An influential pontiff
John Paul II transformed the papacy but conservative views alienated some
John Paul II was the third-longest serving pope in history.
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(CNN) -- Voicing a strong moral vision, Pope John Paul II forged a legacy as one of the Catholic Church's most influential and controversial leaders. The 264th pontiff traveled more and beatified more people than any pope in history.
Supporters and critics alike agree on the immense significance of his 26-year papacy.
During that period he played a key role in the fall of communism, brought the Catholic message to an unprecedented number of people around the world, and endeared himself to billions with his warmth, charisma, courage and integrity.
As TIME magazine noted when naming him Man of the Year in 1994, he generated an electricity "unmatched by anyone else on earth."
At the same time, however, he was a profoundly conservative leader whose moral opinions alienated many, and whose centralizing instincts stifled the move toward a more open, democratic church.
A surprise choice as pope
John Paul II was born Karol Jozef Wojtyla on May 18, 1920, at Wadowice, Poland, the third child of a devoutly Catholic retired army officer-turned-tailor.
Wojtyla, the son of a devoutly Catholic retired Polish army officer, was a surprise choice as pope.
A brilliant student and athlete -- he excelled at skiing, swimming, kayaking and soccer -- his earliest passions were religion, poetry and the theater.
Following the German invasion of Poland in 1939 he worked first as a stonecutter, then in a chemical plant, while at the same time studying at an underground seminary in Krakow.
In 1941, Wojtyla and some friends started an underground theater, called the Rhapsodic Theater, to present works in Polish in defiance of the Nazis.
He was eventually ordained in 1946, assuming priestly duties in 1949 as chaplain to university students at Krakow's St. Florian's Church.
For the next 30 years he rose steadily through the church hierarchy. He became the auxiliary bishop of Krakow in 1958 and was appointed archbishop of Krakow in January 1964. He was officially installed as archbishop in March 1964.
During this time he made a name for himself both as a formidable theologian -- he taught at the Krakow Seminary and the Catholic University of Lublin -- and as a staunch defender of Catholic interests.
"I am not afraid of them," he once commented when asked if he feared Poland's communist authorities.
•She joined the Polish Underground when WWII broke out. (The Polish Underground aided Polish Jews)
“Dear brothers and sisters, after the great Pope John Paul II, the Cardinals have elected me a simple, humble laborer in the vineyard of the Lord. The fact that the Lord knows how to work and to act even with insufficient instruments comforts me, and above all I entrust myself to your prayers. In the joy of the Risen Lord, confident of his unfailing help, let us move forward. The Lord will help us, and Mary, His Most Holy Mother, will be on our side. Thank you.”
... credited with Anabaptist theology, he was an unmistakably valuable element to both the sixteenth century’s Reformation and the Christian community in the years which followed.
The pope of 1540 was Pope Paul III, and was the most contemporary Pope of the time, with strong views towards Catholic Reform. Having taken over from Pope Clement III in 1534, he was fairly experienced in the position of Pope. However, even with this six-year experience, Pope Paul III was highly reluctant to act over the problem of Protestantism, so the level of tolerance over debasement and dissent was fairly high. I feel he partly didn’t act because he hoped the situation would resolve itself, and partly because he naively felt that Catholicism would remain the dominating power. Due to Pope Paul III being under pressure from the emperor to act, he called a Concilium, which overall was ineffective at dealing with the debasement and dissent situation, but at least attempted to try and regain control of the situation. Although Pope Paul III was intolerant of debasement and dissent, the actions he took to try and prevent it were ineffective and so the issue of debasement and dissent remained quite unscathed.
I think Archbishop Fulton Sheen should become a saint because he was a major role in the spread of Catholicism and anti-Communism. He has some official miracles that are credited to him, but others are still undergoing investigation. He played a major part in spreading Catholicism through his missions, but also on his radio and television shows. He also had the gift of prophecy and was able to see what was coming in the world. It almost seemed like he had a direct connection to God, and everything that he said seemed like God was saying it through him. Without him, all those little children would not be alive today if it were not for him praying for them. Archbishop Sheen seemed to touch a lot of people's lives during his own lifetime, and also after his death. I can tell that he had a deep influence on Father Apostali because of the way that he talked about him.
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.
...rsued this moral throughout his time as Pope. Thus, through following the works of, and Jesus’ teachings of inclusion, John XXIII has contributed to Christianity being considered a living religious tradition.
Piłsudski was a Polish statesman who was the leader of the Second Polish Republic from 1926-35. In Poland, he had a major influence on Polish politics and was most responsible for creating the Second Polish Republic in 1918. He was most known for basically saving Poland in what was called the “miracle on the Vistula”, when he commanded the Polish army to drive five Russian armies away from Poland which saved the country from battle.
	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.
“We are not the sum of our weaknesses and failures; we are the sum of the Father’s love for us and our real capacity to become the image of his Son.” Said by St. Pope John Paul II during one of his World Youth Day homilies this quote perfectly represents the man that St. Pope John Paul II was: a bold, forgiving, selfless, and loving man. Born on May 18, 1920 in Wadowice, Poland; John Paul II suffered a number of tragedies in the early years of his life. By the age of the twenty he lost all of his immediate family, and he credits the death of his father as the point in his life when he heard the call to live a life of religious vocation. In 1939, about one year after John Paul enrolled in The Krawkow Jaggelonian University, the Nazi closed the school and to avoid deportation to Germany all able men had to work. 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 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. After serving in several parishes and becoming a well-known religious face in Poland, St. John Paul II became the bishop of Ombi. During the six year time period that his holiness was the Bishop of Ombi, he achieved one of his life’s major accomplishments: he became one of the leading thinkers on the Vatican II council. While he was one the Vatican II co...
Frederic Chopin, the Polish composer and pianist, was born on March 1,1810, according to the statements of the artist himself and his family, but according to his baptismal certificate, which was written several weeks after his birth, the date was 22 February. His birthplace was the village of Zelazowa Wola, part of the Duchy of Warsaw.
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.
Archbishop Oscar Arnulfo Romero was born in Ciudad Barrios, El Salvador on August 15, 1917. He was the second of seven children born to parents Santos Romero and Guadalupe de Jesus Santos. At the age of twelve, his parents were not able to afford his education and therefore apprenticed him to a carpenter. Oscar trained to be a carpenter, but he always knew he wanted to be a priest. When he was just thirteen years old, he left home to study at a seminary in the city of San Miguel (Kellogg). There he studied for seven years, and left in 1937 for the national seminary, which was run by the Jesuits in San Salvador. He later went to Rome and studied Theology at the Gregorian University in Rome. While studying there, World War II spread throughout Europe, but that did not stop him from earning his Licentiate degree in Theology.
... I 1944 [Over Warsaw - Warsaw Thermopylae 1939 and 1944], Warsaw: Fundacja Wystawa Warszawa Walczy 1939-1945, 2000.
...as his acceptance of his life of poverty and service that serves as an example for us to use as a model for our actions in this world.