John Paul II

With his parents

He was Karol Wojtyla that finally had become Pope John Paul II.

I had never thought that there would be such a man like him. He was an angel that spread love to this world.

Pope John Paul II real name was Karol Jozef Wojtyla. He was born as the second child on May 18, 1920 in Wadowice, Poland. He had one older brother. His father, Karol Wojtyla, was one of the army force's non-commissioned officers, he died on 1941. Not only his father who had left this young Karol, but also his mother His father died on 1941, his mother, Emilia Kaczorowka, who died on 1929 when she was giving birth to his brother. His older brother, Edmund, died as well in 1932.

The young Karol

The young Karol was usually called by Lolex. He was very talented. He really liked football, swimming, and skiing. The young Karol also was talented in theater and was able to speak 10 languages very well.

Before becoming a priest, he had worked in mining and had taught ethics in the Jagiellonian University and the Lublin Catholic University.

November 1st, 1946 he joined in a Catholic order. September 2nd, 1958 he then became a bishop. In June 26th, 1967 he was appointed as a Cardinal. Finally in October 16th, 1978 he was chosen as a pope and then given the name John Paul II. He was the 264th pope. Many people said that his intellect exceeded Pope Pius XII and he had more charisma then Pope John XXIII.

Pope John Paul II dedicated his service as a pope to Saint Mary. “Totus Tuus Sum Maria”; Maria, I fully belong to you.

with Mehmet Ali Agca Khan

During his period as a pope, there was a murder effort of him. This incident happened when he wanted to meet people at the field of St. Peter; he was shot by Mehmet Ali Agca Khan, a Turk.

The pope's death was caused by the illness Parkinsons that has been suffered by him for a long time. He died in April 2nd 2005 at 21.37 (Rome time), at the age of 84 years. He was buried on the Friday, April 8th 2005 under the Basilica St. Peter. His funeral was attended by approximately 4 million people. They were very sad. They lost their great leader.

He visited 129 countries in his time as a pope. When he was still a Roman Bishop, he visited 317 from 333 parishes. Pope John Paul II had even visited Indonesia in 1989. He was the pope who often travelled around the world.

His love..

In all of his time as a pope, he often carried out many changes and developments. He went straight against violence, condemned communism and was critical of unfettered capitalism. Pope John Paul II really opposed abortion. He spread love to everyone in the world; babies, children, adult and especially the sick ones.

Pope John Paul II has inspired me a lot. He carries out many changes in me. He has touched my heart and made me realize to always give all myself to the Lord. To always follow God's voice to guide me through the way, the whole of my lifetime. He has encouraged me to put all my belief in God and Saint Mary. In Them, we will never be lost but will always be safe instead.