and, conscious of having

received a new life, he intensified

his pastoral commitments with

heroic generosity.

5 DIE
He died in Rome, in the Vatican Apostolic

Palace, on Saturday, April 2, 2005, at 9:37

p.m., the eve of Divine Mercy Sunday, a

feast instituted by him. The solemn funeral

in St. Peter's Square and the burial in the

Vatican Grottoes were held on April 8.

6 saint
HHe was beatified on May 1,

2011 by Pope Benedict XVI

and canonized on April 27,

2014 by Pope Francis.

7
Why do I admire
Pope John Paul II?
Because Pope John Paul Il

conquered many hearts with his

joy and intelligence, he also made

146 pastoral visits in Italy and, as

Bishop of Rome, he visited 317 of

the 332 parishes that Rome

currently has. He made 104

apostolic trips around the world,

an expression of the constant

pastoral concern of the Successor

of Peter for all the Churches.

He approached the new

generations by instituting the

celebration of World Youth Day.