Pope John Paul II was not just a revolutionary Pope, but was also a revolutionary influence from the 20th century. His actions changed the course of history, ranging from the end of communism in Poland to improving the Catholic Church's relations with other religions. John Paul II witnessed humanity at its worst. He lived through the Nazi occupation of Poland. He also experienced the Soviet occupation of Poland. Even through these dark times, John had managed to keep on his faith and humanity. John Paul II's birth name was Karol Józef Wojtyła, the same as his father's. Karol was born on May 18, 1920 in Wadowice, Poland. He was the youngest of 3 siblings. He never met his older sister, who died before his birth. His mother, Emilia, died in 1929 during childbirth. Edmund, his older brother, died due to Scarlet Fever. His father died of a heart attack in 1941. Karol was very athletic as a child. He normally played with the children there, whom had a large pool of Jewish and Catholics. Karol was a Christian, but that did not stop him from making friends with the Jewish children. In fact, he would usually play for the Jewish team when they had religiously divided football games. With this extensive exposure through his childhood, the future pope wanted more peace between the different faiths. Wojtyla enrolled at Jagiellonian University. It was here where his love for language and acting blossomed. The college was closed in 1939 after the Nazi occupation settled itself in. He was forced to work so that he would avoid deportation. Following his father's fatal heart attack in 1941, Karol considered the priesthood. This would be the first step to John Paul's climb to becoming pope. Karol faced many hardships as a priest. He was b... ... middle of paper ... ...Pope John Paul II was also actively homophobic. In his book "Memory and Identity", the pope described homosexual families as an "ideaoligy of evil." During his reign, the Vatican's official stance on homosexuality was that it was "an objective disorder." Pope John Paul II was the hero of not only Europe, but the world all over. He began the decline of communism in Poland. He spread peace among the faiths of the world. His help in social and human advances would not be forgotten, especially by the Vatican. On April 27, 2014, Pope John Paul II was canonized. For his courageous acts, Pope John Paul II is written down in history as a saint. Works Cited Stanley, George Edward. Pope John Paul II: Young Man of the Church. New York: Aladdin Paperbacks, 2005. Print. Weigel, George. Witness to Hope: The Biography of Pope John Paul II. New York: Cliff Street, 1999. Web.
	John Paul was born in the small fishing village of Arbigland, Scotland on July 6, 1747. To his parents John Paul and Jean MacDuff he was the fourth child. They had seven children but unfortunately all but two died in infancy. The family was originally from Fife but John Paul's father had taken the family and moved to Arbigland where William Craik, the owner of a large estate their had met him and hired him to be his gardener.
John Paul II was born in Wadowice, Poland on May 18, 1920. Growing up he had a hard life, and he suffered a few great losses. He lost his mother when he was only nine years old, following by his older brother when he was at the age of twelve. John Paul II was a very athletic person growing up in life, also he was very smart too. He studied at the Jagiellonian University in 1938. He had very large interests in the studies of poetry and theatre. Unfortunately the University was shut down by german troops during the start of the invasion of Poland. The only thing about that was that John Paul II had other dreams to fulfil. He wanted to become a priest, so he began to study at a secret seminary run by the archbishop of Krakow. Once World War II ended he finished his studies as a priest and was ord...
About thirty eight years later, in 1978, the College of Cardinals elected the young Polish Cardinal, Wojtyla, to become the 264th Bishop of Rome and the Vicar of Christ; the first non-Italian Pope in 455 years. On October 22 of that year, Wojtyla was installed as Pope John Paul II, honoring the two popes of the Second Vatican Council, whose reforms he intended to continue throughout the duration of his papacy.
Stephanopoulos, Nikki, ed. Iakovos: The Making of an Archbishop. New York: Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of North and South America, 1996.
the pope was questionable and many times overlooked. But once he took on the title of
She examines 6 popes between 1470-1530 who she claims lead in a way similar to politicians. They lost touch with the common people both emotionally and intellectually. A little known cleric led the revolution challenging papacy that culminated in the reformation of the church. In that context, Barbara outlines that the popes were venal, immoral, and their power politics was calamitous. The faithful were distressed by their leadership, which ignored all the protests and the signs that a revolt was coming. In the end, the papal constituency lost almost half of its followers to Protestants. Barbara says that these people were driven by the greed and the urge to create a family empire that would outlive them. This chapter sums up the essence of folly in these major failures, lack of a fixed policy, over extravagance, and the illusion that their rule was
The Catholic Church has had a vast variety of prophets, apostles, and followers who preach the words of Jesus Christ, but a rare few can claim to have had the impact that Saint Peter, Saint Paul, and The Council of Jerusalem had. These two men and this council broke the Catholic Church out of Jewish Tradition and into the mainstream land with the goal of reaching all people no matter what cultural differences they may have; all were welcome thus forming the foreground of the Catholic Church. Saint Paul; who came from a background of hatred toward the Church experienced a conversion into Christ, this serves as an example for all citizens of this Earth. Saint Peter, who held authority with the apostles and who was forgiven by Jesus after he denied him serves as modern day examples of our Church leaders, most notably the Pope. Saint Peter, Saint Paul, and The Council of Jerusalem impacted the early Church by offering a unique experience in faith and life that welcomed
John Paul II was know by many names: The Pope, The Bishop of Rome, Vicar of Christ, Successor of St. Peter, Prince of Apostles, Supreme Pontiff of the Universal Church, Patriarch of the West, Primate of Italy, he was know to his parents as Karol Jozef Wojtyla. He was the second of two sons born to Karol Wojtyla and Emilia Kaczorowska. He was born on May 18, 1920 in Wadowice, a town small town of 8,000 other Catholics families. There was also a fairly high Jewish population in Wadowice which would later lead to John Pauls improving relations between Catholics and Jews
From 1940 to 1941 his holiness did various jobs, but it was during this time period that he was seriously contemplating priesthood. In 1942 John Paul II started studying at the underground seminary run by the Archbishop of Krakow, and during this time he was hit by a truck and recovered in a matter of two weeks. To him, this was a confirmation of his vocation. Once the war was finished, the future pope was ordained priest and was then sent to Rome for further studies. After a two year time period in Rome, His Holy Father received his doctorate in theology and returned to Poland.
John continued to fight for peace and change throughout the world. A famous poster ...
...sition to reform as Pope Paul III, but again the changes he wished to implement during his papal reign were not entirely popular. Pope Paul III and Pope Julius III had a less forceful nature then Caraffa, so when he was provided with the role of Pope, he did not hesitate to take action upon the issue of debasement and dissent which he had been intolerant of for so many years, but had not capabilities to act against.
Saint Catherine was born in Siena, Italy on March 25, 1347. She was one of twenty-five children, and she had a twin but she died when she was just an infant. Her father, Giacomo di Benincasa, was a cloth dyer and her mother, Lapa Piagenti, was the daughter of a poet. Catherine grew up being a very happy child. It is reported that when she was around 6, she she had a vision of God. When she was 7, she vowed to give her whole life to God.
If I could spend the afternoon with any historic or public figure it would be Karol Jozef Wojtyla, better known as Pope John Paul II or St. John Paul the Great. The change this man instigated in our world was profound. Not only was he a great man of God, he also remarkably changed the world’s view of the Catholic church, and the world itself.
Pollen, John Hungerford. "St. Ignatius Loyola." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 7. New York: Robert Appleton Company,1910. 23 Mar. 2014 .
Ullmann, Walter. A Short History of the Papacy in the Middle Ages. 2nd ed. New York City, NY: Routledge, 2003.