Biography
Karol
J�zef Wojtyła, known as John Paul II since
his October 1978 election to the papacy, was born in Wadowice,
a small city 50 kilometres from Cracow, on May 18, 1920.
He was the second of two sons born to Karol Wojtyła
and Emilia Kaczorowska. His mother died in 1929. His eldest
brother Edmund, a doctor, died in 1932 and his father, a
non-commissioned army officer died in 1941.
He made his First
Holy Communion at age 9 and was confirmed at 18. Upon graduation
from Marcin Wadowita high school in Wadowice, he
enrolled in Cracow's Jagiellonian University in 1938 and
in a school for drama.
The
Nazi occupation forces closed the university in 1939 and
young Karol had to work in a quarry (1940-1944) and then
in the Solvay chemical factory to earn his living
and to avoid being deported to Germany.
In 1942, aware of his call to the priesthood,
he began courses in the clandestine seminary of Cracow,
run by Cardinal Adam Stefan Sapieha, archbishop of Cracow.
At the same time, Karol Wojtyła was one
of the pioneers of the "Rhapsodic Theatre," also
clandestine.
After the Second World War, he continued
his studies in the major seminary of Cracow, once it had
re-opened, and in the faculty of theology of the Jagiellonian
University, until his priestly ordination in Cracow on November
1, 1946.
Soon after, Cardinal Sapieha sent him to
Rome where he worked under the guidance of the French Dominican,
Garrigou-Lagrange. 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. At that time, during his vacations,
he exercised his pastoral ministry among the Polish immigrants
of France, Belgium and Holland.
In 1948 he returned to Poland and was vicar
of various parishes in Cracow as well as chaplain for the
university students until 1951, when he took up again his
studies on philosophy and theology. In 1953 he defended
a thesis on "evaluation of the possibility of founding
a Catholic ethic on the ethical system of Max Scheler"
at Lublin Catholic University. Later he became professor
of moral theology and social ethics in the major seminary
of Cracow and in the Faculty of Theology of Lublin.
On
July 4, 1958, he was appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Cracow
by Pope Pius XII, and was consecrated September 28, 1958,
in Wawel Cathedral, Cracow, by Archbishop Baziak.
On January 13, 1964, he was nominated Archbishop
of Cracow by Pope Paul VI, who made him a cardinal June
26, 1967.
Besides taking part in Vatican Council II
with an important contribution to the elaboration of the
Constitution Gaudium et spes, Cardinal Wojtyła
participated in all the assemblies of the Synod of Bishops.
His principal documents include 14 encyclicals, 15 apostolic exhortations, 11 apostolic constitutions
and 44 apostolic letters. The Pope's books include: "Crossing the Threshold of Hope" (October
1994); "Gift and Mystery: On the 50th Anniversary of
My Priestly Ordination" (November 1996); "Roman
Triptych - Meditations", a book of poems (March 2003);
"Rise, Let Us Be On Our Way" (May 2004) and "Memory
and Identity" (publication spring 2005).
John
Paul II has presided at 147 beatification ceremonies (1,338
Blesseds proclaimed) and 51 canonization ceremonies (482
Saints) during his pontificate. He has held 9 consistories
in which he created 231 (+ 1 in pectore) cardinals. He has also convened six plenary meetings of the College of Cardinals.
From 1978 to today the Holy Father has presided
at 15 Synods of Bishops: six ordinary (1980, 1983, 1987,
1990, 1994, 2001), one extraordinary (1985) and eight special
(1980, 1991, 1994, 1995, 1997, 1998[2] and 1999). |