Pope John Paul II

Baby Karol

Karol Wojtyla and Emilia Kaczorowska gave birth to Karol Jozef Woityla on May 18, 1920 in Wadowice, Poland. His mother died in 1929 when Karol was only nine years old. Later on when Karol turned twenty-one, his father died. Until then Karol enjoyed sports such as soccer and skiing, but he had a love for acting and drama. As for siblings, he had an older brother named Edmund who was a doctor. He died in 1932 when Karol was twelve years old.

Priesthood

Karol attended an elementary school for boys. Then he attended Marcin Wadowita High School in 1928. Ten years later in 1938 he enrolled in Cracow's Jagiellonian University. His university life was short-lived because the Nazis closed the university in 1939 and forced Karol into working for a chemical plant in order to make a living and not get deported to Germany.

His priestly ordination in Cracow came on Novemeber 1, 1946. He finished his doctorate in theology in 1948 with a thesis on the topic of faith in the works of St. John of the Cross. Later in 1948, he returned home and took up his studies in philosophy and theology. Later, he became a professor of moral theology and social ethics. During his priesthood, he made 104 visits outside of Italy and 146 visits within Italy. Also, he visited 317 out of 333 parishes.

Pope John Paul II

Throughout his lifetime, he published four books. There will be one more book coming out in spring of 2005. He presided at 147 beatification ceremonies. He ordained 231 cardinals, and he had 738 meetings with Heads of State and 246 meetings with prime ministers. When the Pope passed away, up to 2 million people gathered in Rome to mourn. At least 300,000 people filled St. Peter's Square in order to view the funeral and the body. Four kings, five queens, and at least 70 presidents attended his funeral. Even Britain's Prince Charles postponed his wedding day in order to attend the Pope's funeral and show his respects.

Considering everything he did during his life, John Paul is a real hero. In order to attract that type of attention, you must be doing something right. He was a caring person who was headstrong. He had his eye on the prize and was willing to do whatever it took to get where he wanted to be. He overcame plenty of life shattering experiences, especially losing his immediate family at such a young age. But he didn't let that stop him from getting where he wanted to be. He just put it behind him and kept on going. He was bound to be someone and make his family proud of him. He wasn't scared of hard work nor was he going to let people push him around and use him. Overall, he was not only a great Pope, but also a great person. He was a big inspiration to people, especially to people who had hard times and wanted to give up. When you see just an ordinary person come up and overcome obstacles, it kind of gives you the inspiration to keep on going and not let anything hold you back. If you have that passion, go with it.