St. Pope John Paul II

Feastday: October 22
Patron: of World Youth Day (Co- Patron)
Birth: 1920
Death: 2005
Beatified: May 1, 2011 Saint Peter's Square, Vatican City by Pope Benedict XVI
Canonized: April 27, 2014 Saint Peter's Square, Vatican City by Pope Francis

Karol J. Wojtyla, 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 Wojtyla 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 Wojtyla 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.

Saint John Paul II Biography

Karol J. Wojtyla, 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 Wojtyla 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.

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 his habilitation thesis on "evaluation of the possibility of founding a Christian ethic on the ethical system of Max Scheler" at the Faculty of Theology of Jagiellonian University (It was the last habilitation before closing the Faculty by comunist goverment).

Later he became professor of moral philosophy and social ethics in the major seminary of Cracow and in the Faculty of philosophy at the Catholic University of Lubin (where he became the Director of the Chair of Ethic, and lectured for 25 years until his election for the Pope in 1978).

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 Wojtyla participated in all the assemblies of the Synod of Bishops.

Since the start of his Pontificate on October 16, 1978, Pope John Paul II has completed 95 pastoral visits outside of Italy and 142 within Italy . As Bishop of Rome he has visited 301 of the 334 parishes.

His principal documents include 14 encyclicals , 13 apostolic exhortations , 11 apostolic constitutions and 42 apostolic letters. The Pope has also published three books : "Crossing the Threshold of Hope" (October 1994); "Gift and Mystery: On the 50th Anniversary of My Priestly Ordination" (November 1996) and "Roman Tryptych - Meditations", a book of poems (March 2003).

John Paul II has presided at 138 beatification ceremonies ( 1,310 Blesseds proclaimed ) and 48 canonization ceremonies ( 469 Saints ) during his pontificate. He has held 8 consistories in which he created 201 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).

No other Pope has encountered so many individuals like John Paul II: to date, more than 16,700,000 pilgrims have participated in the General Audiences held on Wednesdays (more than 1,000). Such figure is without counting all other special audiences and religious ceremonies held [more than 8 million pilgrims during the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000 alone] and the millions of faithful met during pastoral visits made in Italy and throughout the world. It must also be remembered the numerous government personalities encountered during 38 official visits and in the 690 audiences and meetings held with Heads of State , and even the 226 audiences and meetings with Prime Ministers.

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The Young Karol Wojtyla

By Deacon Keith Fournier

The Birth of Karol Josef Wojtyla

On May 18, 1920, during the month traditionally dedicated to Mary the Mother of the Lord, one of her greatest treasures for the Church of her Son was born in the town of Wodowice, 35 miles southwest of Krakow Poland. The world would later receive him as Saint Pope John Paul II. His name was Karol (Polish for Karl or Charles) Josef Wojtyla. His hometown had about 10,000 residents, roughly 8,000 Catholics and 2,000 Jews. He was given a nickname by his friends, "Lolek."

Karol was Baptized into Christ and His Church on June 20, 1920 by a Chaplain in the Polish Army, Fr. Franciszek Zak. Karol was the son of a Polish Army Lieutenant also named Karol, a tailor by trade. Karol's mother Emilia, was a schoolteacher. He had an older brother named Edmund and sister named Olga. His brother became a Doctor in the town of Bielsko. Sadly, his sister died before Karol was born.

A Friend of Consequence

The Wojtylas were faithful Catholics. They rejected the growing anti-Semiticism among some Poles in that troubled time. One of young Karol's friends was Jerzy Kluger. He later recalled playing soccer with Karol. The teams were divided between Catholics and Jews. However, given the disparity in numbers, he recounts that young Karol would volunteer to play on the Jewish team in order to make the game more competitive and even out the odds.

This friendship lasted for a lifetime. Jerzy later participated in the dialogue which led to the extension of the Vatican's diplomatic recognition of the State of Israel. A special love for the Jewish people took root in young Karol. It was demonstrated dramatically during his Papacy when he visited the Central Synagogue of Rome and condemned anti-Semitism "at any time and by anyone." It was prophetically proclaimed in actions upon his visit to Auschwitz to honor the victims of the Holocaust. He was fond of regularly referring to the Jewish people as "our elder brothers" and taught the whole Church to do the same.

Karol Loses His Mother

Young Karol lost his mother a month before his ninth birthday. She died of heart and kidney problems. When he was only 12 years old his brother the Doctor died of scarlet fever. A childhood friend named Szczepan Mogielnicki told one news source that "he lost his childhood at 12, when he lost his brother... There was no youthful folly in him. Even when he played sports, he was very concentrated, but of course, he had a lot of passion. He was a very noble person, and he expressed things in a very noble way, but there was no folly." Father Karol and son Karol lived in a one room apartment behind the parish church.

Karol: The Father and the Son

The elder Karol sewed his sons clothing and watched over his studies. He taught him to be self disciplined and to work hard. He was deeply devoted to raising the son he loved. Another friend recalls entering the small apartment and finding father and son playing soccer with a ball made of rags. Karol credited his Catholic faith to the influence of his beloved father. The Church was a vital part of their life as a family. He made his First Holy Communion at age 9, they practiced their Catholic faith in the home and Karol was confirmed at 18. Upon graduation from Marcin Wadowita high school in Wadowice, he enrolled in Krakow's Jagiellonian University in 1938 and in a school for drama.

During his early schooling young Karol Wojtyla participated in his first theatrical performances. His lifelong love for the theater and all of the arts was born. He began writing poetry. He performed in his first student theatrical productions. He began the study of Greek, was elected president of the Sodality of Mary, and made his first pilgrimage to Czestochowa, home of the Image of Our Lady of Czestochowa.

A Cardinal's Inquiry

It was also during this time that he impressed Adam Cardinal Sapieha, the Archbishop of Krakow. According to his friend Fr. Mieczyslaw Malinski, Karol's skill as a speaker caught the Archbishops attention when he visited the young man's school. Karol had been chosen to give the welcoming speech - and he did so with great skill. The Archbishop asked the pastor of the parish whether young Karol had considered the priesthood. He was told that Karol had his heart set on pursuing an acting career in the theatre.

Seeds Planted in the Heart

In 1987, Saint Pope John Paul II shared these thoughts with young people in Los Angeles, "I am often asked, especially by young people, why I became a priest. Maybe some of you would like to ask the same question. Let me try briefly to reply. I must begin by saying that it is impossible to explain entirely. For it remains a mystery, even to myself. How does one explain the ways of God? Yet, I know that, at a certain point in my life, I became convinced that Christ was saying to me what he had said to thousands before me: 'Come, follow me!'

"There was a clear sense that what I heard in my heart was no human voice, nor was it just an idea of my own. Christ was calling me to serve him as a priest. And you can probably tell that I am deeply grateful to God for my vocation to the priesthood. Nothing means more to me or gives me greater joy that to celebrate Mass each day and to serve God's people in the Church. That has been true ever since the day of my ordination as a priest. Nothing has ever changed this, not even becoming Pope."

Actor and Student of Philosophy

When Karol enrolled in Jagiellonian University in the fall of 1938 he first entered the school of philosophy. He also joined "Studio 38" an "experimental" theatre group where he continued acting. Events in Poland intervened in his life and interrupted his formal studies. However, nothing would interrupt his continued pursuit of learning. The troops of the National Socialists of Hitler's Germany invaded Poland in 1939. They quickly overtook the ill prepared Polish army.

Among the many immediate acts of aggression undertaken by the Nazis was to close the University. Young Karol took a job in 1940 as a stone-cutter at a quarry in Zakrzowek, near Krakow. He later worked in the Solvay chemical factory to earn a living and avoid being deported to Germany. However, it was during those dark days that the seed of his priestly vocation was being watered and the light of his growing faith began to illuminate the path he would take in response to God's call.

A Friend is used by the Lord

During this time Karol Wojtyla came to know Jan Tryanowski, a young Catholic layman and youth leader at St. Stanislaus Kostka parish in the 1940s. That was Karol's university parish. During the Nazi occupation, priests were at a minimum. This young layman Jan had an extraordinary impact on Karol's life. He may have also contributed to the future Pope's lifelong conviction concerning the call of the lay faithful to fully participate in the mission of the Church. During his later participation in the Second Vatican Council and throughout his pontificate, he would be a champion of the universal call to holiness and the vital apostolate of the lay faithful.

This tailor Jan Tryanowski was a mystic, a man of deep prayer, who studied the writings of St John of the Cross and spirituality of St. Teresa of Avila with great intensity. Initially, young Karol was not all that impressed with Tryanowski. However, the Holy Spirit was unfolding a plan in young Karol's life. He became increasingly drawn to the tailor's interior life of prayer and deep real world aith. Tryanowski became a mentor to Karol. His influence helped to set the future Pope on a path which not only changed him but would change the whole world through him. Jan Tryanowski taught Karol about union with God and the call to abandon all to follow Jesus.

Now we call that tailor, the Servant of God Jan Tryanowski and his own cause for canonization is underway. Then, among his other youth outreaches, Tryanowski had formed a "Living Rosary" group. From that group many priestly and religious vocations emerged, including that of the young Karol Wojtyla. Years later Archbishop Karol Wojtyla wrote of the influence Jan Tyranowski had upon him:

"He was one of those unknown saints, hidden amid the others like a marvelous light at the bottom of life, at a depth where night usually reigns. He disclosed to me the riches of his inner life, of his mystical life. In his words, in his spirituality and in the example of a life given to God alone, he represented a new world that I did not yet know. I saw the beauty of a soul opened up by grace."

In 1942, the seeds of his priestly vocation had taken deep root. Aware of his call to the priesthood, Karol Wojtyla made the choice to began courses in the underground seminary of Krakow. It was being run by Cardinal Adam Stefan Sapieha, the Archbishop of Krakow. However, Karol continued his acting, writing, and poetry. He became one of the pioneers of the "Rhapsodic Theatre". It, like seminary formation, was also forced underground by the Nazi occupation. This connection between the beauty of the Arts and the Christian vocation became a continuing theme of Karol Wojtyla. In one of his least known Papal letters entitled a "Letter to Artists" Saint Pope John Paul would write of "vocation" of artists to create "Epiphanies of Beauty."

Karol the Seminarian

After the Second World War the seminarian Karol Wojtyla entered the re-opened major seminary in Krakow. He also enrolled once again at Jagiellonian University to study theology. He was ordained to the diaconate and then to the priesthood by Archbishop Sapieha in Krakow on November 1, 1946. His intelligence and aptitude for further study became clear to the Archbishop, by then elevated to Cardinal. He sent Fr Karol Wojtyla to Rome to study and work under one of the great scholars and spiritual writers of the Church, the French Dominican, Fr. Garrigou-Lagrange.

The Student who became a Professor; the Pastor who became a Bishop

By Deacon Keith Fournier

Fr. Karol, Graduate Student

Fr. Karol Wojtyla first entered into graduate studies at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas (Angelicum) in Rome. His intelligence was one of the many gifts, both natural and spiritual, which he offered to the Lord. While a student, he roomed with Fr. Starowieyski, another Polish priest at the Pontifical Belgian College, with whom he became friends. In 1947, he received his STL (License) which, in the European University system, is an absolute requirement to teach. That summer the two traveled to France, Belgium and Holland. In the area of Charleroi he carried out his pastoral activities with the Polish workers. Then, under the oversight of Fr. Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange, OP, he began his studies toward a Doctorate.

The influence of Jan Tryanowski was still bearing fruit in the life and thought of Fr. Karol Wojtyla. He sought approval for a dissertation topic "The Problem of Faith in the Works of St. John of the Cross." He wrote the dissertation and successfully defended it. He later earned a master's degree in theology at the Jagiellonian University in Krakow's well as a doctorate in sacred theology in the Faculty of Theology at the Jagiellonian Universiity. He was called to Krakow to be an assistant pastor at St. Florian's in Krakow and serve as a chaplain to university students and health workers.

In 1951 Archbishop Baziak who had replaced Cardinal Sapieha gave Fr Karol a sabbatical in order to enable him to qualify as a University Professor. For two years he worked on this further academic position successfully completed his examinations. He also had to write and defend another thesis in order to qualify for a university professorship. This he diligently pursued for the next two years.

His philosophical interests lay in the area of phenomenology and he focused on a philosopher named Max Scheler. He began to see the limitations of the approach. As a result, the seeds were planted in Fr Karol the scholar, student and professor to begin what would later become his own contribution to the field of philosophical ethics and the renewal of Catholic Moral theology. He began his teaching experiences by offering a class on social ethics to fourth year theology students in the seminary.

Fr. Karol Becomes a Professor

As time passed, Jagellonian University merged its theology program with the archdiocesan seminary. In effect, the entire faculty of the theology school was eliminated. So Fr. Karol Wojtyla accepted what was originally a non-tenured professorship at the Catholic University of Lublin. In 1956 he was appointed to a Chair in Ethics and the next year he was approved as a full lecturer. For the next twenty years he taught and developed his thought in the field of Ethics and moral Theology.

From Priest to Bishop

In 1958 Fr Karol Wojtyla was called to another assignment in his continuing response to the vocation the Lord had given him. He was ordained to the fullness of Holy Orders and received his first Episcopal assignment as an auxiliary Bishop to assist Archbishop Eugeniusz Baziak of Krakow. His enormous gifts of both teaching and pastoral care continued to be offered to the Church of Poland. Bishop Karol Wojtyla taught at University and provided pastoral care to students.

Bishop Wojtyla Writes His First Book

Though he had already published many articles in areas of both philosophical and theological interest in his academic studies and early University research and teaching, it was during this period of time that he wrote his first major book entitled "Love and Responsibility." In it, the seeds of his rich understanding of the nature of the human person, created in the Image of God and called to love, began to form and be articulated. In addition his practical pastoral experience drew even more fully into consideration of the nature of human love in the Divine Plan.

By Deacon Keith Fournier

Invited to Historic Vatican II Council

On October 5, 1962 Bishop Karol Wojtyla joined Bishops from around the world as the Second Vatican Council was convened in Rome. He attended every one of the sessions, contributing significantly and being deeply formed as well as changed by the experience. During this time of the Council, his life as a Bishop of the Church underwent a significant development. Archbishop Baziak of Krakow died and after the first session of the Council, Bishop Wojtyla was again called to say "yes" to the invitation of the Lord speaking through His Church.

Pope John XXIII appointed Bishop Wojtyla to become Bishop of Krakow. At the time of the appointment, his beloved Poland was under the oppression of another inhuman ideology, atheistic communism. As a result, he was not officially appointed until 1964 by Pope Paul VI and was formally installed on March 8, 1964. This son of Poland who had studied for his ordination in an underground seminary during the infamous oppression of the Nazi's was to live and lead through another era marked by an ideology which failed to recognize God and, as a result, failed to defend the dignity of human persons created in His Image. He would later be elevated to the office Cardinal by the same Pope Paul VI on May 29, 1967.

Significant Contributor to Council Documents

During the three years of the Second Vatican Council, Bishop Karol Wojtyla played a significant role at the Council. He actively participated in the debates and assisted in the drafting of the decrees which were produced by the Council Fathers. Of particular note, the future Pope was a participant on the commission which drafted the Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World, Gaudium et Spes. The theological anthropology which emerged from that profound document would become one of the foundations of his extraordinary teaching magisterium when he assumed the chair of Peter many years later. He is known to have also contributed to the seminal Declaration on Religious Liberty, Dignitatis Humanae, and the Decree on the Instruments of Social Communications, Inter Mirifica.

Home to Poland to Implement the Council

After this historic Council, Bishop Karol Wojtyla returned to Poland to implement the teaching of the Council Fathers. He wrote one of the most significant books concerning the teaching of the Council entitled "Sources of Renewal" in 1972. It is the only book written by a Bishop who participated in the Council. In it one finds the seeds and themes which would later come to full flourishing as he wrote his encyclicals, apostolic letters and exhortations after being elected to the Chair of Peter.

Church Reformer

Among the many effects of the Second Vatican Council were structural reforms. Two of the institutions affected were the Synods of Bishops and the Conferences of Bishops. By then Karol Wojtyla had been named a Cardinal. He was elected to Vice-presidency of the Polish Bishops Conference. His courage was evident in the strong leadership he provided to the Church of Poland as she faced persecution under Communist Rule. Throughout the 1970's Karol Cardinal Wojtyla made significant contributions to the Bishops assemblies, serving in numerous leadership capacities. This Cardinal of Poland emerged as a courageous defender of the faith and an excellent theologian, helping to implement the reforms begun by the Second Vatican Council.

Seeds of the Council become Roots of a Magisterium

His papers and presentations continued to enrich the universal Church. The themes which would characterize his Papal magisterium sunk their roots deep and were watered by the wisdom he gained in providing pastoral care to the people of God in his beloved Poland. He was a light of truth throughout those turbulent years as he traveled to Rome for meetings. On August 11 -12, 1978, he traveled to Rome to attend the funeral of Pope Paul VI and the events which followed would mark another call from the Lord; one which would both surprise and change the whole world.

From Cardinal to Chair of Peter to Grain of Wheat

Deacon Keith Fournier

The Bishop Becomes a Prince of the Church

Karol Cardinal Wojtyla's was selected as a Cardinal by Pope Paul VI in 1967. In March of 1976, he was invited to give a Lenten retreat to the aging Pope. The talks became a book of deep spiritual insights and reflections entitled "Sign of Contradiction." He was chosen by the late Pope to be his representative to the International Eucharistic Congress held in the United States in July of 1976, the Nation's bicentennial. It would be the beginning of a deep and enduring friendship with the American people.

Champion of the Dignity of Life and Love

Cardinal Wojtyla had a deep conviction of the importance of Pope Paul VI's Encyclical Letter Humanae Vitae, On Human Life, published in 1968. It was about more than the regulation of birth and issues of contraception; it was about the dignity of the human person and human love in the Divine Plan. Sadly, the letter became a rallying point for some who chose to dissent. However, Karol Cardinal Wojtyla's work in theological anthropology, his development of a theology of marriage and family, and his Wednesday Catechetical Instructions (later compiled as "Human Love in the Divine Plan" and popularly called the "Theology of the Body") as Pope, clearly built upon this important Encyclical letter of Paul VI and have ensured its lasting effects.

From Cardinal to the Chair of Peter

The death of Pope Paul VI on August 6, 1978, the Feast of the Transfiguration, brought Cardinal Wojtyla to Rome where he participated in the Conclave which elected Cardinal Albino Luciani of Venice as Pope. The gentle smiling Pope took the name John Paul I to represent his commitment to continuity with the pontificates of both of his predecessors and the Council which they presided over. Sadly, 33 days later Pope John Paul I died in office. 1978 then became the year of three Popes. Karol Cardinal Wojtyla soon heard the Lord call him to an assignment he probably never expected when he studied for the priesthood in an underground seminary in Poland.

On October 16, 1978, the Cardinals gathered under the guidance of the Holy Spirit and chose Karol Cardinal Wojtyla as the 263rd successor to the Apostle Peter. He took the name John Paul II as his first teaching act, sending the signal of continuity. He stepped out on to the balcony in St. Peters Square and proclaimed: "Be Not Afraid! Open up, no; swing wide the gates to Christ. Open up to his saving power the confines of the State, open up economic and political systems, the vast empires of culture, civilization and development... Be not afraid!"

Pope John Paul II Begins his Service

Affirmed by many as one of the chief architects of the Second Vatican Council and its extraordinary document on the relationship of the Church to the "modern" world" (entitled "Joy and Hope" or "Gaudium et Spes" in Latin), this strong, passionate, charismatic priest and Bishop now occupied the chair of Peter. At a critical time in the history of both the Church and the world, he stepped forward like a lion, with a prophetic roar. He strode onto that platform with strength and vitality.

This mountain climbing Polish Pope was so filled with the love of God it was contagious. A talented and gifted "man of letters", a playwright, a philosopher, an intellectual giant, a poet, but more importantly, a genuine human being with a heart that embraced the whole world, like the Heart of the One whom he represents on earth. He truly has been the "Vicar of Christ", representing the Lord, the King of Kings, for so many millions throughout the world.

Pope of Freedom and Fidelity

Like a lion in Peter's chair, he consistently and tirelessly lived what he boldly proclaimed with great courage. Unafraid, he traversed the globe, proclaiming freedom to the captives and truth to the victims of failed false ideologies that had ravaged the people of the twentieth century, the bloodiest in all of human history. He has not stopped passionately re-presenting the classical, unchanging, Christian message with a prophetic urgency, profound clarity and contemporary relevance.

Prolific and Courageous

Communism, atheism, secularism, false humanisms... have now all been exposed in both their empty promises and the horrors that they unleashed in the wake of their false utopian claims. This Pope proclaimed that the "Redeemer of Man" (the title of his first encyclical letter), Jesus Christ, is the path to authentic personal, social and universal freedom! He authored more encyclical letters, apostolic exhortations, constitutions and letters than any Pope in the two thousand year history of the Christian Church. In these writings and so many allocutions, this marvelous man has given us a treasury to unpack for centuries.

Saint John Paul's Themes

He meticulously and brilliantly developed themes during his service to the Church and the world. Among them; "The Culture of Life", "The Civilization of Love", "The New Evangelization", "The New Springtime of world missions ", "The Universal Call to holiness"; "Christian Marriage and family life as a domestic church"; "A Spirituality of Communion"; "The Theology of the Body"; "The Common Good"; "The Unity of Life"; "The New Humanism"; "The New feminism and the Feminine Genius"; "The Two Lungs of East and West"; " Catholic Action", and a "New Advent" for all of humanity in Jesus Christ.

Saint John Paul's Magisterium

His writings were vast, 14 Encyclicals, 15 Apostolic Exhortations, 11 Apostolic Constitutions, 45 Apostolic Letters and five books, "Crossing the Threshold of Hope" (October 1994), "Gift and Mystery, on the fiftieth anniversary of my ordination as priest" (November 1996), "Roman Triptych" poetic meditations (March 2003), "Arise, Let us Be Going" (May 2004) and "Memory and Identity" (February 2005). He promulgated the Catechism of the Catholic Church. He reformed the Eastern and Western Codes of Canon Law. He was an extraordinary Pope on every front.

His magisterium set a framework for what is becoming under his successor, Pope Benedict XVI, a new missionary age. His teaching helped to bring about an authentic renewal of the Church. It also reasserted the mission of the Church to engage and transform human culture, including the arts, politics, the academy, and economic and political realm - because no area of human experience is "off-limits" to the influence of the Gospel and the Church. The Church is, in the words of the Fathers of the second Vatican Council, an "expert in humanity".

Saint John Paul the Evangelist

Saint Pope John Paul II called all men and women to the Redeemer, Jesus Christ. He reminded us that only in Jesus Christ can we discover the purpose and fulfillment of human life. He proclaimed that human existence itself is an invitation to communion with God and with one another. He told an age bent of "self fulfillment" that true human fulfillment only comes from giving ourselves in love to God and to one another. He called us to live a unity of life, wherein the implications of the Christian faith inform the entirety of life with no contradiction or separation.

An Apostle of Life

He confronted, exposed and opposed the "culture of death", wherein the human person is treated as an instrument to be used rather than an unrepeatable gift to be received. He proposed a different way, building a new "culture of life" where every human person, at every age and stage, is recognized as having an inviolable dignity and right to life, freedom and love.

A Promoter of Peace

He charted a path to peace and solidarity, proclaiming to the nations that we are all our brothers' keeper and that we owe an obligation in solidarity to one another and, most especially, to the poor in all of their manifestations. He wrote of authentic freedom as a freedom "for" and not just a freedom "from", a freedom that must be bounded by truth and lived in accordance with the moral understanding of our obligation to do what is right.

A Champion of Freedom

He exposed what he called in his Encyclical "The Gospel of Life" the "counterfeit notion of freedom" as a raw power over others. He countered the false notion of the autonomy of the individual as the measure of a "freedom" to do whatever one wants by insisting that the path to human flourishing is communion. He proclaimed a new and true humanism, reaffirming that we were created in the Image of God, made for communion. He insisted that through applying the treasury of the social teaching of the Catholic Church - in our relationships with one another, in our families, in our societies, our nations and in the global community - authentic justice and freedom can actually be achieved.

Entrusted for twenty six years with the most important role of service in the Church and the world, Saint Pope John Paul II was a prophetic Pope in both word and deed. From his first encyclical letter entitled "The Redeemer of Man" to his last, the "Church of the Eucharist", he proclaimed that the truth is, as he wrote in his profound Encyclical Letter on the Moral Life, a "splendor".

A Healer of Divisions

He called for reconciliation among separated Christians in "May They Be One" and a new model of full communion with the Church which is beginning to be implemented under Pope Benedict XVI with the creation of Anglican Ordinariates as an example. With deep love for the "Light of the East" he called Eastern and Western Christianity to rediscover their dependence upon one another in order that the entire Body of Christ might once again breathe with "two lungs" and present the whole Jesus Christ to a world that needs to be liberated. Again, his successor continues the effort with extraordinary promise.

A Man of Living Faith

The oft-repeated paragraph 22 from "Joy and Hope", one of Saint Pope John Paul's favorite, is a key to understanding his deep faith: "In reality, it is only in the mystery of the word made flesh that the mystery of man truly becomes clear. For Adam, was a type of him who was to come, Christ the lord, Christ the new Adam, in the very revelation of the mystery of the Father and of His love, fully reveals man to himself and brings to light his most high calling."

The Lion becomes a Lamb

He began his pontificate Lion roaring and ended it like a lamb. The once vibrant, strong Pope became frail, sick and physically weak. The giant of a man, who once climbed mountains, mounted the cross of human suffering and, in his frail frame, exercised the authority of his office from a unique chair, still the Chair of Peter, a wheel chair. How fitting for the champion of the weak, the disabled, the elderly, those who have no voice, was finally joined physically to them in order to show the world the truth of the beauty and dignity of every human life.

The Pope who revealed the love of God through years of emptying himself out for the Lord and His people showed us the beauty of a suffering endured in love and offered for others in his last days among us. With decreasing verbal eloquence because his lips stammered from the ravages of Parkinson's disease, he achieved something beyond words; he demonstrated the truth of the Christian message of love by revealing the God who came to suffer for us all in his beautiful silence.

A Seed of a New Springtime

Then he went home to the Father having become a seed of the "New Springtime" he proclaimed. The Lord proclaimed that "unless a grain of wheat fall to the ground..." and when this Pope's prophetic mission on earth was over he joined the Lion of the Tribe of Judah and the Lamb who was slain for our sins. On April 2, at 9.37 p.m., the Octave of Easter and the Vigil of Divine Mercy Sunday, he died, falling to the ground as a grain of wheat in imitation of the Lord whom He loved and served so well.

By Deacon Keith Fournier

From Blessed to Saint John Paul II

The beatification of Blessed John Paul II on the Feast of Divine Mercy, May 1, 2011 was announced by a decree which addressed the importance of the date chosen:

"Since the beginning of his pontificate, in 1978, John Paul II often spoke in his homilies of the mercy of God. This became the theme of his second encyclical, Dives in Misericordia, in 1980. He was aware that modern culture and its language do not have a place for mercy, treating it as something strange; they try to inscribe everything in the categories of justice and law. But this does not suffice, for it is not what the reality of God is about."

We had a saint in our midst; a man so filled with Jesus Christ that, like the Apostle Paul, he no longer lived but "Christ lived in him." (Galatians 2) Blessed John Paul was, and is, a messenger of mercy. The cry of the faithful on the day on which his body was processed through the streets of Rome, "Santo Subito" continues. In fact, it grows stronger. We seek his intercession and are inspired by the witness of his holy life and inspiring death. We share our stories of his continued work from heaven. The final step to his canonization is an attested second miracle.

A Virtual Exhibit Hall

On the morning of July 6, 2011 Pope Benedict XVI visited an exhibition dedicated to Blessed John Paul II, his friend and predecessor. The exhibition was offered in the Charlemagne Wing at the left colonnade of St. Peter's Square. There are many places springing up around the world dedicated to this wonderful treasure, this saint of the Lord. Catholic Online now offers this virtual exhibition place for stories, testimonies, photos, images, writings and tributes to the Blessed John Paul II as the cause for his canonization proceeds.

The Venerable Pope John Paul II, by Andre Durand

The Communion of Saints

In our creed we profess our belief in the "communion of saints." This ancient belief was explained in these beautiful words by the Fathers of the Second Vatican Council in their Dogmatic Constitution on the Church (Lumen Gentium): "Until the Lord shall come in His majesty, and all the angels with Him (266) and death being destroyed, all things are subject to Him, some of His disciples are exiles on earth, some having died are purified, and others are in glory beholding "clearly God Himself triune and one, as He is"; but all in various ways and degrees are in communion in the same charity of God and neighbor and all sing the same hymn of glory to our God. For all who are in Christ, having His Spirit, form one Church and cleave together in Him.

"Therefore the union of the wayfarers with the brethren who have gone to sleep in the peace of Christ is not in the least weakened or interrupted, but on the contrary, according to the perpetual faith of the Church, is strengthened by communication of spiritual goods. For by reason of the fact that those in heaven are more closely united with Christ, they establish the whole Church more firmly in holiness, lend nobility to the worship which the Church offers to God here on earth and in many ways contribute to its greater edification.

"For after they have been received into their heavenly home and are present to the Lord, through Him and with Him and in Him they do not cease to intercede with the Father for us, showing forth the merits which they won on earth through the one Mediator between God and man,(271) serving God in all things and filling up in their flesh those things which are lacking of the sufferings of Christ for His Body which is the Church. Thus by their brotherly interest our weakness is greatly strengthened."

The Saints: A Great Cloud of Witnesses

The saints are the great "cloud of witnesses" to which the author of the letter to the Hebrews referred. (Hebrews 12:1) The Apostle Paul reminded the Christians in Rome that nothing can separate us from the love of Christ, "For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor present things, nor future things, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 8: 38, 39) The Church is a communion of those who live in Jesus Christ, a relationship from which we cannot be separated. Our relationship with one another does not end.

The ancient belief in the communion of saints is explained wonderfully in the Catechism of the Catholic Church. The Catechism offers copious references to the scriptural roots of the doctrine and the earliest teachings of the fathers and Councils of the Church affirming it. (CCC #946-962). In that section we also find two short quotes from Saints with whom we are all familiar. There are chosen from among a myriad of others in the Tradition. However, they bring this wonderful belief right down to our popular piety.

The first is found in the account of the death of St. Dominic; the words he spoke to the brothers who gathered around him: "Do not weep, for I shall be more useful to you after my death and I shall help you then more effectively than during my life." The second is taken from an account of the final conversation between St Therese of Lisieux and a friend: "I want to spend my heaven in doing good on earth." (CCC #956)

The Saints as Intercessors and Models

When we are in need we turn to one another for assistance through the prayer of intercession. Death does not separate us. That prayer continues. The Saints are our friends and our models. The process of canonization has evolved from the earliest centuries as a way of recognizing the heroic virtue of those who have gone on before us and are heroes to be emulated and intercessors with great efficacy and empathy. Clearly, Blessed John Paul II is numbered among them.

As the final step of the canonization process unfolds, the verification of an additional miracle (which, in the opinion of this deacon is beyond doubt) we offer this virtual place of pilgrimage, prayer and gathering along the road.

By Deacon Keith Fournier

Pope John Paul II Passes to the father

On April 2, 2005 at 9:37 p.m. Blessed Pope John Paul II died. In April of 2009 his successor, Pope Benedict XVI, told Pilgrims gathered in Rome "With you, I pray for the gift of beatification". That prayer has been answered. Friday, January 14, 2011 the Holy See released the "Decree for the Beatification of the Servant of God John Paul II" which can be read in its entirety here. http://www.radiovaticana.org/EN1/Articolo.asp?c=454138

A Prophetic Pronouncement

Sunday, January 16, 2011, Pope Benedict XVI, after praying the Angelus, Pope Benedict XVI announced "On 1 May I will have the joy of proclaiming the Blessed Pope John Paul II, my predecessor, as a blessed. The date chosen is very significant because it will, in fact, be the second Sunday of Easter which he himself dedicated to Divine Mercy and on the eve of which his earthly life came to an end...Those who knew him, those who respected and loved him cannot but share in the Church's joy at this event."

Blessed John Paul II

In the last ten centuries of Church history no Pope has beatified his predecessor. From the beginning of Pope Benedict's pontificate it has been clear that he has longed for this day. On April 3, 2011 at another Angelus, he told the faithful who had gathered "I remember him in prayer with affection as I think of you all. While we journey through Lent and prepare for the feast of Easter, we come with joy to the day when we will also venerate as a saint this great pope and witness of Christ, and rely even more on his intercession."

On April 9, 2011 Pope Benedict XVI attended a documentary film entitled "The Great Pope: Pilgrim in White", directed by the Polish director Jaropslaw Szmidt on the pontificate of Blessed Pope John Paul II. he noted, "This film ... sets out to faithfully render both the personality of the Pope and his tireless work throughout his long pontificate" and spoke of the "two pillars" of the life and ministry of his predecessor in office, "prayer and missionary zeal. John Paul II was a great scholar and great apostle of Christ. God chose him for the Chair of Peter and granted him long life in order that he might accompany the Church into the third millennium. By his example, he guided us all in this pilgrimage and continues to do so from above".

The choice of the Feast of Divine Mercy, May 1, 2011 for this beautification is intentionally chosen. Blessed Pope John Paul II had a deep devotion to his fellow Pole Sr. Faustina Kowalska and to the Divine Mercy devotion identified with her. In August 2002, in Lagiewniki, Poland where Sr. Faustina lived and died, John Paul II entrusted the entire world "to Divine Mercy, to the unlimited trust in God the Merciful."

The Decree of Beatification notes, "Since the beginning of his pontificate, in 1978, John Paul II often spoke in his homilies of the mercy of God. This became the theme of his second encyclical, Dives in Misericordia, in 1980. He was aware that modern culture and its language do not have a place for mercy, treating it as something strange; they try to inscribe everything in the categories of justice and law. But this does not suffice, for it is not what the reality of God is about."

Path to Sainthood

There is no doubt that we had a saint in our midst. A man so filled with Jesus Christ that, like the Apostle Paul, he no longer lived but "Christ lived in him." (Galatians 2) The sentiment of the faithful expressed on the day on which his body was processed through the streets of Rome, "Santo Subito" has echoed as the Church has discerned the cause of his canonization. Now, he will be raised to the Altar on the Feast of Divine Mercy and the faithful will call him "Blessed John Paul II."

Pope John Paul's first miracle occurred in 2006.

Sister Marie Simon-Pierre, a French nun and member of the Congregation of Little Sisters of Catholic Maternity Wards was confined to her bed by Parkinson's disease. It was reported that she was completely cured of the disease after members of her community prayed for the intercession of Pope John Paul II.

In May of 2008 she was once again continuing her good works at a maternity ward again. "I was sick and now I am cured," she told reporter Gerry Shaw.

Pope John Paul's second miracle occurred in 2011. A Costa Rican woman, Floribeth Mora, who was suffering from a terminal brain aneurism, was healed with no known natural (medical) cause, on the date of John Paul's beatification.

A panel of expert theologians from the Vatican examined the evidence and determined that it was directly attributable to the intercession of John Paul.

Two other potential miracles are thought to have occurred due to the direct intercession of Pope John Paul II.

On the fourth anniversary of the Pope's death, a Polish boy who had suffered from kidney cancer and was completely unable to walk, was visiting the tomb with his parents. Upon leaving St. Peter's Basilica he told his parents he wanted to walk, and then began to walk normally.

The other miracle attributed to Pope John Paul is the miraculous curing of Marco Fidel Rojas, the mayor of Huila, Colombia who was suffering from Parkinsons. His doctor has authenticated his cure.

Pope Francis confirmed his approval of the canonization of John Paul II on July 4, 2013, formally recognizing the second miracle attributed to his intercession. He was canonized alongside the Blessed John XXIII on April 27, 2014, Divine Mercy Sunday, in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican in Rome. The Canonization Mass was celebrated by Pope Francis and Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI.

I. DEFINITION

During the Roman imperial epoch the term consistorium (Lat. con-sistere, to stand together) was used to designate the sacred council of the emperors. In time it came to designate the senate of the Roman pontiff, that is, "the assemblage of the Cardinals in council around the Pope" (Innocent III to the Bishop of Ely and the Archdeacon of Norwich, in 1212; see Gonzalez, "Commentaria in textus decretalium Gregorii IX", III, vii, 108).

II. ORIGIN AND HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT

The origin of the papal consistory is closely connected with the history of the Roman presbytery or body of the Roman clergy. In the old Roman presbyterium there were deacons, in charge of the ecclesiastical temporalities in the various regions of Rome; priests, at the head of the principal churches of the city, called tituli; and (at least by the eighth century) the bishops of the dioceses in the neighborhood of Rome. The cardinals of today (divided likewise into the three orders of bishops, priests, and deacons) have succeeded the members of the ancient presbytery not only in the offices attaching to these three grades, though with somewhat different functions, but also, and chiefly, in the capacity of assisting the pope in the management of ecclesiastical affairs.

From the earliest Christian times the popes were wont to confer with the Roman presbytery on matters affecting the interests of the Church. From a letter of Pope Cornelius (254-255) to St. Cyprian we learn that he had summoned his presbytery before agreeing to the reconciliation of three schismatics. Likewise, Pope Liberius (352-363) informed the Roman clergy about the course of action he had deemed advisable to take during his exile. Pope Siricius (384-398) condemned the heresy of Jovinian after having convoked his presbytery. How far the more prominent members of the Roman clergy, eventually called cardinals, were being gradually entrusted with the management of ecclesiastical affairs is shown by the action of Leo IV and John VIII in the ninth century. The former ordered that the Roman cardinals should meet twice a week in the Sacred Palace to provide for the administration of the churches, look after the discipline of the clergy, and decide the cases of laymen. The latter ordered them to meet at least twice a month in order to take cognizance of and decide cases of clerics and laymen brought before the pope's tribunal. For many centuries, however, the Roman presbytery did not form the senate of the popes to the exclusion of all other clerics, at least in matters of greater importance. These matters were discussed and decided in the Roman council, which, though admitting the Roman clergy to an active part, consisted chiefly of bishops summoned by the pope from the greater part of Italy, as well as of other bishops who happened to be in Rome at the time. These councils were very frequent until the beginning of the twelfth century. Thenceforth, the popes held them more rarely finding it difficult to convoke them as often as the ever increasing volume of business demanded. In their stead the popes transacted the affairs brought before their court in the presence and with the assistance of the Roman cardinals, who about the same time had grown in dignity and importance, owing to the fact that the right o electing the pope now rested in them exclusively. Thus the Sacred College of Cardinals, assembled in consistory, became the chief organ of the supreme and universal government of the Church.

At first, matters of judicial as well as of administrative character were referred to the consistory. In course of time, however, the former were transferred to the Tribunal of the Sacred Rota. The "Corpus Juris" contains many of the decisions given by the popes in consistory, as is evidenced by the frequent formula de fratrun nostrorum consilio (with the advice of our brethren). The papal consistory has continued ever since to act as the supreme council of the popes, though it lost much of its importance when in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries the Roman Congregations were instituted. The amount of business brought before the Holy See had gradually increased to such a vast extent that it had to be divided among several particular committees of cardinals. These committees were at first temporary but gradually became permanent, and to each of them a definite kind of ecclesiastical affairs was assigned. These permanent committees came to be known as congregations. The first of them was instituted by Paul III, others by Pius IV and Pius V, but most of them owe their origin to Sixtus V. Once the Roman Congregations, embracing in their scope almost the whole range of ecclesiastical affairs, were instituted, it was but natural that the papal consistory should lose in importance. However, it did not go into desuetude altogether; it continued to be held, but more rarely, and only in the form which me proceed to describe.

III. PRESENT PRACTICE

Consistories are of three kinds: secret or ordinary, public or extraordinary and semi-public.

(1) The secret consistory is so called because no one save the pope and the cardinals is present at its deliberations. Formerly it was customary for the pope, soon after entering the hall of consistory, to confer singly with the cardinals on such personal matters as they wished to bring before him, and it was only after this audience was over that nobles and prelates were excluded from the hall. But at the present day this audience is omitted. The consistory is frequently opened with an address, or allocution, in which the pope often reviews the condition of the Church in general or in some particular country, pointing out what deserves praise or needs to be condemned. Such allocutions are afterwards given to the public in order that the world at large may know the mind of the pope on these matters. At the end of the allocution the creation of new cardinals takes place. The pope announces the names of those whom he intends to raise to the cardinalate, and asks the cardinals for their opinion; the cardinals remove their caps as a sign of consent, and the pope proceeds immediately to the formal appointment. It is also in the secret consistory that the cardinals receive from the pope the cardinal's ring, are appointed to some titular church or deaconry, exercise the option of passing from one titular church to another, and of ascending from the order of deacons and priests to the order of priests and bishops respectively. It is also here that the pope appoints the camerlengo and the Vice-Chancellor of the Holy Roman Church, and performs the ceremony of "closing" and "opening" the mouth of the new cardinals. To this consistory belong also the appointments of bishops, archbishops, and patriarchs, the transfers of these dignitaries from one see to another, the appointments of coadjutors, the creation and announcement of new dioceses, the division and union of dioceses already existing. But the etails are not discussed in the consistory itself. All the previous consultations that are required in order that the pope may come to a prudent conclusion have taken place in a congregation called consistorial, and the pope in the consistory itself only gives his decision. There are some sees whose bishops are appointed through a Brief outside the consistory. Such are those in territories depending on the Sacred Congregation of Propaganda, and others as necessity may require. These appointments are merely promulgated in the secret consistory. At the end of the consistory the advocates called consistorial are admitted to request, with the usual formalities, the pallium for newly appointed archbishops; their petition is granted immediately, but the conferring of the pallium takes place later.

(2) The public consistory is so called because persons foreign to the Sacred College of Cardinals, such as Apostolic prothonotaries, the auditors of the Sacred Rota, and other prelates are called to it. Laymen also, who have made previous application, are permitted to be present. Formerly, in this consistory the pope used to give solemn reception to kings, princes, and ambassadors; but this is no longer the custom. In the public consistory the pope performs the ceremony of delivering the red hat to the newly created cardinals. Moreover, the consistorial advocates plead here the causes of beatification and canonization. These pleadings are of two kinds. In the first permission is asked that the ordinary process of beatification or canonization may be introduced, or continued, or brought to completion. The second has reference only to causes of canonization. For in accordance with the practice of the Holy See, even after it has been conclusively proved that the miracles required for canonization have been performed through the intercession of one declared blessed, the honours of a saint are not decreed to him, unless the question as to whether canonization should take place has been treated in three consistories: secret, public, and semi-public. In the secret consistory the pope asks the opinions of the cardinals, who express it singly by answering placet or non placet (aye or no). In the public consistory one of the consistorial advocates pleads the cause and a prelate answers in the pope's name, inviting all to pray in order that the pope may be enlightened on the subject. The final voting takes place in the semi-public consistory.

(3) The semi-public consistory is so called because, besides the cardinals, bishops also take part in it. To this consistory the bishops residing within one hundred miles of Rome are summoned, while invitations are sent to all the other bishops of Italy; moreover, titular patriarchs and archbishops and bishops who live in Rome, as well as bishops who happen to be sojourning there at the time, are likewise present. After all the Fathers have expressed their opinions on the subject, the pope closes the assembly with an address on the following canonization. With regard to the time for holding the consistories, the old practice of assembling them at fixed intervals has passed out of use and today they meet, as occasion demands, at the pope's wish.

The Vigil, 30 April, 2011 (Circus Maximus)

The celebration will be divided into two parts. The first part will be dedicated to remembering the words and actions of John Paul II. There shall then be a solemn procession during which the image of Maria Salus Populi Romani will be enthroned; this shall be accompanied by representatives of all the parishes and chaplaincies of the diocese. Privileged accounts will be given by Joaquin Navarro-Valls and Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz, both of whom worked closely with the Pope, and by Sr. Marie Simon-Pierre, whose miraculous recovery opened the way for the beatification process. This first part of the celebrations will be concluded with the hymn "Totus tuus," composed for the 50th anniversary of John Paul's priestly ordination.

The second part will focus on the celebration of the Luminous Mysteries of the Rosary, which were introduced by John Paul II. After the hymn "Open the doors to Christ", Cardinal Vallini will give an introduction summarizing the spiritual and pastoral character of John Paul II. The Rosary will then be recited, with a live connection to five Marian sanctuaries around the world. Each of the five Mysteries of the Rosary shall be linked to a prayer intention of importance to John Paul II. In the Sanctuary of Lagniewniki, Krakow, the prayer intention will take the theme of youth; in the Sanctuary of Kawekamo, Bugando, Tanzania, the family; in the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lebanon, Harissa, evangelisation; in the Basilica of Sancta Maria de Guadalupe, Mexico City, hope and peace among peoples; and in the Sanctuary of Fatima, the Church.

To conclude the vigil, Benedict XVI shall recite the final oration and impart the apostolic blessing to all participants, in live transmission from the Apostolic Palace.

That night the following churches shall remain open for the oration: Sant' Agnese in Agone, Piazza Navona; San Marco al Campidoglio; Santa Anastasia; Santissimo Nome di Gesů all'Argentina; Santa Maria in Vallicella; San Giovanni dei Fiorentini; San Andrea della Valle; and San Bartolomeo all'Isola.

The Mass of Beatification, May 1, 2011, Sunday after Easter or of Divine Mercy (St. Peter's Square, officiated by the Holy Father).

The solemn liturgy of beatification shall be preceded by an hour of preparation during which the faithful shall pray together the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, a devotion introduced by Saint Mary Faustina Kowalska and dear to the Blessed John Paul II. The preparation will conclude with an Invocation to Mercy in the world, with the hymn "Jezu ufam tobie." This will be followed by Mass, with the texts for the Sunday after Easter. At the end of the rite of beatification, the unveiling of the tapestry depicting the newly Blessed shall be accompanied by the Hymn to the Blessed in Latin.

Mass of Thanksgiving, Monday May 2, 2011 (officiated by Cardinal Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone, St. Peter's Square)

Mass on Monday 2 May shall be the first celebrated in honour of the newly Blessed John Paul II. The texts shall be those of the Mass of the Blessed John Paul II. Music during the celebrations shall be provided by the Choir of the Diocese of Rome, with the participation of the Choir of Warsaw and the Wadowice Symphony Orchestra, Poland.

Fr. Lombardi explained that in the evening of Friday 29 April the tomb of the Blessed Pope Innocent XI - currently in the Chapel of St. Sebastian in St. Peter's Basilica - shall be transferred to the Altar of Transfiguration, to make way for the body of John Paul II. That morning, the coffin of John Paul II - which shall not be opened - will be transferred before the tomb of St. Peter, in the Vatican grotto. On the morning of 1 May, it will be brought before the Altar of Confession in the Basilica.

Following the beatification ceremony, the Pope and the concelebrating cardinals will make their way to the Altar of Confession in the Basilica and will pray for a moment before the body of the newly Blessed. From that evening, those who wish to do so may venerate the remains of John Paul II.

Fr. Walter Insero shall present the new project, "Digital Sentinels," recalling the polish Pope's address to the young as "sentinels of the morning" on World Youth Day 2000 in Rome.

Through the already well-known portal "Pope2You," provided by the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, it will be possible to send digital postcards with phrases, in several languages, extracted from John Paul II's various addresses to young people. These postcards may be used as invitations to young people to come to Rome to celebrate the beatification of John Paul II. Furthermore, through this portal it will be possible to follow the scheduled celebrations (Vigil, beatification Mass, Mass of thanksgiving).

Check out the Latest News on Saint Pope John Paul II Canonization »

Life of Saint Pope John Paul II

O Mary, bright dawn of the new world, Mother of the living, to you do we entrust the cause of life: Look down, O Mother, upon the vast numbers of babies not allowed to be born, of the poor whose lives are made difficult, of men and women who are victims of brutal violence, of the elderly and the sick killed by indifference or out of misguided mercy. Grant that all who believe in your son may proclaim the Gospel of life with honesty and love to the people of our time. Obtain for them the grace to accept that Gospel as a gift ever new, the joy of celebrating it with gratitude throughout their lives, and the courage to bear witness to it resolutely, in order to build, together with all people of good will, the civilization of truth and love, to the praise and glory of God, the Creator and lover of life.

Pope John Paul II
from the Gospel of Life
given in Rome on 25 March 1995, the Solemnity of the Annunciantion of the Lord

Parents

Karol WOJTYLA Sr. (father) an Army lieutenant, was born on July 18, 1879 in Lipnik, near Bielsko, Poland and died on February 18, 1941 in Kraków, Poland.

Emilia KACZOROWSKI (mother) was born on March 26, 1884 in Kraków, Poland. She died in childbirth on April 13, 1929.

Edmund WOJTYLA (brother) was born on August 27, 1906 and died of scarlet fever in 1932 in Wadowice, Poland.
Olga WOJTYLA (sister) was born and died in 1914.
Karol Jozef WOJTYLA (Saint Pope John Paul II)

Grandparents

Maciej WOJTYLA was born on January 1, 1852 in Czaniec, Poland and died on September 2, 1923 in Lipnik, near Bielsko, Poland. He was a master tailor.
Anna PRZECZEK was born date unknown and died in 1882.

Parents of Karol WOJTYLA Sr.

Feliks KACZOROWSKI was born June 26, 1849 in Biala (now Bielsko), Poland and died in 1908. He was a pack-saddle maker and carriage refurbisher.
Maria Anna SCHOLZ was born in 1853 and died in 1897.

Parents of Emilia KACZOROWSKI

Great Grandparents

Franciszek WOJTYLA was born on March 25, 1826 in Czaniec, Poland.
Franciszka GALUSZKA

Parents of Maciej WOJTYLA

Franciszek PRZECZEK was born in Lipnik, near Bielsko, Poland.
Maria HESS

Parents of Anna PRZECZEK

Mikolaj KACZOROWSKI was born in Biala (now Bielsko), Poland.
Urszula MALINOWSKA

Parents of Feliks KACZOROWSKI

Jan SCHOLZ was born in Biala (now Bielsko), Poland.
Zuzanna RYBICKA

Parents of Maria Anna SCHOLZ

Click on the links below to view the stats on that subject.

Apostolic Voyages

Principal documents

Encyclical Letters of John Paul II

Social Encyclicals of the most recent Pontificates

Beatification and Canonizazion Ceremonies

Consistories

Episcopal Ordinations conferred by John Paul II

Baptisms by John Paul II

Synod of Bishops

Audiences and meetings with political figures

General Audiences

World Days

World Days of Fasting for Peace asked by John Paul II

Pontificate of John Paul II - Dedicated Years

Some particular events

Diplomatic Relations of the Holy See

The duration of the Pontificate

Apostolic Voyages

[Updated: 11.01.2005]

		Totale
Visits outside Italy (in 129 different nations) [Italian]		104
Visits in Italy outside Rome and Castelgandolfo [Italian]		146
Visits to the Diocese and to the City of Rome and to the Municipality of Castelgandolfo [Italian]		748
of which to the Parishes of Rome (on a total of 333 parishes) *() ()		301
Visits to the Bodies of the Holy See and of Vatican City State [Italian]		54
Cumulative, global and specified statistics concerning the Apostolic Voyages [English, Italian]

(*) "(...) Dear brothers and sisters of the Parish of St MaríJosefa of the Heart of Jesus! The joy of being with you today is particularly strong. It is the delight of being able to visit the 300th parish community of the beloved Church of Rome. From the beginning of my Pontificate, I have made a priority of exercising the ministry of Bishop of Rome, even by visiting the parish communities of the Diocese.(...)" [Homily of the Holy Father during Holy Mass on the occasion of the Pastoral Visit to the Parish of Santa Maria Josefa del Cuore di Gesů the East sectorof the Diocese of Roma, the 300th visit of John Paul II in the Parish of His Diocese - Sunday 16 December 2001].
(**) Since December 2002, the parishes of Rome meet the Holy Father in the Vatican. To date, 16 parishes have visited the Holy Father, bringing the total of Roman parishes meeting the Pope to 317.

Principal documents

[Updated: 25.02.2005]

Principal Documents	Total

Encyclicals	14
Apostolic Exhortations	14
Apostolic Constitutions	11
Apostolic Letters	45
Motu Proprio	30
Planned speeches during Apostolic Voyages (including those in Italy)	3.288

Other Documents

Letters
Messages
Speeches
Homilies
Angelus - Regina Coeli
Speeches Audiences

Ecyclical Letters of John Paul II

[Updated: 17.04.2003]

	*Title*	*Date of signature*	*Date of publication*
1	*Redemptor* *hominis* Jesus Christ, "the Redeemer of man"	04.03.1979	15.03.1979
2	*Dives in misericordia* It is "God, who is rich in mercy" whom Jesus Christ has revealed to us as Father	30.11.1980	02.12.1980
3	*Laborem* *exercens* On Human Work on the ninetieth yearsversary of Rerum novarum	14.09.1981	14.09.1981
4	*Slavorum* *Apostoli* The Apostles of the Slavs, Saints Cyril and Methodius, are remembered with the great work of evangelization after eleven centuries	02.06.1985	02.07.1985 [This is an Epistola Enciclica, not an Encyclical Letter]
5	*Dominum* *et vivificantem* On the Holy Spirit in the Life of the Church and the World	18.05.1986	30.05.1986
6	*Redemptoris* *Mater* On the Blessed Virgin Mary in the life of the Pilgrim Church	25.03.1987	25.03.1987
7	*Sollicitudo* *rei socialis* The social concern of the Church, directed towards an authentic development of man and society for, the twentieth yearsversary of "Populorum progressio"	30.12.1987	19.02.1988
8	*Redemptoris* *missio* On the permanent validity of the Church's missionary mandate	07.12.1990	22.01.1991
9	*Centesimus* *annus* On the Centenary of the promulgation of the Encyclical "Rerum novarum"	01.05.1991	02.05.1991
10	*Veritatis* *splendor* Jesus Christ, the true light that enlightens everyone	06.08.1993	05.10.1993
11	*Evangelium* *vitae* The Gospel of life is at the heart of Jesus' message	25.03.1995	30.03.1995
12	Ut unum sint The call for Christian unity	25.05.1995	30.05.1995
13	*Fides et ratio* Faith and reason are like two wings on which the human spirit rises to the contemplation of truth	14.10.1998	15.10.1998
14	*Ecclesia de Eucharistia* The Church draws her life from the Eucharist	17.04.2003	17.04.2003

Social Encyclicals of the most recent Pontificates

[Updated: 17.04.2003]

Title	Date of signature	Pontiff
RERUM NOVARUM on capital and labor	15 May 1891	LEO XIII
QUADRAGESIMO ANNO on Reconstruction of the Social Order, on the fortieth anniversary of Rerum novarum	15 May 1931	PIO XI
MATER ET MAGISTRA on Christianity and Social Progress	15 May 1961	JOHN XXIII
PACEM IN TERRIS on establishing universal peace in truth, justice, charity and liberty	11 April 1963	JOHN XXIII
POPULORUM PROGRESSIO on the development of peoples	26 March 1967	PAUL VI
OCTOGESIMA ADVENIENS Apstolic Letter on occasion of the eightieth anniversary of Rerum novarum	14 May 1971	PAUL VI
LABOREM EXCERCENS on Human Work on the ninetieth anniversary of Rerum novarum	14 September 1981	JOHN PAUL II
SOLLICITUDO REI SOCIALIS on the twentieth anniversary of Populorum progressio	30 December 1987	JOHN PAUL II
CENTESIMUS ANNUS on the hundredth anniversary of Rerum novarum	1 May 1991	JOHN PAUL II

Beatification and Canonization Ceremonies

[Updated: 05.01.2005]

Beatifications and Canonizations in the Pontificate of John Paul II
	Ceremonies	Martyrs	Confessors	Total
Beatification Ceremonies	147	1.032	306	1.338
Canonization Ceremonies	51	402	80	482
Statistics: Ceremonies in Rome - Ceremonies in Italia outside of Rome - Ceremonies outside of Italy during Apostolic Voyages [Italian]

Canonizations starting with the Pontificate of Clement VIII [On 22 January 1588, with the Apostolic Constitution Immensa aeterni, Pope Sixtus V created the Sacred Congregation of Rites to regulate divine worship and to deal with the causes of saints]
CLEMENT VIII	1592-1605		2
PAUL V	1605-1621		2
GREGORY XV	1621-1623		5
URBAN VIII	1623-1644		2
ALEXANDER VII	1655-1667		2
CLEMENT IX	1667-1669		2
CLEMENT X	1670-1676		5
ALEXANDER VIII	1689-1691		5
CLEMENT IX	1700-1721		4
BENEDICT XIII	1724-1730		10
CLEMENT XII	1730-1740		4
BENEDICT XIV	1740-1758		5
CLEMENT XIII	1758-1769		6
PIUS VII	1800-1823		5
GREGORY XVI	1831-1846		5
PIUS IX	1846-1878		52
LEO XIII	1878-1903		18
PIUS X	1903-1914		4
BENEDICT XV	1914-1922		3
PIUS XI	1922-1939		34
PIUS XII	1939-1958		33
JOHN XXIII	1958-1963		10
PAUL VI	1963-1968		84
SUB-TOTAL		302
JOHN PAUL II		482
Total number of canonizations from 1594 through 2004		784

Consistories

[Updated: 21.10.2003]

	Cardinals created	Number of Consistories
Consistories for creating Cardinals (Ordinary Consistories) (*) + 1 "in pectore"	*231 ()**	9
Plenary Assemblies of the College of Cardinals (Extraordinary Consistories)		6
Specific Statistics on Consistories [English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish] Documentation on Consistories [English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish]

Episcopal Ordinations
conferred by John Paul II

[Updated: 09.01.2003]

Number Ceremony	*Date*	*Site*	Number Ordained Bishops
1	06.01.1979	Vatican Basilica	1
2	27.05.1979	Vatican Basilica	26
3	15.09.1979	Sistine Chapel	1
4	12.11.1979	Sistine Chapel	1
5	06.01.1980	Vatican Basilica	3
6	04.05.1980	Kinshasa - Zaire (Africa)	8
7	06.01.1981	Vatican Basilica	11
8	12.04.1981	Sistine Chapel	1
9	06.01.1982	Vatican Basilica	9
10	06.03.1982	Vatican Basilica	1
11	06.01.1983	Vatican Basilica	14
12	01.11.1983	Sistine Chapel	1
13	06.01.1984	Vatican Basilica	9
14	06.01.1985	Vatican Basilica	7
15	14.09.1985	Cathedral of Albano (Italy)	1
16	06.01.1986	Vatican Basilica	7
17	16.10.1986	Vatican Basilica	1
18	06.01.1987	Vatican Basilica	10
19	17.03.1987	Vatican Basilica	1
20	05.09.1987	Vatican Basilica	3
21	07.11.1987	Vatican Basilica	1
22	06.01.1988	Vatican Basilica	10
23	04.10.1988	Vatican Basilica	1
24	06.01.1989	Vatican Basilica	13
25	20.10.1989	Vatican Basilica	4
26	06.01.1990	Vatican Basilica	12
27	05.04.1990	Vatican Basilica	4
28	06.01.1991	Vatican Basilica	13
29	06.01.1992	Vatican Basilica	11
30	26.04.1992	Vatican Basilica	7
31	17.11.1992	Vatican Basilica	1
32	06.01.1993	Vatican Basilica	11
33	25.04.1993	Scutari (Albania)	4
34	06.01.1994	Vatican Basilica	13
35	06.01.1995	Vatican Basilica	10
36	06.01.1996	Vatican Basilica	14
37	06.01.1997	Vatican Basilica	12
38	06.01.1998	Vatican Basilica	9
39	19.03.1998	Vatican Basilica	3
40	06.01.1999	Vatican Basilica	9
41	06.01.2000	Vatican Basilica	12
42	19.03.2001	Vatican Basilica	9
43	06.01.2002	Vatican Basilica	10
44	06.01.2003	Vatican Basilica	12
TOTAL ORDAINED BISHOPS			321

Baptisms by John Paul II

[Updated: 11.04.2004]

	*Date*	*Place*	*Number of baptized*
			Children*	Adults**	*Total*
1	14.04.1979	Easter Vigil, Vatican Basilica	-	11	11
2	11.08.1979	Castel Gandolfo	1	-	1
3	23.09.1979	Pauline Chapel	4	-	4
4	02.02.1980	Pauline Chapel	6	-	6
5	05.04.1980	Easter Vigil, Vatican Basilica	-	24	24
6	27.04.1980	Private Chapel	1	-	1
7	08.05.1980	Accra (Ghana)	-	10	10
8	11.01.1981	Pauline Chapel	9	-	9
9	26.02.1981	Nagasaki (Japan)	-	77	77
10	18.04.1981	Easter Vigil, Vatican Basilica	-	20	20
11	10.01.1982	Pauline Chapel	13	-	13
12	13.02.1982	Onitsha (Nigeria)	-	31	31
13	10.04.1982	Easter Vigil, Vatican Basilica	-	26	26
14	28.05.1982	London (Great Britain)	-	4	4
15	09.01.1983	Sistine Chapel	20	-	20
16	02.04.1983	Easter Vigil, Vatican Basilica	-	22	22
17	08.01.1984	Vatican Basilica	27	-	27
18	21.04.1984	Easter Vigil, Saint Peters Square	-	29	29
19	04.05.1984	Kwangju (Corea)	-	72	72
20	13.01.1985	Sistine Chapel	31	-	31
21	06.04.1985	Easter Vigil, Vatican Basilica	-	24	24
22	11.08.1985	Garoua (Camerun)	-	c. 100	c. 100
23	12.01.1986	Sistine Chapel	42	-	42
24	29.03.1986	Easter Vigil, Vatican Basilica	-	39	39
25	08.05.1986	ForlěItaly)	7	-	7
26	21.06.1986	"Centro Italiano Solidarietŕuot; (Italian Solidarity Center), Rome	5	-	5
27	11.01.1987	Hall of Blessings	49	-	49
28	18.04.1987	Easter Vigil, Vatican Basilica	-	35	35
29	10.01.1988	Hall of Blessings	42	-	42
30	02.04.1988	Easter Vigil, Vatican Basilica	-	27	27
31	08.01.1989	Hall of Blessings	43	-	43
32	25.03.1989	Easter Vigil, Vatican Basilica	-	15	15
33	21.05.1989	Nomadelfia (Italy)	1	-	1
34	07.10.1989	Seoul (Korea)	-	12	12
35	07.01.1990	Hall of Blessings	43	-	43
36	14.04.1990	Easter Vigil, Vatican Basilica	-	19	19
37	13.01.1991	Hall of Blessings	42	-	42
38	30.03.1991	Easter Vigil, Vatican Basilica	-	26	26
39	12.01.1992	Hall of Blessings	42	-	42
40	18.04.1992	Easter Vigil, Vatican Basilica	-	29	29
41	02.01.1993	Hall of Blessings	39	-	39
42	10.04.1993	Easter Vigil, Vatican Basilica	-	32	32
43	05.09.1993	Vilnius (Lituania)	-	10	10
44	09.01.1994	Vatican Basilica	41	-	41
45	02.04.1994	Easter Vigil, Vatican Basilica	-	27	27
46	08.01.1995	Sistine Chapel	19	-	19
47	15.04.1995	Easter Vigil, Vatican Basilica	-	12	12
48	07.01.1996	Sistine Chapel	20	-	20
49	17.02.1996	Private Chapel	1	-	1
50	06.04.1996	Easter Vigil, Vatican Basilica	-	10	10
51	12.01.1997	Sistine Chapel	19	-	19
52	29.03.1997	Easter Vigil, Vatican Basilica	-	10	10
53	07.07.1997	Private Chapel	1	-	1
54	23.08.1997	Paris (France)	-	10	10
55	11.01.1998	Sistine Chapel	19	-	19
56	11.04.1998	Easter Vigil, Vatican Basilica	-	9	9
57	10.01.1999	Sistine Chapel	19	-	19
58	03.04.1999	Easter Vigil, Vatican Basilica	-	8	8
59	09.01.2000	Sistine Chapel	18	-	18
60	22.04.2000	Easter Vigil, Vatican Basilica	-	8	8
61	07.01.2001	Sistine Chapel	18	-	18
62	14.04.2001	Easter Vigil, Vatican Basilica	-	6	6
63	13.01.2002	Sistine Chapel	20	-	20
64	30.03.2002	Easter Vigil, Vatican Basilica	2	7	9
65	12.01.2003	Sistine Chapel	22	-	22
66	19.04.2003	Easter Vigil, Vatican Basilica	-	7	7
67	10.04.2004	Easter Vigil, Vatican Basilica	1	6	7
	TOTAL:		687	814	1.501
* Newborns or babies, who receive only the sacrament of Baptism ** Children and Adults, who receive the sacraments of Baptism, Communion and Confirmation.

Synod of Bishops

[Updated: 16.10.2001]

	During Pontificate	Total
Ordinary General Assemblies	6	10
Extraordinary General Assemblies	1	2
Special Assemblies	7	7
Particular Synods (The Netherlands)	1	1
Total	15	20
Documentation Synod of Bishops [English, French, Italian, Spanish]

Audiences and Meetings with olitical figures

[Updated: 25.02.2005]

More than 1.600, of which:	Totale
Official visits with Heads of State	38
Other audiences and meetings with Heads of State	738
Audiences and meetings with Prime Ministers	246

General Audiences

[Updated: 25.02.2005]

1.161, with a presence of more than 17.675.800 faithful from every part of the world

Statistical data concerning the presence of the faithful in the Audiences of John Paul II [Italian]

Speeches [English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish]

World Days

[Updated: 24.01.2005]

World Youth Day [English, French, Italian, Spanish]
World Day of the Sick [Italian]
World Day for Peace [Italian]
World Day for Migrants and Refugees [English, Italian]
World Meeting of the Family [English, Italian]
World Communications Day [Italian]
Other World Days [English, French, German, Italian, Portughese, Spanish]

World Days of Fasting for Peace
asked by John Paul II

[Updated: 05.05.2003]

Monday 27 October 1986	In Assisi, World Day of Prayer for Peace
Saturday 9 January 1993	In Assisi, on occasion of the special prayer meeting for peace in Europe and particularly in the Balkans (9-10 January)
Friday 21 January 1994	For peace in Bosnia
Friday 14 December 2001	For a stable peace, based on justice
Ash Wednesday 5 March 2003	For the cause of peace, above all in the Middle East

Pontificate of John Paul II
Dedicated Years

[Updated: 05.01.2005]

Holy Year of the Redemption	25 March 1983 - 22 April 1984
Marian Year	7 June 1987 - 15 August 1988
Year of the Family	26 December 1993 - 30 December 1994
1st Year of preparation for the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000, dedicated to Jesus Christ [faith]	1997
2nd Year of preparation for the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000, dedicated to the Holy Spirit [hope]	1998
3rd Year of preparation for the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000, dedicated to God the Father [charity]	1999
Great Jubilee of the Year 2000	24 December 1999 - 6 January 2001
Year of the Rosary	16 October 2002 - 31 October 2003
Year of the Eucharist	17 October 2004 - 29 October 2005

Some particular events

[Updated: 13.02.2005]

Christmas [Italiano]

Spiritual Exercises [Italiano]

Way of the Cross [Italiano]

Diplomatic Relations of the Holy See

[Updated: 10.01.2005]

Diplomatic Relations of the Holy See [Francese, Inglese, Italiano]

Length of the Pontificates

[Updated: 16.10.2004]

Name of Pontiff		Initial and Last Date of Pontificate	Lengt of Pontificate [in years]	Length of Pontificate [in days]

1	S. PETER	30 (?)-64 [o 67] (?) refers to the uncertainty of the date	34 [o 37] years of which, according to tradition, the beginning in Antiochia and the last 25 in Rome
2	B. PIUS IX	1846-1878 16.06.1846 (election) 21.06.1846 (coronation) 07.02.1878 (dead)	31 years, 7 months and 21 days (from the election) 31 years, 7 months e 16 days (from the coronation)	11.559 days (from the election) 11.554 days (from the coronation)
3	JOHN PAUL II	1978- 16.10.1978 (election) 22.10.1978 (solemn beginning)	26 years (from the election) 25 years, 11 months e 24 days (from the solemn beginning)	9.497 days (from the election) 9.491 days (from the solemn beginning)
3	JOHN PAUL II	[the "surpassing" of the Pontificate of Leo XIII was on 14 March 2004, considering the election date; 9 March 2004 refers to the solemn beginning of the Pontificate]
4	LEO XIII	1878-1903 20.02.1878 (election) 03.03.1878 (coronation) 20.07.1903 (dead)	25 years, 5 months (from the election) 25 years, 4 months e 17 days (from the coronation)	9.280 days (from the election) 9.269 days (from the coronation)
5	PIUS VI	1775-1799 15.02.1775 (election) 22.02.1775 (coronation) 29.08.1799 (dead)	24 years, 6 months e 14 days (from the election) 24 years, 6 months e 7 days (from the coronation)	8.961 days (from the election) 8.954 days (from the coronation)
6	ADRIAN I	772-795 01.02.772 (election) 09.02.772 (enthronization) 25.12.795 (dead)	23 years, 10 months e 24 days (from the election) 23 years, 10 months e 16 days (from the enthronization)	8.728 days (from the election) 8.720 days (from the enthronization)
7	PIUS VII	1800-1823 14.03.1800 (election) 21.03.1800 (coronation) 20.08.1823 (dead)	23 years, 5 months e 6 days (from the election) 23 years e 5 months (from the coronation)	8.559 days (from the election) 8.552 days (from the coronation)
8	ALEXANDER III	1159-1181 07.09.1159 (election) 20.09.1159 (coronation) 30.08.1181 (dead)	21 years, 11 months e 23 days (from the election) 21 years, 11 months e 10 days (from the coronation)	8.028 days (from the election) 8.015 days (from the coronation)
9	S. SILVESTER I	314-335 31.01.314 (election) 31.12.335 (dead)	21 years e 11 months (from the election)	8.004 days (from the election)
10	S. LEO I, Magnus	440-461 29.09.440 (election) 10.11.461 (dead)	21 years, 1 mese e 12 days (from the election)	7.712 days (from the election)

Life of Saint Pope John Paul II

VATICAN CITY, OCT 10, 2003 (VIS) - We conclude our overview of Pope John Paul's pontificate with a review of the highlights from 1999 through October 15, 2003:

JANUARY 1999:

Friday, 8: Audience for Massimo D'Alema, president of Italy's Council of Ministers.
Friday, 15: Audience for Pandeli Majko, president of Council of Ministers of Albania.
Monday, 18: Visit by President Leonel Fernandez Reyna of the Dominican Republic. Start of Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.
Friday, 22: John Paul II leaves on 85th foreign pastoral visit: Mexico City, Mexico and St. Louis, U.S.A. to close Synod for America. Pope signs and dates Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation "Ecclesia in America." Presents it to bishops the following day.
Tuesday, 26: Pope John Paul and U.S. President Bill Clinton meet upon Pope's arrival in St. Louis, U.S.A. Presentation of new rite of exorcism of the Roman Book of Rites (from Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of Sacraments).

FEBRUARY 1999:

Thursday, 4: Holy See and Israel sign "Legal Personality Agreement."
Monday, 8: New Hungarian Ambassador, Pal Tar, presents Letters of Credence. Holy See Press Office issues final report on 1998 Swiss Guard deaths.
Thursday, 11: 70th anniversary of founding of Vatican City State.
Friday, 12: Pope and bishops of Laos, Cambodia meet together for first time. Bishops are in Rome for "ad limina" visit.
Friday, 19: Audience to Yasser Arafat, president of the Palestinian Authority.
Saturday, 20: Pope receives Jason C. Hu, foreign affairs minister of the Republic of China (Taiwan).

MARCH 1999:

Monday, 1: Announcement that Pope has given permission to start the cause of beatification for Mother Teresa of Calcutta, dispensing from norm which states that five years must pass between person's death and start of cause.
Thursday, 11: Audience for Seyyed Mohammad Khatami: first visit by a president of the Islamic Republic of Iran to Pope John Paul.
Saturday, 20: Visit by president of Colombia, Andres Pastrana-Arango.
Thursday, 25: Pope receives President Robert Kotcharian of Armenia, and Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong of Singapore in separate audiences. Holy See statement on NATO bombings of Yugoslavia, which began last evening.
Monday, 29: Pope and Italian President Oscar Luigi Scalfaro meet.
Tuesday, 30: High level Vatican meeting studies Kosovo crisis: includes ambassadors to Holy See from NATO member countries and permanent members of the U.N. Security Council.

APRIL 1999:

Thursday, 1: Statement on today's mission to Belgrade by Archbishop Jean-Louis Tauran, secretary for Relations with States.
Sunday, 4: Easter. Pope writes Letter to Artists: published on April 23 in eight languages.
Sunday, 18: Papal Letter to His Holiness Alexis II, Patriarch of Moscow and all the Russias, on the occasion of the latter's trip to Belgrade to find peaceful solution to Kosovo conflict.
Thursday, 22: Pope welcomes President Alvaro Arzu Irigoyen of Guatemala.
Monday, 26: Visit by Israeli Foreign Minister Ariel Sharon.
Tuesday, 27: Pope writes U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan on eve of Annan's departure for Europe to seek peace in Yugoslavia.
Thursday, 29: Holy See and Cook Islands establish diplomatic ties.

MAY 1999:

Sunday, 2: Capuchin Padre Pio of Pietrelcina is beatified.
Friday, 7: Pope departs for three-day trip to Romania: 86th foreign apostolic trip. Includes meeting with Orthodox Patriarch Teoctist. Pope participates in Orthodox liturgy, and Patriarch in Catholic liturgy.
Monday, 10: Pope welcomes Kosovo Albanian leader Ibrahim Rugova. Rugova holds press conference in Holy See Press Office.
Tuesday, 18: John Paul II turns 79. He welcomes German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder.
Sunday, 23: Pentecost. Three priests ordained in Russia, the first in 82 years.
Sunday, 30: Pope travels to Ancona, 135th trip within Italy.

JUNE 1999:

Thursday, 3: John Paul II receives U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan.
Saturday, 5: Pope leaves for Poland, his 87th foreign pastoral trip. Until June 17.
Friday, 11: Warsaw, Poland: Pope's first ever address to a national parliament.
Wednesday, 30: Holy Father's Letter on "Pilgrimages to the Places Linked to the History of Salvation."

JULY 1999:

Thursday, 8: Note is published by Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts on the authentic interpretation of canons dealing with care of Eucharist.
Monday, 19: Diplomatic Relations with the Lesser Antilles.

AUGUST 1999:

Saturday and Sunday, 7, 8: Cardinal Angelo Sodano represents Pope John Paul at the closing celebrations of the European Youth Meeting, being held in Santiago de Compostela, Spain from August 4-8.

SEPTEMBER 1999:

Saturday, 4: One-day apostolic trip to Salerno, Italy: Pope John Paul's 136th such trip within Italy.
Sunday, 5: Audience at Castelgandolfo with Yasser Arafat, president of the Palestinian National Authority.
Monday, 13: Audiences to Bishop Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo, apostolic administrator of Dili, East Timor, and Prime Minister Pakalitha Bethuel Mosisili of Lesotho.
Thursday, 16: Pope receives President Guido de Marco of the Republic of Malta.
Saturday, 18: Pope receives King Abdullah Bin Hussein of Jordan.
Sunday, 19: One-day apostolic trip to Slovenia: the Pope's 88th foreign pastoral trip.
Thursday, 30: Audience for Hugo Rafael Chavez Frias, president of Venezuela. Holy Father blesses newly restored facade of St. Peter's Basilica in an early evening ceremony, accompanied by fireworks, in St. Peter's Square.

OCTOBER 1999:

Friday, 1: A concelebrated Mass in St. Peter's Basilica opens the Second Special Assembly for Europe of the Synod of Bishops. During the Mass, Pope John Paul proclaims St. Edith Stein (Benedicta of the Cross), St. Bridget of Sweden and St. Catherine of Siena co-patronesses of Europe.
Friday , 15: Holy Father's annual Message for World Food Day, on the theme "Young People Against Hunger."
Saturday, 16: John Paul II marks the 21st anniversary of his election as Pope. His pontificate is the 10th longest in history (St. Peter's is considered the longest).
Tuesday, 19: Official visit by Italian President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi. Also, an announcement that a joint team of Catholic and Jewish scholars will be formed to review published volumes of Church archival material covering the World War II period.
Friday, 22: Final message of European Synod of Bishops.
Saturday, 23: Closing Mass for Second Special Assembly for Europe of the Synod of Bishops.
Tuesday, 26: Publication of "The Letter of His Holiness John Paul II to the Elderly."
Thursday, 28: Pope receives Franjo Tudjman, president of Croatia, and Croatia's foreign affairs minister, Mate Granic.
Friday, 29: Pope grants audience to President Rudolf Schuster of Slovakia, and Slovakia's foreign affairs minister, Eduard Kukan. Holy Father and world's religious leaders gather in St. Peter's Square at conclusion of Inter-religious assembly in the Vatican.
Sunday, 31: Joint Declaration on the Doctrine Justification signed in Augsburg, Germany by Catholic Church and World Lutheran Federation.

NOVEMBER 1999:

Thursday, 4: Cardinal Cassidy attends enthronement of new Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians, Karekin II.
Friday, 5: Pope leaves for five-day trip to India and Republic of Georgia on his 89th foreign pastoral visit. The Latin, Greek-Orthodox and Armenian patriarchs of Jerusalem announce that Holy Land shrines will be closed November 22 and 23 to express disapproval of the building of a mosque near the basilica of the Annunciation in Nazareth.
Saturday, 6: John Paul II signs Post-synodal Apostolic Exhortation "Ecclesia in Asia" in New Delhi.
Saturday, 13: Audience to King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia of Sweden.
Monday, 15: Visit by President Abdelaziz Bouteflika of the Republic of Algeria.
Friday, 19: Pope receives Fernando Henrique Cardoso, president of Brazil.
Monday, 22: Audiences to Carlos Saul Menem, president of Argentina, and Sheikh Hamad Bin Essa Al-Khalifa, emir of Bahrain.
Tuesday, 23: Audiences to Martti Ahtisaari, president of Finland, and Jordan Sokolov, president of the Bulgarian parliament.

DECEMBER 1999:

Friday, 10: Publication of papal Message to Catholics in China for the Jubilee Year.
Saturday, 11: John Paul II inaugurates completely restored Sistine Chapel.
Monday, 13: Audiences to president of Eritrea, Isaias Afwerki, and to His Beatitude Nerses Bedros XIX, patriarch of Cilicia of the Armenians.
Saturday, 18: Audience to Vaclav Havel, president of the Czech Republic.
Monday, 20: Promulgation of decrees by Congregation for the Causes of Saints: includes Popes Pius IX and John XXIII among those who will be beatified.
Friday, 24: Pope John Paul II opens Holy Door at St. Peter's Basilica, to start the Jubilee Year 2000. Presides at the celebration of Christmas Midnight Mass.
Saturday, 25: Christmas Day "Urbi et Orbi" Message and Blessing. Pope opens the Holy Door at the patriarchal basilica of St. John Lateran.
Friday, 31: Vespers and traditional end-of-the-year "Te deum" of thanksgiving in St. Peter's Basilica. At midnight Pope appears at his window and wishes the crowd gathered in St. Peter's Square a Happy New Year, new millennium and Jubilee year. He imparts his "Urbi et Orbi" blessing. .../HIGHLGHTS 1999/... VIS 20000128 (1130)

JANUARY 2000:

Saturday, 1: 33rd World Day of Peace. Pope John Paul opens Holy Door at St. Mary Major Basilica and celebrates Mass.
Sunday, 2: Jubilee of Children: 150,000 children and adolescents join the Holy Father in St. Peter's Square.
Wednesday, 12: Diplomatic relations established with the State of Bahrain.
Monday, 17: Pope welcomes Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque.
Tuesday, 18: Start of the annual Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. The Holy Father opens fourth and final Holy Door of the Jubilee Year 2000 at St. Paul's Outside-the-Walls.
Monday, 24: Costa Rica's President Miguel Angel Rodriguez is received in audience.

FEBRUARY 2000:

Wednesday, 2: Feast of the Presentation of Our Lord and Jubilee of Consecrated Life: papal Mass at 10 a.m. in St. Peter's Square.
Saturday, 5: Pope receives Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid.
Friday, 11: Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes, and Jubilee of the Sick: Mass in St. Peter's Square.
Tuesday, 15: Basic Agreement is signed between Holy See and Palestinian Liberation Organization. Holy Father receives Yasser Arafat and Palestinian delegation in audience. He also received Rudolf Schuster, president of the Slovak Republic.
Thursday, 17: Audience for Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle, president of the Republic of Chile.
Friday, 18: Jubilee of Artists: Mass in St. Peter's Basilica presided over by Cardinal Roger Etchegaray, followed by address by Pope John Paul. Inauguration of three-day Jubilee of Permanent Deacons by Cardinal Dario Castrillon Hoyos at St. Mary Major Basilica.
Saturday, 19: Audience for Roberto Flores Facusse, president of Honduras.
Monday, 21: Audience for Arpad Goncz, president of Hungary.
Tuesday, 22: Jubilee of the Roman Curia, and papal Mass in St. Peter's Basilica.
Wednesday, 23: Liturgy of the Word celebration in the Paul VI Hall, presided over by Pope John Paul in commemoration of Abraham, "Our father in the faith." This event in the Vatican represented the first stage in the Pope's Jubilee Year pilgrimages to places linked with the history of salvation.
Thursday, 24 - Saturday, 26: Papal pilgrimage to Mount Sinai: John Paul II is first Pope to visit Egypt. This was his 90th foreign apostolic trip.
Tuesday, 29: Audience for King Letsie III of Lesotho.

MARCH 2000:

Thursday, 2: Papal audience for Salim El Hoss, prime minister and foreign minister of Lebanon.
Saturday, 4: Pope welcomes President Kim Dae-jung of the Republic of Korea, first Korean head of state to be received by John Paul II. He also received President Valdas Adamkus of Lithuania.
Sunday, 12: First Sunday of Lent. Concelebrated Mass in St. Peter's Basilica for the Day of Pardon of the Holy Year 2000.
Friday, 17: Publication by the Pontifical Council for the Family of a communique concerning the March 16 European Parliament resolution that equates families with "de facto" unions.
Saturday, 18: The Jubilee of the Chaldean Church with a liturgy in the basilica of St. Mary of the Angels and Martyrs.
Sunday, 19: Jubilee of Artisans, Mass in St. Peter's Square. Jubilee of the Syro-Malabar Church with a liturgy in the basilica of St. Mary of the Angels and Martyrs.
Monday, 20: Sunday, 26: Start of week-long papal pilgrimage to the Holy Land, Pope John Paul's 91st foreign apostolic trip.
Thursday, 30: Presentation of Holy Father's annual Letter to Priests for Holy Thursday: Letter was signed on March 23 in the Cenacle in Jerusalem.

APRIL 2000:

Thursday, 6: Audience for President Ali Abdullah Saleh of Yemen.
Friday, 7: Audiences for Joseph Fischer, foreign minister of Germany, Jan Carnogursky, justice minister of Slovakia and Pavol Hrusovsky, vice president of Slovak parliament and Kofi Annan, United Nations secretary general.
Sunday, 30: Second Sunday of Easter, henceforth to be known as Divine Mercy Sunday: Canonization of Blessed Maria Faustyna Kowalska.

MAY 2000:

Monday, 1: Jubilee of Workers celebrated at Tor Vergata University.
Tuesday, 2: Audience for Polish Prime Minister Jerzy Buzek.
Saturday, 6: Adolf Ogi, president of Switzerland, received by Pope.
Sunday, 7: Pope presides ecumenical celebration at the Colosseum for Witnesses to the Faith in the 20th Century.
Friday, 12: Pope departs for Fatima, Portugal on his 92nd foreign apostolic trip.
Saturday, 13: Beatification in Fatima of the two shepherd children, Jacinta and Francisco Marto. Cardinal Angelo Sodano, secretary of state, reads a text on the "Third Secret" of Fatima at the shrine, following the beatifications.
Thursday, 18: Pope John Paul's 80th birthday and the Jubilee of Priests: concelebrated Mass in St. Peter's Square with 80 cardinals, 300 archbishops and bishops and 6,000 priests.
Saturday, 20: Diplomatic relations established between Holy See and Djibouti.
Monday, 22: Audiences for Boris Trajkowski, president of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Nadejda Mihailova, Bulgarian foreign minister.
Friday, 26: Audience with Ismael Omar Guelleh, president of the Republic of Djibouti.
Sunday, 28: Jubilee of the diocese of Rome: papal Mass in St. Peter's Square.
Monday, 29: Pope receives President Denis Sassou-N'Guesso of the Congo, and Romanian Foreign Minister Petre Roman.

JUNE 2000:

Friday, 2: Papal Mass in St. Peter's Square for Jubilee of Migrants and Itinerant Peoples.
Monday, 5: Audience for Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Saturday, 10: Vigil of Pentecost. Papal Mass in St. Peter's Square for the Jubilee "Day of Reflection and Prayer on the Duties of Catholics Towards Other Men: Announcing Christ, Witnessing and Dialogue."
Tuesday, 13: Ali Agca, who attacked the Pope in St. Peter's Square on May 13, 1981, and has been in prison in Italy since then, is granted clemency by Italian President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, and extradited to his native Turkey.
Thursday, 15: Pope hosts lunch in Paul VI Hall for 200 poor and homeless as part of Jubilee year celebrations.
Monday, 19: Audience for Said Musa, prime minister of Belize.
Friday, 23: Audience for Fra Andrew Bertie, prince and grand master of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta.
Monday, 26: Presentation of Third Secret of Fatima in Holy See Press Office. Papal audiences for Hugo Banzer Suarez, president of Bolivia; Atal Bihari Vajpayee, prime minister of India; His Royal Highness, Prince of Asturias, Felipe de Bourbon.
Tuesday, 27: Audiences for Ghennadi Nikolaevich Selezniov, president of the Duma (Russian parliament), and Mikhail Sergeevic Gorbachev. Cardinal Angelo Sodano welcomes Hang-mao Tien, minister for foreign affairs of the Republic of China.

JULY 2000:

Monday, 3: Audience for Hipolito Mejia, president-elect of the Dominican Republic.
Tuesday, 4: Audience for President Stipe Mesic of Croatia.
Thursday, 6: Declaration published by Pontifical Council for the Interpretation of Legislative Texts which reaffirms ban on communion for divorced Catholics who re-marry.
Saturday, 8: Audience for His Royal Highness, Grand Duke Jean of Luxembourg.
Sunday, 9: Jubilee in Prisons. Pope says Mass in Rome's Regina Coeli prison.
Thursday, 13: Pontifical Council for the Family publishes declaration on embryo reduction, stating that this constitutes "selective abortion."
Thursday, 20: Apostolic Letter of the Holy Father John Paul II for the Third Centenary of the Union of the Greek-Catholic Church of Romania with the Church of Rome.

AUGUST 2000:

Tuesday, 15: Pope opens 15th World Youth Day in Rome.
Saturday, 19, and Sunday 20: Vigil and papal Mass close the 15th World Youth Day in presence of more than 2 million young people. Pope announces that 2002 youth day will be in Toronto, Canada.
Thursday, 24: Declaration from Pontifical Academy for Life on production and scientific and therapeutic use of human embryonic stem cells.
Tuesday, 29: Pope declares at a congress that human cloning is morally unacceptable.

SEPTEMBER 2000:/p>

Sunday, 3: Pope beatifies Popes Pius IX and John XXIII, Bishop Tommaso Reggio, Fr. Guillaume-Joseph Chaminade and Abbot Columba Marmion.
Tuesday, 5: Presentation of document of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith: "Declaration 'Dominus Iesus' on the Unicity and Salvific Universality of Jesus Christ and the Church."
Sunday, 10: Mass for Jubilee of Universities.
Monday, 11: Audience for Mireya Elisa Moscoso Rodriguez, president of the Republic of Panama.
Tuesday, 12. Olusegun Obasanjo, president of Nigeria, welcomed.
Thursday, 14: Cardinal Roger Etchegaray on third trip to China: visits Beijing September 14-16 to participate in symposium on "Religions and Peace." Pope welcomes Andrej Bajuk, prime minister of the Republic of Slovenia.
Friday, 15: Jubilee of Pontifical Representatives: Mass with Cardinal Sodano and audience with Pope John Paul.
Saturday, 16: Holy See and Lithuania sign Accords.
Sunday, 17: Jubilee of the Elderly, Eucharistic celebration in St. Peter's Square.
Friday, 22: Pope welcomes Hungarian President Ferenc Madl.
Sunday, 24: Mass for 20th International Mariological-Marian Congress and for Jubilee of Shrines.

OCTOBER 2000:

Sunday, 1: Pope canonizes 123 Blesseds, including 120 Chinese martyrs. He assures Catholic faithful in China of his prayers.
Friday, 6; Pope receives Emil Constantinescu, president of Romania. Bishops, at start of their Jubilee, collect $49,000 to give to Pope.
Saturday, 7: For Jubilee of Bishops. Pope, bishops, and faithful pray the rosary in St. Peter's Square before the statue of Our Lady of Fatima, brought to the Vatican from Portugal.
Sunday, 8: Papal Mass concludes Jubilee of Bishops, attended by 80 cardinals and over 1,500 bishops. Act of Entrustment to Mary.
Friday, 13: Audience for Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, vice president of the Philippines.
Saturday, 14: Start of Jubilee of Families: 300,000 gather for afternoon celebration with John Paul II. Pope receives President Gustavo Noboa Bejarano of Ecuador.
Sunday, 15: Mass for Jubilee of Families. Pope marries 8 couples.
Tuesday, 17: Pope John Paul's pontificate becomes 7th longest in history, including that of St. Peter. Holy Father welcomes Queen Elizabeth II to Vatican.
Thursday, 19: Jubilee of Sovereign Military Order of Malta.
Sunday, 22: Mass for World Mission Day and the Jubilee of Missions.
Sunday, 29: Mass in Rome's Olympic Stadium for Jubilee of Athletes.
Tuesday, 31: Apostolic Letter in form of 'Motu Proprio' proclaiming St. Thomas More as Patron Saint of Statesmen and Politicians.

OCTOBER 2000:

Sunday, 1: Pope canonizes 123 Blesseds, including 120 Chinese martyrs. He assures Catholic faithful in China of his prayers.
Friday, 6; Pope receives Emil Constantinescu, president of Romania. Bishops, at start of their Jubilee, collect $49,000 to give to Pope.
Saturday, 7: For Jubilee of Bishops. Pope, bishops, and faithful pray the rosary in St. Peter's Square before the statue of Our Lady of Fatima, brought to the Vatican from Portugal.
Sunday, 8: Papal Mass concludes Jubilee of Bishops, attended by 80 cardinals and over 1,500 bishops. Act of Entrustment to Mary.
Friday, 13: Audience for Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, vice president of the Philippines.
Saturday, 14: Start of Jubilee of Families: 300,000 gather for afternoon celebration with John Paul II. Pope receives President Gustavo Noboa Bejarano of Ecuador.
Sunday, 15: Mass for Jubilee of Families. Pope marries 8 couples.
Tuesday, 17: Pope John Paul's pontificate becomes 7th longest in history, including that of St. Peter. Holy Father welcomes Queen Elizabeth II to Vatican.
Thursday, 19: Jubilee of Sovereign Military Order of Malta.
Sunday, 22: Mass for World Mission Day and the Jubilee of Missions.
Sunday, 29: Mass in Rome's Olympic Stadium for Jubilee of Athletes.
Tuesday, 31: Apostolic Letter in form of 'Motu Proprio' proclaiming St. Thomas More as Patron Saint of Statesmen and Politicians.

NOVEMBER 2000:

Wednesday, 1: Solemnity of All Saints, 50th anniversary of dogmatic definition of the Assumption of Mary into heaven. Eucharistic celebration in St. Peter's Square.
Thursday, 9: Holy Father welcomes His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of all Armenians.
Sunday, 12: Mass for Jubilee of Agricultural World.
Sunday, 19: Mass for the Jubilee of the Armed Forces and Police. Start of Jubilee of the Syro-Antiochean and Syro-Malankara Churches.
Tuesday, 21: Pontifical Council for the Family publishes document entitled "Family, Marriage and 'de facto' Unions." Pope welcomes Islam Abduganievic Karimov, president of Uzbekistan.
Thursday, 23: Publication of document by Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith "Instruction on Prayers for Healing."
Friday, 24: Jubilee of Catholic Jurists. Basic Agreement between Holy See and Slovakia. Pope receives Prime Minister Mikulas Dzurinda of the Republic of Slovakia.
Sunday, 26: Mass for Jubilee of the Laity and World Congress of Catholic Laity.
Tuesday, 28: Audience for King Juan Carlos I and Queen Sofia of Spain.
Thursday, 30: Pope receives President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo of the Republic of Equatorial Guinea.

DECEMBER 2000:

Sunday 3: First Sunday of Advent. Mass for Jubilee of the Disabled.
Sunday, 10: Jubilee of Catechists and Teachers of Religion.
Monday, 11: Audience for Vojislav Kostunica, president of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
Sunday, 17: Mass for the Jubilee of the World of Entertainment.
Monday, 18: Audience for President Rudolf Schuster of Slovak Republic.
Monday, 25: 2000th anniversary of the Nativity of Our Lord.

JANUARY 2001:

Tuesday, 2: Cardinal Roger Etchegaray, president of the Central Committee for the Great Jubilee 2000, celebrates Mass in Bethlehem to mark the close of the Jubilee in the Holy Land.
Saturday, 6: Feast of the Epiphany; Pope John Paul closes Holy Door of St. Peter's Basilica, thus closing the Jubilee Year 2000 after 379 days. Publication of Apostolic Letter "Novo millennio ineunte."
Sunday, 21: John Paul II names 37 new cardinals.
Sunday, 28: Holy Father names 5 new cardinals, reveals 2 "in pectore" (Cardinals Marian Jaworski, Ukraine, and Janis Pujats, Latvia).

FEBRUARY 2001:

Saturday, 3: First "ad limina" visit by Albanian prelates since end of communist dictatorship.
Saturday, 17: Apostolic Letter (dated February 2) for 1700th anniversary of Baptism of the Armenian People.
Wednesday, 21: Consistory for the creation of 44 new cardinals.
Thursday, 22: Pope concelebrates Mass with new cardinals, bestows cardinal's ring.

MARCH 2001:

Sunday, 11: 233 Spanish martyrs are beatified; largest beatification ceremony in history.

APRIL 2001:

Monday, 23: Audience for Rafik Hariri, president of the Council of Ministers of Lebanon.

MAY 2001:

Friday, May 4: John Paul II starts trip to Greece, Syria and Malta, his 93rd foreign apostolic trip. He is the first Pope to visit Greece in 1,000 years, the first Pope ever to visit Syria and the first pontiff to enter a mosque. Trip concludes May 9.
Tuesday, 8: Publication of the Fifth Instruction for the Right Implementation of the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy of the Second Vatican Council, "Liturgiam authenticam."
Monday, 21: Consistory of Cardinals opens in Vatican City: 155 cardinals are present. This is the sixth extraordinary consistory called by Pope John Paul II.
Monday, 28: Holy See declaration on participation by Archbishop Emmanuel Milingo, emeritus of Lusaka, in a marriage ceremony of the Unification Church.

JUNE 2001:

Sunday, 3: Pentecost Sunday and 38th anniversary of the death of Blessed John XXIII, whose incorrupt body, in a crystal and bronze coffin, was in St. Peter's Square during Mass celebrated by the Pope. It was later placed in its final resting place near the main altar of St. Peter's Basilica.
Tuesday, 12: Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples issues "Instruction on the Sending Abroad and Sojourn of Diocesan Priests from Mission Territories."
Saturday, 23: Pope departs for Ukraine, start of 94th foreign apostolic trip. On June 26, he presides at first beatification ceremony in Ukraine's history. Trip ends June 27.

JULY 2001:

Tuesday, 17: Public canonical admonition is issued to Archbishop Milingo through a notification from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
Monday, 23: At Castelgandolfo, John Paul II welcomes U.S. President George W. Bush.

AUGUST 2001:

Wednesday, 1: Pope holds 1,000th general audience in St. Peter's Square.
Monday, 6: Pope receives Archbishop Emmanuel Milingo.
Tuesday, 14: Archbishop Milingo writes to John Paul II, announcing that he will resume his life in the Catholic Church, will renounce living with Maria Sung and will sever his relations with Reverend Moon and the Federation of Families for World Peace (Unification Church).

SEPTEMBER 2001:

Tuesday, 11: In a telegram to U.S. President George W. Bush, Pope John Paul expresses "shock at the unspeakable horror of today's inhuman terrorist attacks against innocent peoples in different parts of the United States."
Wednesday, 12: Pope dedicates general audience to the terrorist attacks in U.S., calling them "a dark day in the history of humanity."
Thursday, 13: At Castelgandolfo the Pope welcomes new U.S. ambassador to the Holy See, James Nicholson, and offers prayers for America, condemning terrorist attack.
Sunday, 16: Papal trip to Frosinone: 140th pastoral visit within Italy.
Saturday, 22: Holy Father leaves for Kazakhstan and Armenia, his 95th foreign trip.
Sunday, 30: 10th Ordinary Synod of Bishops on theme of episcopal ministry is opened by John Paul.

OCTOBER 2001:

Tuesday, 16: 23rd anniversary of election of John Paul II: his papacy is now seventh longest in history.
Thursday, 25: In a Message to Rome meeting on "Matteo Ricci: For a Dialogue between China and the West," John Paul II urges normalization of relations between Holy See, China.

NOVEMBER 2001:

Thursday, 1: Holy Father marks 55th anniversary of priestly ordination.
Thursday, 22: John Paul II promulgates amd transmits via Internet Postsynodal Apostolic Exhortation "Ecclesia in Oceania."
Monday, 26: Holy See issues "unequivocal condemnation" of in vitro cloning of human embryo announced in the U.S.

DECEMBER 2001:

Thursday, 13: Pope presides over meeting in the Vatican on "Peace in the Holy Land and the Future of Christians."

JANUARY 2002

Friday, 18: Members of the Priestly Association of St. John Mary Vianney, a group of followers of Archbishop Lefebvre in the diocese of Campos, Brazil, return to full communion with the Chair of Peter.
Thursday, 24: The Pope participates in the Day of Prayer for Peace in the World, celebrated in Assisi, Italy.

FEBRUARY 2002:

Monday, 11: Declaration on the elevation today of four apostolic administrations in the Russian Federation to diocese by the Holy See.
Wednesday, 20: Announcement that documents from 1922-1939 during the pontificate of Pope Pius XI will be available for consultation starting in 2003.
Saturday, 23: The Pope will not visit Roman Basilica of St. Pudenziana al Viminale tomorrow due to pain in his right knee.

MARCH 2002:

Monday, 4: The Pope sends the "Assisi Decalogue for Peace," signed at the end of the Day of Prayer for Peace in the World on January 24, to all heads of State and government.
Friday, 8: Delegation of the Holy Synod of the Greek Church participates in work sessions in Rome from March 8-13. The Pope receives them in audience on March 11.

APRIL 2002:

Tuesday, 23: Pope receives in audience twelve American cardinals and different members of the Roman Curia who are meeting in Rome in order to elaborate ways to confront the issue of sexual abuse of minors by priests.

MAY 2002:

Wednesday, 1: Cardinal Roger Etchegaray travels to Jerusalem as the Pope's special envoy to express his concern for peace in the Holy Land.
Thursday, 2: Presentation of the Apostolic Letter Motu Propio "Misericordia Dei" on certain aspects of the celebration of the Sacrament of Penance.
Sunday, 5: Pastoral visit to Ischia, Italy.
Wednesday 22: Sunday 26: Apostolic trip to Azerbaijan and Bulgaria. It is the 96th papal trip outside of Italy.

JUNE 2002:

Sunday, 16: Canonization of Blessed Padre Pio of Pietreclina, Italy, born Francesco Forgione, priest of the Friars Minor Capuchins.
Friday, 28: Approval of Statute of the Neocatechumenal Way.

JULY 2002:

Tuesday 23 -Thursday, August 1: Apostolic trip to Toronto for 17th World Youth Day, Guatemala City and Mexico City: 97th outside of Italy.

AUGUST 2002:

Friday 16 - Monday 19: Apostolic trip to Poland, 98th outside of Italy and eighth to his native land since start of papacy.

SEPTEMBER 2002:

Wednesday, 11: In the general audience, the Holy Father prays for the victims of the attack on the Twin Towers in New York, in Washington and Pennsylvania on the first anniversary of the tragedy.

OCTOBER 2002:

Sunday, 6: Canonization of Blessed Josemaria Escriva de Balaguer, founder of Opus Dei.
Monday, 7: His Beatitude Teoctist, Orthodox patriarch of Romania, makes an official visit to the Holy Father and to the Church of Rome from October 7-13.
Wednesday, 16: On the 24th anniversary of his pontificate, the Pope signs the Apostolic Letter "Rosarium Virginis Mariae" and adds five new mysteries, the "luminous mysteries." He proclaims October 2002-2003 the "Year of the Rosary."
Friday, 18: Presentation of the Instruction, "The Priest, pastor and leader of the Parish community."

NOVEMBER 2002:

Thursday, 14: The Pope visits the Italian Parliament for the first time in history.
Tuesday, 19: Presentation of the document "Consecrated persons and their mission in schools. Reflections and orientations."
Saturday, 30: Pope accepts resignation of Cardinal Bernardin Gantin as dean of College of Cardinals: he is succeeded by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger.

DECEMBER 2002:

Friday, 13: Declaration by Cardinal Bernard Law in which he express his gratitude to the Holy Father for having accepted his resignation as archbishop of Boston, U.S.A.

JANUARY 2003:

Thursday, 16: Congregation for Doctrine of the Faith publishes "Doctrinal Note on Some Questions Regarding the Participation of Catholics in Political Life."

FEBRUARY 2003:

Thursday, 13: Holy Father receives Rome's new Chief Rabbi Riccardo di Segni.
Friday, 14: Pope welcomes Iraqi vice premier Tariq Aziz.
Saturday, 15: Papal envoy Cardinal Roger Etchegaray meets with Iraqi President Saddam Hussein in Baghdad.
Tuesday, 18: Pope receives U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan.
Wednesday, 19: Holy See addresses U.N. Security Council on Iraq Question
Saturday, 22: Holy Father receives British Prime Minister Tony Blair.
Thursday, 27: Pope receives Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar of Spain and Seyyed Mohammad Reza Khatami, vice president of Iran's Islamic Consultative Assembly.

MARCH 2003:

Wednesday, 5: Papal envoy Cardinal Pio Laghi speaks with U.S. President George Bush on Iraqi crisis.
Thursday, 6: Publication of "Roman Triptych, Meditations," book of poetry by Pope John Paul.
Sunday, 16: "Never again war!" Pope exhorts international community at Angelus.

APRIL 2003:

Thursday, 17: start of Holy Week: Publication of Holy Father's Encyclical "Ecclesia de Eucharistia": Pope writes meditations for Good Friday's Way of the Corss at the Colosseum.
Saturday, 26: Publication of papal letter to Cuban President Fidel Castro asking clemency in the sentencing of dissidents.
Wednesday, 30: Pope John Paul II's pontificate becomes fourth longest in history at 24 years, 6 months and 8 days, following Pope Leo XIII and Pope Pius IX and St. Peter.

MAY 2003:

Saturday, Sunday, 3 & 4: Apostolic trip to Spain: 99th foreign trip.
Sunday, 18: Pope turns 83.

JUNE 2003:

Monday, 2: Pope receives U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell.
Thursday, 5: Start of apostolic trip to Croatia: 100th foreign papal trip. Letter from Cardinal Sodano to U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan, expressing Holy See support for U.S. role.
Sunday, 22: Pope to Bosnia-Herzegovina: 101st foreign trip.
Saturday, 28: Publication of Post-synodal Apostolic Exhortation "Ecclesia in Europa."

JULY 2003:

Thursday, 31: Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith publishes document "Considerations Regarding Proposals to Give Legal Recognition to Unions Between Homosexual Persons."

AUGUST 2003:

Sundays: 3, 10, 17, 24, 31: Holy Father dedicates Angelus reflections to Europe, its culture, history and institutions and the future European constitution, emphasizing each time Europe's deep Christian roots.

SEPTEMBER 2003:

Thursday, 11: Start of Pope's 102nd foreign apostolic trip: to Slovakia, until September 14.
Monday, 22: Authorities in Georgia withdraw from signing bilateral accord with Holy See officials present for ceremony.
Sunday, 28: Pope names 31 new cardinals, calls consistory for October 21.

OCTOBER 2003:

Saturday, 4: Pope welcomes Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams.
Tuesday, 7: Trip to Shrine of Our Lady of the Rosary of Pompeii.

VATICAN CITY, OCT 14, 2003 (VIS) - Encyclical comes from a Greek term used to indicate letters that princes and magistrates sent to the widest possible number of people in order to make known laws, rules, regulations. etc. The corresponding Latin term was "circularis," which referred to a letter or message intended for extensive circulation. Encyclical today has come to be associated solely with the Church.

Encyclical Letters, the most solemn documents of the ordinary and universal pontifical magisterium, are usually addressed to all the bishops and faithful of the Catholic Church, but frequently are also addressed to include "all people of good will." Encyclical Epistles are addressed to a specific group of bishops - for example those of a specific country or region - and touch upon less important matters.

Encyclicals may deal with doctrinal matters, exhort or call the faithful to public prayer for a specific reason, or be commemorative of an important Church anniversary. They are always signed by the pope, usually in Latin, and are published in the "Acta Apostolicae Sedis" and in individual books in diverse languages.

The official Latin text is prepared by the Secretariat of State and normally five copies of the Latin-language document are signed by the Holy Father. The text, in various languages, is sent to episcopal conferences worldwide through the pontifical representatives.

For many centuries, the office which prepared these documents was called the Chancery of Apostolic Letters. Dating back to the 4th century, the chancery was suppressed by Pope Paul VI with the Motu proprio "Quo aptius" of February 27, 1973.

Pope John Paul has written 14 encyclicals, 13 of which are Encyclical Letters and 1 - "Slavorum Apostoli" - is an Encyclical Epistle.

1. "Redemptor Hominis" (Jesus Christ, Redeemer of Man), March 4, 1979.

2 "Dives in Misericordia" (God the Father, Rich in Mercy), November 30, 1980.

3. "Laborem Exercens" (On human work and social problems), September 14, 1981.

4. "Slavorum Apostoli" (Saints Cyril and Methodius, patrons of the Slavs), June 2, 1985.

5. "Dominum et Vivificantem" (Holy Spirit, Lord and Vivifier), May 18, 1986.

6. "Redemptoris Mater" (Mary, Mother of the Redeemer), March 25, 1987.

7. "Sollicitudo Rei Socialis" (True development of man and society), December 30, 1987.

8. "Redemptoris Missio" (The mission), December 7, 1990.

9. "Centesimus Annus" (The social question, one hundred years after "Rerum Novarum"), May 1, 1991.

10. "Veritatis Splendor" (Foundations of Catholic morality), August 6, 1993.

11. "Evangelium Vitae" (The value and inviolability of human life), March 25, 1995.

12. "Ut Unum Sint" (The commitment to ecumenism), May 25, 1995.

13. "Fides et Ratio," (On Reason and Faith), September 14, 1998.

14. "Ecclesia de Eucharistia" (On the Eucharist and Its Relation to the Church), April 17, 2003.

VATICAN CITY, OCT 15, 2003 (VIS) - Following is a list of all synods
(ordinary, extraordinary and special) that have been held since the Synod of Bishops was founded in 1967 by Pope Paul VI.

Pope John Paul II has been a member of every synod and attended all but one as a bishop. In 1967 Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski, primate of Poland, was refused permission by Polish authorities to come to Rome to attend the October synod. In a gesture of solidarity, newly-created Cardinal Karol Wojtyla, archbishop of Krakow, remained in Poland and did not attend the synod. Archives of the Synod of Bishops nonetheless list him as a member of the 1967 synod.

Following his 1978 election to the papacy, Pope John Paul has presided at all synods.

The first Postsynodal Apostolic Exhortation written by the Holy Father, "Catechesi Tradendae," was signed on the first anniversary of his election, October 16, 1979. His latest Apostolic Exhortation, "Pastores gregis," will be signed tomorrow, the 25th anniversary of his election.

I. ORDINARY SYNODS OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH OF THE LATIN RITE

1. 9-29-1967 to 10-29-1967
Theme: Revision of the Code of Canon Law.
Conclusive documents:
Institution of the International Theological Commission.
Ratio Fundamentalis Institutionis Sacerdotalis.

2. 9-30-1971 to 11-6-1971
Themes: Ministerial priesthood. Justice in the world.
Final documents:
Document on justice in the world.
Document on ministerial priesthood.

3. 9-27-1974 to 10-26-1974
Theme: The evangelization of the contemporary world.
Final documents:
Declaration of the Synod Fathers.
Apostolic Exhortation "Evangelii Nuntiandi," Paul VI.

4. 9-30-1977 to 10-29-1977
Theme: Catechesis in our time, especially of children and youth.
Final document:
Apostolic Exhortation "Catechesi Tradendae," John Paul II (October 16,
1979)

5. 9-26-1980 to 10-25-1980
Theme: The Christian family.
Final document:
Apostolic Exhortation "Familiaris Consortio," John Paul II (November 22,
1981)

6. 9-29-1983 to 10-20-1983
Theme: Reconciliation and penitence in the pastoral mission of the Church.
Final document:
Apostolic Exhortation "Reconciliatio et Paenitentia," John Paul II
(December 2, 1984)

7. 10-1-1987 to 10-30-1987
Theme: Vocation and mission of the laity in the Church and in the world
twenty years after the Second Vatican Council.
Final document:
Apostolic Exhortation "Christifideles Laici," John Paul II (December 30,
1988)

8. 10-1-1990 to 10-28-1990
Theme: Formation of priests in today's society.
Final document:
Apostolic Exhortation "Pastores dabo vobis," John Paul II (March 25, 1992)

9. 10-2-1995 to 10-29-1995
Theme: "Consecrated life and its role in the Church and in the world."
Final document:
Apostolic Exhortation "Vita Consecrata," John Paul II (March 25, 1996)

10. 9-30-2001 to 10-27-2001
Theme: "The Bishop, Servant of the Gospel of Jesus Christ for the Hope of
the World."
Final document:
Postsynodal Apostolic Exhortation "Pastores gregis," John Paul II (October
16, 2003)

EXTRAORDINARY SYNODS

1. 9-11-1969 to 10-28-1969
Theme: Cooperation of episcopal conferences with the Holy See and with each
other.
Final documents:
Message to priests.
Final declaration.

2. 11-25-1985 to 12-8-1985
Theme: Commemoration, evaluation and promotion of Ecumenical Vatican Council
II on the 20th anniversary of its conclusion.
Final documents:
Message to Christians.
Final report of the Synod.

SPECIAL SYNODS

1. Particular Synod of Bishops of the Netherlands.
1-14-1980 to 1-31-1980
Theme: The pastoral ministry of the Church in the Netherlands in present-day
circumstances.
Final document:
Final document of the particular Synod.

2. Special Assembly for Europe
11-28-1991 to 12-14-1991
Theme: "We are witnesses to Christ who has freed us."
No final document.

3. Special Assembly for Africa of the Synod of Bishops
4-10-1994 to 5-8-1994
Theme: "Africa and her evangelizing mission toward the year 2000: you will
be my witnesses (Acts 1:8)."
Final document:
Postsynodal Apostolic Exhortation "Ecclesia in Africa," John Paul II
(signed in Yaounde, Cameroon on September 14, 1995).

4. Special Assembly for Lebanon of the Synod of Bishops
11-26-1995 to 12-14-1995
Theme: "Christ is our hope: renewed by his Spirit, in solidarity, we give
witness to his love."
Final document:
Postsynodal Apostolic Exhortation "A New Hope for Lebanon," John Paul II
(signed in Beirut, Lebanon on May 10, 1997)

5. Special Assembly for America of the Synod of Bishops
11-16-1997 to 12-12-1997
Theme: "Encounter with the Living Christ, the path for conversion, communion
and solidarity in America."
Final document:
Postsynodal Apostolic Exhortation "Ecclesia in America," John Paul II
(signed in Mexico City on January 22, 1999)

6. Special Assembly for Asia of the Synod of Bishops
4-19-1998 to 5-14-1998
Theme: "Jesus Christ the Savior and His Mission of Love and Service in Asia:
'... That they may have life and have it abundantly'."
Final document:
Postsynodal Apostolic Exhortation "Ecclesia in Asia," John Paul II (signed
in New Delhi, India on November 6, 1999)

7. Special Assembly for Oceania of the Synod of Bishops
11-22-1998 to 12-12, 1998
Theme: "Jesus Christ and the Peoples of Oceania: Walking His Way, Telling
His Truth, Living His Life."
Final document:
Postsynodal Apostolic Exhortation "Ecclesia in Oceania," John Paul II
(transmitted from the Vatican via Internet by the Pope on November 22, 2001)

8. Second Special Assembly for Europe
10-1-1999 to 10-23-1999
Theme: "Jesus Christ Alive in His Church, Source of Hope for Europe."
Final document:
Postsynodal Apostolic Exhortation "Ecclesia in Europa," John Paul II (June
28, 2003)

Pompei, 2003
Slovakia, 2003
Bosnia and Herzegovina, 2003
Croatia, 2003
Spain, 2003
Poland, 2002
Toronto, Ciudad de Guatemala and Ciudad de Mexico - 2002
Azerbaijan, Bulgaria - 2002
Ischia - 2002
Kazakhstan, Armenia - 2001
Ukraine, 2001
Jubilee Pilgrimage "in the footsteps of Saint Paul the Apostle": Greece, Syria, Malta - 2001
Fatima, 2000
Jubilee Pilgrimage to the Holy Land, 2000
Jubilee Pilgrimage to Mount Sinai, 2000
New Delhi - Georgia, 1999
Slovenia, 1999
Poland, 1999
Ancona, 1999
Romania, 1999
Mexico - St. Louis, 1999
Croatia, 1998
Austria, 1998
Vercelli and Turin, 1998
Nigeria 1998
Cuba 1998
II World Meeting for Families - Rio de Janeiro 1997
XXIII Italian National Eucharistic Congress, Bologna, 1997
Paris 1997 - XII World Youth Day
Poland 1997
Lebanon 1997
Sarajevo 1997
Czech Republic 1997
Perugia and Assisi 1986
France 1986
Australia and New Zeland 1986
Pakistan, Philippines I, Guam, Japan, Anchorage 1981
Brazil, 1980
Turkey 1979
Pompei and Naples, 1979
United States of America, 1979
Ireland, 1979
Loreto and Ancona, 1979
Veneto, Italy 1979
Poland 1979
Dominican Republic, Mexico and Bahamas, 1979

1982
Crispin of Viterbo
Maximillian Kolbe
Marguerite Bourgeoys
Jeanne Delanoue

1983
Leopold Mandic

1984
Paula Frassinetti
Korean Martyrs
Andrew Kim Taegon
Jung Hye
Miguel Febres Cordero
Paul Chong Hasang
Cecilia Yu
Agatha Chon Kyonghyob
Agatha Kim
Agatha Kwon Chini
Agatha Yi Kannan
Agatha Yi Kyong-i
Agatha Yi Sosa
Agatha Yi
Agnes Kim Hyoju
Alex U Seyong
Andrew-Chong Kwagyong
Anna Kim
Anna Pak A-gi
Anna Pak Agi
Anthony Daveluy
Anthony Kim Son-u
Augustine Pak Chong-won
Augustine Yi Chin-gil
Augustine Yi Kwang-hon
Barbara Ch'oe Yong-i
Barbara Cho Chung-i
Barbara Han Agi
Barbara Kim
Barbara Ko Suni
Barbara Kwon Hui
Barbara Yi Chong-hui
Barbara Yi
Bartholomew Chong Munho
Benedicta Hyon Kyongnyon
Catherine Chong Ch'oryom
Catherine Yi
Charles Cho Shin-ch'ol
Charles Hyon Songmun
Columba Kim Hyo-im
Columba Kim
Damianus Nam Myong-hyog
Damien Nam Myong-hyok
Elisabeth Chong Chong-hye
Francis Ch'oe Hyong-hwan
Ignatius Kim Chejun
Jacob Chastan
John Baptist Chong Chang-un
John Baptist Nam Chongsam
John Baptist Yi Kwangnyol
John Nam Chong-sam
John Pak
John Yi Kwong-hai
John Yi Munu
John Yi Yunil
Joseph Chang Chugi
Joseph Chang Songjib
Joseph Cho Yunho
Joseph Im Ch'ibaeg
Joseph Peter Han Wonso
Juliet Kim
Justin de Breteničs
Lawrence Han Ihyong
Lawrence Imbert
Lucia Kim
Lucia Park Huisun
Ludovicus Beaulieu
Luke Hwang Soktu
Magalena Ho Kye-im
Magdalene Cho
Magdalene Han Yong-i
Magdalene Kim Obi
Magdalene Pak Pongson
Magdalene Son Sobyog
Magdalene Yi Yong-hui
Magdalene Yi Yongdog
Maria Park K'unagi
Maria Won Kwi-im
Maria Yi Indog
Maria Yi Yonhui
Mark Chong Uibae
Martha Kim
Martin Luke Huin
Mary Yi Yon-hui
Paul Ho
Paul Hong Yongju
Perpetua Hong Kumju
Peter Aumaitre
Peter Ch'oe Ch'ang-hub
Peter Ch'oe Hyong
Peter Cho Kwaso
Peter Chong Wonji
Peter Henricus Dorie
Peter Hong Pyongju
Peter Kwon Tugin
Peter Maubant
Peter Nam Kyongmun
Peter Ryau
Peter Son Sonji
Peter Y Taech'ol
Peter Yi Hoyong
Peter Yi Myongs
Peter Yu Chongyul
Peter Yu Tae-Chol
Protasius Chong Kurbo
Rosa Kim
Sebastian Nam
Simon Berneux
Stephen Min Kukka
Susanna U Surim
Teresa Kim Imi
Teresa Kim
Teresa Yi Mae-im
Thomas Son Chason

1986
Francis Anthony Fasani (1681-1742)
Joseph Mary Tomasi

1987
Joseph Moscati
Lorenzo Ruiz of Manila and 15 Companions

1988
Alonso Rodriguez
Andrew Dung Lac An Tran
Andrew Thong Kim Nguyen
Andrew Trong Van Tram
Anthony Dich Nguyen
Anthony Quynh Nam
Augustine Huy Viet Phan
Augustine Moi Van Nguyen
Augustine Schoffler
Bernard Due Van Vo
Dominic Hanh Van Nguyen
Dominic Henares
Dominic Nicholas Dat Dinh
Dominic Trach Doai
Dominic Uy Van Bui
Dominic Xuyen Van Nguyen
Emmanuel Trieu Van Nguyen
Eustochia Calafato
Francis Chieu Van Do
Francis Gil de Frederich
Francis Isidore Gagelin
Francis Jaccard
Francis Trung Von Tran
Francis Xavier Can Nguyen
Hyacinth Casteneda
Ignatius Delgado y Cebrian
James Nam
Jerome Hermosilla
Jesuit martyrs of Paraguay
John Baptist Con
John Baptist Thanh
John Canh
John Charles Cornay
John Dat
John Hoan Trinh Doan
John Louis Bonnard
John Thanh Van Dinh
Joseph Canh Luang Hoang
Joseph Fernandez
Joseph Hien Quang Do
Joseph Khang Duy Nguyen
Joseph Luu Van Nguyen
Joseph Marchand
Joseph Nghi Kim
Joseph Thi Dang Le
Joseph Uyen Dinh Nguyen
Joseph Vien Dinh Dang
Juan de Castillo
Lawrence Huong Van Nguyen
Luke Loan Ba Vu
Magdalen of Canossa (1774-1835)
Maria Rosa Molas y Vollve (d. 1876)
Martin Tho
Martin Tinh
Martyrs of Vietnam
Matthew Alonso Leziniana
Matthew Dac Phuong Nguyen
Matthew Gam Van Le
Michael HyDinh-Ho
Michael My Huy Nguyen
Nicholas The Duc Bui
Paul Hanh
Paul Khoan Khan Pham
Paul Loc Van Le
Paul Tinh Boa Le
Paul Tong Buong
Peter Duong Van Troung
Peter Francis Nén
Peter Hieu Van Nguyen
Peter Quy Cong Doan
Peter Thi Van Truong Pham
Peter Tuan Ba Nguyen
Peter Tuy Le
Peter Van Van Doan
Philip Minh Van Doan
Roque Gonzalez
Rose Philippine Duchesne
Simon Hoa Dac Phan
Simon de Rojas (1552-1624)
Stephen Theodore Cuenot
Stephen Vinh
Thephane Venard
Thomas De Van Nguyen
Thomas Du Viet Dinh
Thomas Thien Tran
Thomas Toan
Valentine Berriochoa
Vincent Diem The Nguyen
Vincent Yen Do

1989
Agnes of Bohemia
Albert Chmielowski
Clelia Barbieri
Gaspar Bertoni
Mutien-Marie Wiaux
Richard Pampuri

1990
Marguerite D'Youville

1991
Raphael (Jozef) Kalinowski

1992
Claude La Colombiere
Ezequiel Moreno y Diaz

1993
Henry de Osso y Cervello
Marie of Saint Ignatius
Teresa "de los Andes" (Juana Fernandez Solar) (1900-20)

1995
Eugene Mazenod
Jan Sarkander
Marek Krizin (1588-1619)
Martyrs of Kosice
Melichar Grodziecky (1584-1619)
Stefan Pongracz (1582-1619)
Zdislava of Lemberk (d. 1252)

1996
Giles Mary of Saint Joseph
John Grande
John Gabriel Perboyre

1997
John Dukla
Hedwig of Poland

1998
Teresa Benedicta of the Cross

1999
Agostina Petrantoni
Anicet Adolfo
Augusto Andres
Benedetto Menni
Benito de Jesus
Cirilo Bertran
Giovanni Calabria
Inocencio de la Immaculada
Jaime Hilario Barbel
Julian Alfredo
Marcelino Champagnat
Marciano Jose
Tomasso da Cori
Victoriano Pio
Kunegunda Kinga (1224-92)

2000
120 Martyrs of China
Agatha Lin
Alberic Crescitelli
Auguste Chapdelaine
Augustine Tchao
Callistus Caravario
Cristobal Magallanes Jara
Faustina Kowalska
Francis Ferdinand de Capillas
Jeanne-Marie Kerguin
Jerome Lou-Tin-Mei
Joachim Ho
Joachim Royo Perez
John Alcober Figuera
John Baptist Lo
Jose Maria de Yermo y Parres
Joseph Yuen
Joseph Zhang Dapeng
Josephine Bakhita
Katharine Drexel
Lawrence Pe-Man
Lawrence Wang
Luigi Versiglia
Maria Chaira
Maria di San Giusto
Marie Adolphine Dierks
Marie Amandine
Marie De Saint Just
Mary Hermina Grivot
Peter Ou
Raymond Li-Ts'Uan
Remigius Isore
Rose Tch'Enn-Kai-Tsie
Rose Tchao
Rose Wang-Hoei
Agnes Tsao Kouy, widow, - 1856, 27 May 1900
Andreas Bauer, religious 0. F. M., 1866 - 1900, 24 November 1946
Andrew Tien-K'Ing, layman, - 1900, 17 April 1955
Anna Dierk (Maria Adolfina), nun F. M. M., 1866 - 1900, 24 November 1946
Anna Nan-Sinn-Cheu laywoman, - 1900, 17 April 1955
Anna Nan-Tsiao-Cheu laywoman, - 1900, 17 April 1955
Anna Wang, laywoman, - 1900, 17 April 1955
Antonino Fantosati, bishop 0. F. M, 1842 - 1900, 24 November 1946
Barbara Ts'Oei-Lien-Cheu, laywoman, - 1900, 17 April 1955
Cesidio Giacomantonio, priest 0. F. M., 1873 - 1900, 24 November 1946
Elia Facchini, priest 0. F. M., 1839 - 1900, 24 November 1946
Elisabeth Tsinn, laywoman, - 1900, 17 April 1955
Francesco Fogolla, bishop 0. F. M., 1839 - 1900, 24 November 1946
Francesco M. Lantrua (Giovanni da Triora) priest 0FM. 1760 - 1816, 27 May 1900
Francis Tchang-Iun, 0. F. S., 1838 - 1900, 24 November 1946
Francisco Diaz del Rinccn priest 0. P., 1713 - 1748, 14 May 1893 3
Francisco Fernandez de Capillas, priest 0. P., 1607 - 1648, 2 May 19090
Francisco Serrano Frias, priest 0. P., 1695 - 1748, 14 May 1893
Francois Regis Clet, priest C. M., 1748 - 1820, 27 May 1900
Gabriel Taurin Dufresse, bishop M. E. P., 1750 - 1815, 27 May 1900
Gregorio Grassi, bishop 0. F. M 1833 - 1900, 24 November 1946
James Ien-Ku-Tun, layman, 1853 - 1900, 24 November 1946
James Tciao-Tciuen-Sin, layman, 1856 - 1900, 24 November 1946
John Baptist Ou-Man-T'Ang, layman - 1900, 17 April 1955
John Baptist Tchao-Ming, layman - 1900, 17 April 1955
John Baptist Tchou-Ou-Joei, layman - 1900, 17 April 1955
John Ou-Wenn-Yinn, layman - 1900, 17 April 1955
John Peter Neel, priest M. E. P. - 1832 - 1862, 2 May 1909
John Tchang, 0. F. S., seminarian 1882 - 1900, 24 November 1946
John Tchang, 0. F. S., seminarian 1877 - 1900, 24 November 1946
John Tchang, catechist- 1805 - 1862, 2 May 1909
John Tchen, catechist - 1862, 2 May 1909
John Van, 0. F. S., seminarian 1884 - 1900, 24 November 1946
John Wang-K'Oei-Sinn, layman - 1900, 17 April 1955
Joseph Chang, seminarian 1832 - 1861, 2 May 1909
Joseph Chang-Ta-Pong, catechist- 1754 - 1815, 2 May 1909
Joseph Ma-Tllen-Chounn, layman - 1900, 17 April 1955
Joseph Maria Gambaro, priest 0. F. M 1869 - 1900, 24 November 1946
Joseph Wang-Jou-Mei, layman - 1900, 17 April 1955
Joseph Wang-K'Oei-Tsu, layman - 1900, 17 April 1955
Joseph Yuang-Keng-Yinn, layman - 1900, 17 April 1955
K'I-Tchou-Tzeu, layman - 1900, 17 April 1955
Lang-Yang-Cheu, laywoman - 1900, 17 April 1955
Leo Ignazio Mangin, priest S. J. 1857 - 1900, 17 April 1955
Lucy Wang-Tcheng, laywoman - 1900, 17 April 1955
Lucy Wang-Wang-Cheu, laywoman - 1900, 17 April 1955
Lucy Y, catechist - 1862, 2 May 1909
Magdalene Tou-Fong-Kiu, laywoman - 1900, 17 April 1955
Maria Anna Giuliani (Maria della Pace), nun F. M. M. 1875 - 1900, 24 November 1946
Maria de Jesus Sacramentado Venegas (1868-1959)
Mark Ki-T'Ien-Siang, layman - 1900, 17 April 1955
Martha Ouang, widow - 1861, 2 May 1909
Martin Ou, catechist 1815 - 1862, 2 May 1909
Mary Fan-K'Ounn, laywoman - 1900, 17 April 1955
Mary Fou, laywoman - 1900, 17 April 1955
Mary Kouo-Li-Cheu, laywoman - 1900, 17 April 1955
Mary Nan (Ling-Hoa), laywoman - 1900, 17 April 1955
Mary Nan-Kouo-Cheu, laywoman - 1900, 17 April 1955
Mary Tchao, laywoman - 1900, 17 April 1955
Mary Tchao-Kouo-Cheu, laywoman - 1900, 17 April 1955
Mary Tcheng-Su, laywoman - 1900, 17 April 1955
Mary Tchou-Ou-Cheu, laywoman - 1900, 17 April 1955
Mary Tou-T'Ien-Cheu, laywoman - 1900, 17 April 1955
Mary Tou-Tchao-Cheu, laywoman - 1900, 17 April 1955
Mary Ts'I-U, laywoman - 1900, 17 April 1955
Mary Wang-Li-Cheu, laywoman - 1900, 17 April 1955
Maria-Josefa of the Heart of Jesus Sancho de Guerra (1842-1912)
Matthew Fun-Te, 0. F. S. - 1900, 24 November 1946
Modest Andlauer, priest S. J. 1847 - 1900, 17 April 1955
Paola Jeuris (Maria Amandina), nun F. M. M. 1872 - 1900, 24 November 1946
Patrick Tun, 0. F. S., seminarian 1882 - 1900, 24 November -1946
Paul Chen, seminarian 1838 - 1861, 2 May 1909
Paul Denn, priest S. J. 1847 - 1900, 17 April 1955
Paul Keue-T'Ing-Tchou, layman - 1900, 17 April 1955
Paul Lang-Eull, layman - 1900, 17 April 1955
Paul Lieou, priest - 1818, 27 May 1900
Paul Liou-Tsinn-Tei, layman - 1900, 17 April 1955
Paul Ou-Kiu-Nan, layman - 1900, 17 April 1955
Paul Ou-Wan-Chou, layman - 1900, 17 April 1955
Peter Li-Ts'Uan, layman - 1900, 17 April 1955
Peter Lieou, catechist - 1834, 27 May 1900
Peter Liou-Tzeu-U, layman - 1900, 17 April 1955
Peter Sans i JordáBishop 0. P. 1680 - 1747, 14 May 1893
Peter Tchang-Pan-Nieu, 0. F. S 1849 - 1900, 24 November 1946
Peter Tchao-Ming, layman - 1900, 17 April 1955
Peter Tchou-Jeu-Sinn, layman - 1900, 17 April 1955
Peter U-Ngan-Pan, 0. F. S. 1860 - 1900, 24 November 1946
Peter Wang-OI-Man, layman 1870 - 1900, 24 November 1946
Peter Wang-Tsouo Long, layman - 1900, 17 April 1955
Philip Tchang, 0. F. S., seminarian, 1880 - 1900, 24 November 1946
Simon Tceng, 0. F. S 1854 - 1900, 24 November 1946
Simon Tsinn, layman - 1900, 17 April 1955
Tchang-Hoai-Lou, layman - 1900, 17 April 1955
Teodorico Balat, priest 0. F. M. 1858 - 1900, 24 November 1946
Teresa Kinn-Tsie, laywoman - 1900, 17 April 1955
Teresa Tchang-Hene-Cheu, laywoman - 1900, 17 April 1955
Thaddeus Lieou, priest - 1823, 27 May 1900
Thomas Sen-Ki-Kuo, 0. F. S. 1851 - 1900, 24 November 1946

2001
Agostino Roscelli
Francisca Salesia Aviat
Joseph Marello
Luigi Scrosoppi
Maria Crescentia Hoss
Paula Montal Fornes of Saint Joseph of Calasanz
Rafqa
Teresa Eustochio

2002
Benedicta Cambiagio Frassinello
Ignatius of Santhia
Josemaria Escriva
Juan Diego
Pauline of the Heart of Jesus in Agony Visentainer
Pedro de San Jose Betancur
Padre Pio

2003
Angela de la Cruz
Arnold Janssen
Daniel Comboni
Genoveva Torres Morales
Jose Maria Rubio y Peralta
Joseph Freinademetz
Jozef Sebastian Pelczar
Maria de Mattias
Maria Maravillas de Jesus
Pedro Poveda Castroverde
Urszula Ledochowska
Virginia Centurione Bracelli

1979
Francis Coll
Hedwig of Poland
Henry de Osso y Cervello
Jacques Laval
Margaret Ebner

1980
Bartholomew Longo
Francis de Montmorency Laval
John Saziari
Jose de Anchieta
Kateri Tekakwitha
Luigi Orione
Maria Anna Sala
Marie Guyart of the Incarnation
Peter of Saint Joseph Betancur

1981
Alan de Solminihac
Anthony Gonzales
Claudine Thevenet
Domingo Ibanez de Erquicia
Francisco Shoyemon
Guillermo Courtet
Hyacinth Jordan Ansalone
Jacobo Kyushei Gorobioye Tomonaga
Lazaro of Kyoto
Lorenzo Ruiz of Manila
Luigi Scrosoppi
Luke Alonso Gorda
Magdalena de Nagasaki
Maria Repetto
Marina de Omura
Mateo Kohioe a Rosario
Miguel de Aozaraza
Miguel Kurobioye
Richard Pampuri
Thomas Hioji Rokuzayemon Nishi
Vicente Shiwozuka de la Cruz

1982
Andre Bessette
Angela of the Cross
Baldji Oghlou Ohannes
David Oghlou David
Dimbalac Oghlou Wartavar
Fra Angelico
Geremia Oghlou Boghos
Jeanne Jugan
Khodianin Oghlou Kadir
Kouradji Oghlou Tzeroum
Maria Angela Astorch
Marie Rivier
Marie Rose Durocher
Martyrs of Armenia
Peter Donders
Salvatore Lilli
Toros Oghlou David

1983
Albert Chmielowski
Callistus Caravario
Domingo Iturrate Zubero
Giacomo Cusmano
Jeremiah of Valachia
Luigi Versiglia
Maria Gabriella Sagheddu
Mary of Jesus Crucified
Raphael Kalinowski
Ursula Ledochowska

1984
Andre Fardeau
Anne Hmard
Anne Maugrain
Anne-Francoise de Villeneuve
Antoine Fournier
Carola Lucas
Carole Davy
Catherine Cottenceau
Catherine du Verdier de la Soriniere
Clemente Marchisio
Daniel Brottier
Elizabeth of the Trinity
Felcite Pricet
Francoise Peltier
Francoise-Louis Chartier
Francoise Bellanger
Francoise Bonneau
Francoise Michau
Francoise Micheneau Gillot
Francoise Pagis Roulleau
Francoise Suhard Menard
Frederick Albert
Gabrielle Androuin
Giovanni Mazzucconi
Guillaume Repin
Isidore of Saint Joseph
Jacques Laigneau de Langellerie
Jacques Ledoyen
Jean-Baptiste Lego
Jean Menard
Jean-Michel Langevin
Jose Manyanet y Vives
Joseph Moreau
Laurent Batard
Louise Bessay de la Voute
Marie-Anne Vaillot
Marie Leonie Paradis
Odilia Baumgarten
Perrine Androuin
Perrine Besson
Pierre Delepine
Pierre Fremond
Pierre Tessier
Rafaela Ybarra de Villalongo
Rene Lego
Rosalie du Verdier de la Soriniere
Suzanne Androuin
Victoire Bauduceau Reveillere
Jacqueline Monnier
Jeanne Bourigault
Jeanne Fouchard Chalonneau
Jeanne Gourdon Moreau
Jeanne Gruget Doly
Jeanne Onillon
Jeanne Thomas Delaunay
Jeanne-Marie Leduc Paquier
Jeanne-Marie Sailland d'Epinatz
Louise Poirier Barre
Louise Rallier de la Tertiniere Dean de Luigne
Louise-Aimee Dean de Luigne
Madeleine Blond
Madeleine Cady
Madeleine Perrotin Rousseau
Madeleine Sailland d'Epinatz
Madeleine Salle
Marguerite Riviere Huau
Marguerite Robin
Marie Cassin
Marie de la Dive du Verdier
Marie Fasseuse
Marie Forestier
Marie Gallard Queson
Marie Gasnier Mercier
Marie Gingueneau Couffard
Marie Grillard
Marie Lardeux
Marie Lenee Lepage Varance
Marie Leroy Brevet
Marie Leroy
Marie Pichery Delahaye
Marie Piou Supiot
Marie Rochard
Marie Roger Chartier
Marie Roualt Bouju
Marie-Anne Hacher du Bois
Marie-Genevieve Poulain de la Forestrie
Marie-Jeanne Chauvigne Rorteau
Marie-Louise du Verdier de la Soriniere
Marthe Poulain de la Forestrie
Monique Pichery
Perrine Bourigault
Perrine Grille
Perrine Laurent
Perrine Ledoyen
Perrine Phelyppeaux Sailland
Perrine-Jeanne Sailland d'Epinatz
Perrine-Renee Potier Turpault
Renee Bourgeais Juret
Renee ailleau Girault
Renee Grillard
Renee Martin
Renee Regault Papin
Renee Seichet Dacy
Renee Valin
Renee Marie Feillatreau
Rose Quenion
Simone Chauvigne Charbonneau
Victoire Gusteau

1985
Anna of the Angels Monteagudo
Benedict Menni
Mercedes Maria of Jesus
Rafqa Ar-Rayes
Theresa of Jesus Gerhardinger
Titus Brandsma
Virginae Centurione Bracelli
Anwarite Nangapeta (Aug. 15)
Catherine Troiani (Apr. 14)
Diego Luis de San Vitores, S.J., (Oct. 6)
Francisco Garate, S.J. (Oct. 6)
Jose M. Rubio y Peralta, S.J., (Oct. 6)
Pauline von Mallinckrodt, (Apr. 14)
Peter Friedhofen (June 23)
Pio Campidelli, C.P., (Nov. 17)

1986
Alphonsa Mattathupandatu of the Immaculate Conception
Kuriakose Elias Chavara
Teresa Maria of the Cross Manetti
Antoine Chevrier (Oct. 4)

1987
85 Martyrs (d. between 1584-1689) of England, Scotland and Wales (Nov. 22)
Antonia Mesina
Arnold Reche
Benedicta Cambiagio Frassinello
George Haydock
Karolina Kozka
Maria Angeles of Saint Joseph
Maria Pilar of Saint Francis Borgia
Pierino Morosini
Teresa Benedicta of the Cross
Teresa of Jesus "de los Andes"
Teresa of the Child Jesus Saint John of the Cross
William Carter
Andrea Carlo Ferrari, (May 10)
Blandina Marten, (Nov. 1)
Emmanuel Domingo y Sol (Mar. 29)
George Matulaitis (Matulewicz) (June 28)
Louis Moreau (May 10)
Marcel Callo, (Oct. 4)
Marcellis Spinola y Maestre, (Mar. 29)
Michal Kozal (June 10)
Pierre-Francois Jamet, (May 10)
Rupert Meyer, S.J. (May 3)
Ulricke Nische, (Nov. 1)

1988
Charles Houben
Francisco Palau y Quer
Giovanni Calabria
Josefa Naval Girbes
Junipero Serra
Katharine Drexel
Laura Vicuna
Miguel Pro
Bernardo Maria Silvestrelli, (Oct. 16)
Francisco Faa di Bruno, (Sept. 25)
Frederick Jansoone, (Sept. 25)
Giuseppe Benedetto Dusmet, (Sept. 25)
Honoratus Kozminski (Oct. 16)
Joseph Gerard (Sept. 11)
Joseph Nascimbeni (Apr. 17)
Kaspar Stangassinger, (Apr. 24)
Liberato Weiss, Nov. 20, Missionary Martyr of Ethiopia
Michele Pio Fasoli, Nov. 20, Missionary Martyr of Ethiopia
Niels Stensen (Nicolaus Steno) (Oct. 23)
Pietro Bonilli, (Apr. 24)
Samuel Marzorati, Nov. 20, Missionary Martyr of Ethiopia
Savina Petrilli (Apr. 24)

1989
7 Martyrs from Thailand (Philip Sipong, Sr. Agnes Phila, Sr. Lucia Khambang, Agatha Phutta, Cecilia Butsi, Bibiana Khampai, Maria Phon), (Oct. 22)
Brother Scubilionis (John Bernard Rousseau) (May 2)
Elizabeth Renzi, Antonio Lucci (June 17)
Francisca Ana Cirer Carbonell (Oct. 1)
Gertrude Caterina Comensoli, (Oct. 1)
Giuseppe Baldo (Oct. 31)
Lorenzo Salvi, (Oct. 1)
Maria Catherine of Saint Augustine (Apr. 23)
Maria Margaret Caiani, (Apr. 23)
Maria of Jesus Siedliska, (Apr. 23)
Martin of Saint Nicholas, (Apr. 23)
Mary of Jesus of the Good Shepherd, (Apr. 23)
Melchior of Saint Augustine, (Apr. 23)
Mother Maria of Jesus Deluil-Martiny (Oct. 22)
Niceforo de Jesus y Maria (Vicente Diez Tejerina and 25 Companions (martyred in Spain), (Oct. 1)
Timothy Giaccardo, (Oct. 22)
Victoria Rasoamanarivo (Apr. 30)

1990
3 Child Martyrs (Cristobal, Antonio and Juan), (May 6)
Anicet Adolfo
Augusto Andre
Benito de Jesus
Benjamin Julian
Cirilo Bertran
Inocencio de la Immaculada
Jaime Manuel Barbal Cosan
Juan Diego
Julian Alfredo
Marciano Jose
Maria Mercedes Prat
Nine Martyrs of Astoria during Spanish Civil War
Pier Giorgio Frassati
Tomasso da Cori
Victoriano Pio
Elisabeth Vendramini (Nov. 4)
Hanibal Maria Di Francia, (Oct. 7)
Jose Maria de Yermo y Parres (May 6)
Joseph Allamano (Oct. 7)
Louise Therese de Montaignac de Chauvance, (Nov. 4)
Maria Schinina, (Nov. 4)
Marthe Aimee LeBouteiller, (Nov. 4)
Philip Rinaldi (Apr. 29)

1991
Jozef Sebastian Pelczar
Pauline of the Heart of Jesus in Agony Visentainer
Rafael Chylinski
Adolph Kolping (Oct. 27)
Angela Salawa (Aug. 13)
Annunciata Cocchetti (Apr. 21)
Boleslava Lament (June 5)
Clara Bosatta (Apr. 21)
Edoardo Giuseppe Rosaz (July 14, Susa, Italy)
Marie Therese Haze (Apr. 21)

1992
122 Martyrs of Spanish Civil War, (Oct. 25)
17 Irish Martyrs, (Sept. 27)
Agustin Caloca Cortes
Cristobal Magallanes Jara
David Galvan Bermudez
David Roldan-Lara
David Uribe-Velasco
Francisca Salesia Aviat
Jenaro Sanchez Delgadillo
Jose Isabel Flores Varela
Jose Maria Robles Hurtado
Jose Maria de Yermo y Parres
JoseMarie Escriva
Josephine Bakhita
Julio Alvarez Mendoza
Luis Batiz Sainz
Manuel Moralez
Mateo Correa
Miguel de la Mora
Narcisa Martillo Moran
Roman Adame Rosales
Sabas Reyes Salazar
Salvador Lara Puente
Francesco Spinelli (June 21, Caravaggio, Italy)
Maria Josefa Sancho de Guerra (Sept. 27)
Maria de Jesus Sacramentado Venegas (Nov. 22)
Nazaria Ignacia March Mesa, (Sept. 27)
Rafael Arnaiz Baron(Sept. 27) )

1993
Angela Truszkowska
Faustina Kowalska
John Duns Scotus
Giuseppe Marello
Maria Francesca Rubatto
Maria Crucified Satellico
Paula Montal Fornes
Aurelio Maria
Columba Gabriel (May 16)
Diego Ventaja Milan
Dina Belanger (Mar. 20)
Edmigio
Eleven martyrs of Almeria, Spain, during Spanish Civil War (2 bishops, 7 brothers, l priest, l lay person); (Oct. 10)
Evencio Ricardo
Florida Cevoli (May 16)
Jose Cecilio
Ludovico of Casoria, (Apr. 18)
Manuel Medina Olmos
Marie-Louise Trichet, (May 16)
Maurice Tornay, (May 16)
Pedro Poveda Castroverde (Oct. 10)
Stanislaus Kazimierczyk (Apr. 18, cult solemnly recognized)
Teodomiro Joaquin
Valerio Bernardo Maria Crucified Satellico
Victoria Diez y Bustos de Molina, (Oct. 10)

1994
Alberto Hurtado Cruchaga
Claudio Granzotto
Gianna Beretta Molla
Isidore Bakanja
Josephine Vannini
Magdalena Caterina Morano
Maria Rafols
Agnes de Jesus Galand, (Nov. 20)
Elizabeth Canori Mora; (Apr. 24)
Eugenia Joubert, (Nov. 20)
Hyacinthe Marie Cormier, (Nov. 20)
Marie Poussepin, (Nov. 20)
Nicolas Roland, (Oct. 16)
Petra of Saint Joseph Perez Florida, (Oct. 16)

1995
109 Martyrs (64 from French Revolution - Martyrs of La Rochelle - and 45 from Spanish Civil War), (Oct. 1)
Agostino Roscelli
Carlo Erana Guruceta
Fidel Fuidio Rodriguez
Genoveva Torres Morales
Jesus Hita Miranda
Joseph Vaz
Johann Nepomuk von Tschiderer
Mary of the Cross MacKillop
Vicente Vilar David
Anselm Polanco Fontecha, (Oct. 1)
Damien de Veuster (June 4)
Felipe Ripoll Morata, (Oct. 1)
Giuseppina Bonino, (May 7)
Grimoaldo of the Purification (Jan. 29)
Marguerite Bays (Oct. 29)
Maria Alvarado Cordozo, (May 7)
Maria Bernarda Butler (Oct. 29)
Maria Domenica Brun Barbantini, (May 7)
Maria Helena Stollenwerk, (May 7)
Mary Theresa Scherer, (Oct. 29)
Modestino of Jesus and Mary, (Jan. 29)
Peter ToRot (Jan. 17)
Pietro Casini (Oct. 1)
Rafael Guizar Valencia, (Jan. 29)

1996
Alfredo Ildefonso Schuster
Anicet Hryciuk
Bartlomiej Osypiuk
Bernhard Lichtenberg
Candida Maria de Jesus Cipitria y Barriola
Catherine Jarrige
Daniel Comboni
Daniel Karmasz
Filip Geryluk
Jakob Gapp
Karl Leisner
Marcelina Darowska
Martyrs of Podlasie
Otto Neururer
Edmund Rice, (Oct 6)
Filippo Smaldone (priest) (May 12)
Gennaro Sarnelli (priest) (May 12)
Guido Maria Conforti (Mar. 17)
Ignacy Franczuk
Jan Andrzejuk
Konstanty Bojko
Konstanty Lukaszuk
Lukasz Bojko
Maksym Hawryluk
Maria Ana Mogas Fontcuberta (Oct 6)
Maria Antonia Bandres (religious) (May 12)
Maria Raffaella Cimatti, (religious) (May 12)
Michal Wawryszuk
Onufry Wasyluk
Wincenty Lewoniuk

1997
Bernardina Maria Jablonska
Ceferino Jimenez Malla
Domenico Lentini
Elí del Socorro Nieves
Gaetano Catanoso
John Baptist Scalabrini
Maria Karlowska
Maria Teresa Fasce
Maria Vicenta of Saint Dorothy Chaavez Orozco
Bartholomew Mary Dal Monte (Sep. 27)
Emilie d'Hooghvorst, (Oct. 12)
Enrico Rebuschini, priest (May 4)
Florentino Asensio Barroso, (May 4)
Frederic Ozanam (Aug. 22)
Giovanni Piamarta, (Oct. 12)
Maria Encarnacion Rosal of the Sacred Heart, (May 4)
Vilmos Apor, (Nov. 9)

1998
11 Spanish nuns (May 10)
Alojzije Stepinac
Anton Maria Schwartz
Brigida of Jesus
Cyprian Michael Iwene Tansi
Theodore Guerin
Zeferino Agostini
Antonio de Sant'Anna Galvao (Oct. 25)
Bishop Vincent Bossilkov, (Mar. 15)
Faustino Miguez, (Oct. 25)
Giovanni Maria Boccardo, (May 24)
Giuseppe Tovini (Sept. 20)
Jakob Kern, (June 21)
Maria Restituta Kafka, (June 21)
Maria Salles (Mar. 15) )
Nimatullah al-Hardini, (May 10)
Secondo Polla (May 23)
Teresa Bracco (May 24)
Teresa Grillo Chavez, (May 24)

1999
108 Polish Martyrs
6 Augustinian Recollect Companions, (Mar. 7)
Anna Schaeffer
Anton Martin Slomsek
Arcangelo Tadini
Diego Oddi
Edmund Bojanowski
Edward Maria Joannes Poppe
Padre Pio
Stefan Wincenty Frelichowski
Ferdinando Maria Baccilieri, (Oct. 3)
Manuel Martin Sierra, (Mar. 7)
Mariano da Roccacasale, (Oct. 3)
Nicola da Gesturi (Oct. 3)
Nicolas Barre, (Mar. 7)
Regina Protmann, (June 13)
Vicente Soler, (Mar. 7)

2000
Ambrosio Francisco Ferro and 28 Companions
Andre de Soveral
Andrew the Catechist
Anna Rosa Gattorno
Columba Marmion
Francesco Saverio Seelos
Francisco Marto
Jacinta Marto
John XXIII
Mariam Thresia Chiramel Mankidiyan
Mariano de Jesus Euse Hoyos
Martyrs of Nowogrodek
Mary Elizabeth Hesselblad
Nicolas Bunkerd Kitbamrung
Pedro Calungsod
Pius IX
Tommaso Reggio
William Joseph Chaminade
Andrew of Pho Yen (March 5)

2001
Alfonso Maria Fusco
Andrew Ishchak
Aurelio da Vinalesa
Bartholomeo Fernandez dos Martires
Basil Velychkovsky
Carlos Manuel Cecilio Rodriguez Santiago
Carmelo Sastre Sastre
Caterina Cittadini
Caterina Volpicelli
Clement Sheptytsky
Emilian Kovch
Emilie Tavernier Gamelin
Eugenia Picco
Gaetana Sterni
George Preca
Giovanni Antonio Farina
Gregory Khomyshyn
Gregory Lakota
Ignatius Falzon
Ignazio Maloyan
Ivan Ziatyk
John Sleziuk
Josef Bilczewski
Josaphat Kocylovskyj
Josaphata Mykhailyna Hordashevska
Laurentia Herasymiv
Leonid Feodorov
Louis Tezza
Luigi Quattrocchi
Manuel Gonzalez Garcia
Marcantonio Durando
Maria Adeodata Pisani
Maria Corsini
Maria Cristina dell'Immacolata Concezione
Maria Eutimia
Maria del Pilar Izquierdo Albero
Marie-Anne Blondin
Metod Dominik Trcka
Nicholas Charnetsky
Nikolaus Gross
Nicholas Konrad
Nicholas Tsehelsky
Oleksa Zaryckyj
Olha Bida
Paolo Manna
Pavol Gojdic
Peter Verhun
Roman Lysko
Severian Baranyk
Simeon Lukach
Tarsykia Matskiv
Teodor Romza
Tommaso Maria Fusco
Vitalij Bajrak
Volodymyr Pryjma
Yakym Senkivsky
Zygmunt Gorazdowski
Zenon Kovalyk
Jose Aparicio Sanz
Martyrs of the Spanish Civil War

2002
Andrea Giacinto Longhin
Artemide Zatti
Gaetano Errico
Josaphat Chichkov
Kamen Vitchev
Ludovico Pavoni
Luigi Variara
Marco Antonio Durando
Maria Romero Meneses
Maria del Transito de Jesus Sacramentado
Pavel Dzjidzjov
Aloisius Variara
Hyacinth of Englene
Johannes Baptist av Oaxaca
Maria de Chappotin de Neuville

2003
Teresa of Calcutta
Eugenia Ravasco
Giacomo Alberione
Giulia Salzano
Ivan Merz
Juana Maria Condesa Lluch
Ladislao Batthyany-Strattmann
Maria Caridad Brader
Maria Cristina Brando
Maria Dolores Rodriguez Sopena
Maria Domenica Mantovani
Mark of Aviano
Mary of Jesus Crucified
Pierre Bonhomme

EUROPE:

Francisco Alvarez Martinez, 79, Spain (2001), Archbishop Emeritus of Toledo

Carlos Amigo Vallejo, 70, Spain (2003), Archbishop of Seville

Ennio Antonelli, 68, Italy (2003), Archbishop of Florence

Audrys Juozas Backis, 68, Lithuania (2001), Archbishop of Vilnius

Philippe Xavier Ignace Barbarin, 54, France (2003), Archbishop of Lyon

Tarcisio Bertone, 70, Italy (2003), Archbishop of Genoa

Giacomo Biffi, 76, Italy (1985), Archbishop Emeritus of Bologna

Josip Bozanic, 56, Croatia (2003), Archbishop of Zagreb

Agostino Cacciavillan, 78, Italy (2001), President Emeritus of Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See, Roman Curia

Ricardo Maria Carles Gordo, 78, Spain (1994), Archbishop Emeritus of Barcelona

Marco Ce, 79, Italy (1979), Patriarch Emeritus of Venice

Desmond Connell, 79, Ireland (2001), Archbishop Emeritus of Dublin

Jose da Cruz Policarpo, 69, Portugal (2001), Patriarch of Lisbon

Godfried Danneels, 71, Belgium (1983), Archbishop of Mechelen-Brussels

Salvatore De Giorgi, 74, Italy (1998), Archbishop of Palermo

Peter Erdo, 52, Hungary (2003), Archbishop of Esztergom-Budapest

Michele Giordano, 74, Italy (1988), Archbishop of Naples

Jozef Glemp, 75, Poland (1983), Archbishop of Warsaw

Zenon Grocholewski, 65, Poland (2001), Prefect Emeritus of Catholic Education, Roman Curia

Julian Herranz Casado, 75, Spain (2003), President Emeritus of Interpretation of Legislative Texts, Roman Curia

Lubomyr Husar, 72, Ukraine (2001), Major Archbishop of Lviv

Marian Jaworski, 78, Ukraine (1998), Archbishop of Lviv

Walter Kasper, 72, Germany (2001), President Emeritus of Promoting Christian Unity, Roman Curia

Karl Lehmann, 68, Germany (2001), Bishop of Mainz

Jean-Marie Lustiger, 78, France (1983), Archbishop Emeritus of Paris

Franciszek Macharski, 77, Poland (1979), Archbishop of Kracow

Francesco Marchisano, 75, Italy (2003), President Emeritus of Sacred Archaeology, Roman Curia

Eduardo Martinez Somalo, 78, Spain (1988), Chamberlain of Apostolic Chamber, Roman Curia

Carlo Maria Martini, 78, Italy (1983), Archbishop Emeritus of Milan

Renato Raffaele Martino, 72, Italy (2003), President Emeritus of Justice and Peace, Roman Curia

Joachim Meisner, 71, Germany (1983), Archbishop of Cologne

Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, 72, Britain (2001), Archbishop of Westminster

Attilio Nicora, 68, Italy (2003), President Emeritus of Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See, Roman Curia

Keith Michael Patrick O'Brien, 67, Ireland (2003), Archbishop of Saint Andrews and Edinburgh, Scotland

Bernard Panafieu, 74, France (2003), Archbishop of Marseille

Laszlo Paskai, 77, Hungary (1988), Archbishop Emeritus of Esztergom-Budapest

Severino Poletto, 72, Italy (2001), Archbishop of Turin

Mario Francesco Pompedda, 75, Italy (2001), Prefect Emeritus of Apostolic Signatura, Roman Curia

Paul Poupard, 74, France (1985), President Emeritus of Culture, Roman Curia

Janis Pujats, 74, Latvia (1998), Archbishop of Riga

Vinko Puljic, 59, Bosnia-Herzegovina (1994), Archbishop of Sarajevo

Joseph Ratzinger, 77, Germany (1977), Prefect Emeritus of Doctrine of the Faith, Roman Curia

Giovanni Battista Re, 71, Italy (2001), Prefect Emeritus of Bishops, Roman Curia

Antonio Maria Rouco Varela, 68, Spain (1998), Archbishop of Madrid

Camillo Ruini, 74, Italy (1991), Auxiliary Bishop of Rome

Jose Saraiva Martins, 73, Portugal (2001), Prefect Emeritus of Causes of Saints, Roman Curia

Cristoph Schoenborn, 60, Austria (1998), Archbishop of Vienna

Henri Schwery, 72, Switzerland (1991), Archbishop Emeritus of Sion

Angelo Scola, 63, Italy (2003), Patriarch of Venice

Sergio Sebastiani, 73, Italy (2001), President Emeritus of Prefecture for the Economic Affairs of the Holy See, Roman Curia

Crescenzio Sepe, 61, Italy (2001), Prefect Emeritus of Evangelization of Peoples, Roman Curia

Adrianus Johannes Simonis, 73, Netherlands (1985), Archbishop of Utrecht

Angelo Sodano, 77, Italy (1991), Secretary Emeritus of State, Roman Curia

Georg Maximilian Sterzinsky, 69, Germany (1991), Archbishop of Berlin

Jean-Louis Pierre Tauran, 61, France (2003), Archivist of Vatican Secret Archives, Roman Curia

Dionigi Tettamanzi, 71, Italy (1998), Archbishop of Milan

Miloslav Vlk, 72, Czech Republic (1994), Archbishop of Prague, Czech Republic

Friedrich Wetter, 77, Germany (1985), Archbishop of Munich

LATIN AMERICA:

Geraldo Majella Agnelo, 71, Brazil (2001), Archbishop of Sao Salvador da Bahia

Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 68, Argentina (2001), Archbishop of Buenos Aires

Dario Castrillon Hoyos, 75, Colombia (1998), Prefect Emeritus of Clergy, Roman Curia

Juan Luis Cipriani Thorne, 61, Peru (2001), Archbishop of Lima

Francisco Javier Errazuriz Ossa, 71, Chile (2001), Archbishop of Santiago

Jose Freire Falcao, 79, Brazil (1988), Archbishop Emeritus of Brasilia

Claudio Hummes, 70, Brazil (2001), Archbishop of Sao Paulo

Nicolas de Jesus Lopez Rodriguez, 68, Dominican Republic (1991), Archbishop of Santo Domingo

Alfonso Lopez Trujillo, 69, Colombia (1983), President Emeritus of Family, Roman Curia

Javier Lozano Barragan, 72, Mexico (2003), President Emeritus of Pastoral Assistance to Health Care Workers, Roman Curia

Jorge Arturo Medina Estevez, 78, Chile (1998), Prefect Emeritus of Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, Roman Curia

Miguel Obando Bravo, 79, Nicaragua (1985), Archbishop Emeritus of Managua

Jaime Lucas Ortega y Alamino, 68, Cuba (1994), Archbishop of Havana

Rodolfo Quezada Toruno, 73, Guatemala (2003), Archbishop of Guatemala

Norberto Rivera Carrera, 62, Mexico (1998), Archbishop of Mexico City

Oscar Andres Rodriguez Maradiaga, 62, Honduras (2001), Archbishop of Tegucigalpa

Pedro Rubiano Saenz, 72, Colombia (2001), Archbishop of Bogota

Juan Sandoval Iniguez, 72, Mexico (1994), Archbishop of Guadalajara

Eusebio Oscar Scheid, 72, Brazil (2003), Archbishop of Rio de Janeiro

Adolfo Antonio Suarez Rivera, 78, Mexico (1994), Archbishop Emeritus of Monterrey

Julio Terrazas Sandoval, 69, Bolivia (2001), Archbishop of Santa Cruz de la Sierra

NORTH AMERICA:

Aloysius Matthew Ambrozic, 75, Canada (1998), Archbishop of Toronto

William Wakefield Baum, 78, Washington (former archbishop) (1976), Major Penitentiary Emeritus of Apostolic Penitentiary, Roman Curia

Edward Michael Egan, 73, New York (2001), Archbishop of New York

Francis Eugene George, 68, Chicago (1998), Archbishop of Chicago

William Henry Keeler, 74, Baltimore (1994), Archbishop of Baltimore

Bernard Francis Law, 73, Boston (1985), Archbishop Emeritus of Boston

Roger Michael Mahony, 69, Los Angeles (1991), Archbishop of Los Angeles

Adam Joseph Maida, 75, Detroit (1994), Archbishop of Detroit

Theodore Edgar McCarrick, 74, Washington (2001), Archbishop of Washington

Marc Ouellet, 60, Canada (2003), Archbishop of Quebec City

Justin Francis Rigali, 69, Philadelphia (2003), Archbishop of Philadelphia

James Francis Stafford, 72, Denver (former archbishop) (1998), Major Penitentiary of Apostolic Penitentiary, Roman Curia

Edmund Casimir Szoka, 77, Detroit (former archbishop) (1988), President of Governatorate of Vatican City State, Roman Curia

Jean-Claude Turcotte, 68, Canada (1994), Archbishop of Montreal

AFRICA:

Bernard Agre, 79, Ivory Coast (2001), Archbishop of Abidjan

Francis Arinze, 72, Nigeria (1985), Prefect Emeritus of Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, Roman Curia

Frederic Etsou-Nzabi-Bamungwabi, 74, Democratic Republic of Congo (1991), Archbishop of Kinshasa

Wilfrid Fox Napier, 64, South Africa (2001), Archbishop of Durban

Anthony Olubunmni Okogie, 68, Nigeria (2003), Archbishop of Lagos

Polycarp Pengo, 60, Tanzania (1998), Archbishop of Dar-es-Salaam

Armand Gaetan Razafindratandra, 79, Madagascar (1994), Archbishop of Antananarivo

Christian Wiyghan Tumi, 74, Cameroon (1988), Archbishop of Douala

Peter Kodwo Appiah Turkson, 56, Ghana (2003), Archbishop of Cape Coast

Emmanuel Wamala, 78, Uganda (1994), Archbishop of Kampala

Gabriel Zubeir Wako, 64, Sudan (2003), Archbishop of Khartoum

ASIA:

Ignace Moussa I Daoud, 74, Syria (2001), Prefect Emeritus of Oriental Churches, Roman Curia

Julius Riyadi Darmaatmadja, 70, Indonesia (1994), Archbishop of Jakarta

Ivan Dias, 68, India (2001), Archbishop of Bombay

Stephen Fumio Hamao, 75, Japan (2003), President Emeritus of the Pontifical Council for Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant Peoples, Roman Curia

Michael Michai Kitbunchu, 76, Thailand (1983), Archbishop of Bangkok

Jean-Baptiste Pham Minh Man, 70, Vietnam (2003), Archbishop of Ho Chi Minh City

Peter Seiichi Shirayanagi, 76, Japan (1994), Archbishop Emeritus of Tokyo

Jaime Lachica Sin, 76, Philippines (1976), Archbishop Emeritus of Manila

Telesphore Placidus Toppo, 65, India (2003), Archbishop of Ranchi

Ricardo J. Vidal, 74, Philippines (1985), Archbishop of Cebu

Varkey Vithayathil, 77, India (2001), Major Archbishop of Ernakulam-Angamaly

AUSTRALIA:

George Pell, 63, Australia (2003), Archbishop of Sydney

Thomas Stafford Williams, 75, New Zealand (1983), Archbishop Emeritus of Wellington

264th pope (1978-2005) and saint of the Catholic Church For other uses, see Pope John Paul II (disambiguation). In this article, the surname is Wojtyła, not Wojtyla.

Source(s):

Pope John Paul II (Latin: Ioannes Paulus II; Italian: Giovanni Paolo II; Polish: Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła [ˈkarɔl ˈjuzɛv vɔjˈtɨwa]; 18 May 1920 – 2 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his death in 2005. He was elected pope by the second papal conclave of 1978, which was called after John Paul I, who had been elected in August to succeed Pope Paul VI, died after 33 days. Cardinal Wojtyła was elected on the third day of the conclave and adopted the name of his predecessor in tribute to him. John Paul II is recognised as helping to end Communist rule in his native Poland and the rest of Europe.

John Paul II attempted to improve the Catholic Church's relations with Judaism, Islam, and the Eastern Orthodox Church. He upheld the Church's teachings on such matters as the right to life, artificial contraception, the ordination of women, and a celibate clergy, and although he supported the reforms of the Second Vatican Council, he was seen as generally conservative in their interpretation. He was one of the most travelled world leaders in history, visiting 129 countries during his pontificate. As part of his special emphasis on the universal call to holiness, he beatified 1,340 and canonised 483 people, more than the combined tally of his predecessors during the preceding five centuries. By the time of his death, he had named most of the College of Cardinals, consecrated or co-consecrated many of the world's bishops, and ordained many priests.

John Paul II was the second-longest-serving pope in modern history after Pope Pius IX. Born in Poland, John Paul II was the first non-Italian pope since the 16th-century Pope Adrian VI. John Paul II's cause for canonisation commenced one month after his death with the traditional five-year waiting period waived. On 19 December 2009, John Paul II was proclaimed venerable by his successor, Benedict XVI, and was beatified on 1 May 2011 (Divine Mercy Sunday) after the Congregation for the Causes of Saints attributed one miracle to his intercession, the healing of a French nun called Marie Simon Pierre from Parkinson's disease. A second miracle was approved on 2 July 2013, and confirmed by Pope Francis two days later. John Paul II was canonised on 27 April 2014 (again Divine Mercy Sunday), together with John XXIII. On 11 September 2014, Pope Francis added these two optional memorials to the worldwide General Roman Calendar of saints. It is traditional to celebrate saints' feast days on the anniversary of their deaths, but that of John Paul II (22 October) is celebrated on the anniversary of his papal inauguration. Posthumously, he has been referred to by some Catholics as "St. John Paul the Great", although the title has no official recognition.

Early life

Main article: Early life of Pope John Paul II

The wedding portrait of John Paul II's parents, Emilia and Karol Wojtyła Sr.

Karol Józef Wojtyła was born in the Polish town of Wadowice. He was the youngest of three children born to Karol Wojtyła (1879–1941), an ethnic Pole, and Emilia Kaczorowska (1884–1929), who was of distant Lithuanian heritage. Emilia, who was a schoolteacher, died from a heart attack and kidney failure in 1929 when Wojtyła was eight years old. His elder sister Olga had died before his birth, but he was close to his brother Edmund, nicknamed Mundek, who was 13 years his senior. Edmund's work as a physician eventually led to his death from scarlet fever, a loss that affected Wojtyła deeply.

Wojtyła was baptized a month after his birth, made his First Communion at the age of 9, and was confirmed at the age of 18. As a boy, Wojtyła was athletic, often playing football as goalkeeper. During his childhood, Wojtyła had contact with the large Jewish community of Wadowice. School football games were often organised between teams of Jews and Catholics, and Wojtyła often played on the Jewish side. "I remember that at least a third of my classmates at elementary school in Wadowice were Jews. At elementary school there were fewer. With some I was on very friendly terms. And what struck me about some of them was their Polish patriotism." It was around this time that the young Karol had his first serious relationship with a girl. He became close to a girl called Ginka Beer, described as "a Jewish beauty, with stupendous eyes and jet black hair, slender, a superb actress."

In mid-1938, Wojtyła and his father left Wadowice and moved to Kraków, where he enrolled at the Jagiellonian University. While studying such topics as philology and various languages, he worked as a volunteer librarian and though required to participate in compulsory military training in the Academic Legion, he refused to fire a weapon. He performed with various theatrical groups and worked as a playwright. During this time, his talent for language blossomed, and he learned as many as 15 languages — Polish, Latin, Italian, English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, German, Luxembourgish, Dutch, Ukrainian, Serbo-Croatian, Czech, Slovak and Esperanto, nine of which he used extensively as pope.

In 1939, after invading Poland, the Nazi German occupation forces closed the university. Able-bodied males were required to work, so from 1940 to 1944 Wojtyła variously worked as a messenger for a restaurant, a manual labourer in a limestone quarry and for the Solvay chemical factory, in order to avoid deportation to Germany. In February 1940, he met Jan Tyranowski who introduced him to the Carmelite spirituality and the "Living Rosary" youth groups. In that same year he had two major accidents, suffering a fractured skull after being struck by a tram and sustaining injuries which left him with one shoulder higher than the other and a permanent stoop after being hit by a lorry in a quarry. His father, a former Austro-Hungarian non-commissioned officer and later officer in the Polish Army, died of a heart attack in 1941, leaving Wojtyła as the immediate family's only surviving member. "I was not at my mother's death, I was not at my brother's death, I was not at my father's death," he said, reflecting on these times of his life, nearly forty years later, "At twenty, I had already lost all the people I loved."

John Paul II (second from right) in Baudienst work crew circa 1941

The tomb of the parents of John Paul II at Rakowicki Cemetery in Kraków, Poland

After his father's death, he started thinking seriously about the priesthood. In October 1942, while the war continued, he knocked on the door of the Archbishop's residence in Kraków and asked to study for the priesthood. Soon after, he began courses in the clandestine underground seminary run by the Archbishop of Kraków, Cardinal Adam Stefan Sapieha. On 29 February 1944, Wojtyła was hit by a German truck. German Wehrmacht officers tended to him and sent him to a hospital. He spent two weeks there recovering from a severe concussion and a shoulder injury. It seemed to him that this accident and his survival was a confirmation of his vocation. On 6 August 1944, a day known as "Black Sunday", the Gestapo rounded up young men in Kraków to curtail the uprising there, similar to the recent uprising in Warsaw. Wojtyła escaped by hiding in the basement of his uncle's house at 10 Tyniecka Street, while the German troops searched above. More than eight thousand men and boys were taken that day, while Wojtyła escaped to the Archbishop's residence, where he remained until after the Germans had left.

On the night of 17 January 1945, the Germans fled the city, and the students reclaimed the ruined seminary. Wojtyła and another seminarian volunteered for the task of clearing away piles of frozen excrement from the toilets. Wojtyła also helped a 14-year-old Jewish refugee girl named Edith Zierer, who had escaped from a Nazi labour camp in Częstochowa. Edith had collapsed on a railway platform, so Wojtyła carried her to a train and stayed with her throughout the journey to Kraków. She later credited Wojtyła with saving her life that day. B'nai B'rith and other authorities have said that Wojtyła helped protect many other Polish Jews from the Nazis. During the Nazi occupation of Poland, a Jewish family sent their son, Stanley Berger, to be hidden by a Gentile Polish family. Berger's biological Jewish parents died during the Holocaust, and after the war Berger's new Christian parents asked Karol Wojtyła to baptise the boy. Wojtyła refused, saying that the child should be raised in the Jewish faith of his birth parents and nation, not as a Catholic. He did everything he could to ensure that Berger leave Poland to be raised by his Jewish relatives in the United States. In April 2005, shortly after John Paul II's death, the Israeli government created a commission to honour the legacy of John Paul II. One of the honorifics proposed by a head of Italy's Jewish community, Emmanuele Pacifici was the medal of the Righteous Among the Nations. In Wojtyła's last book, Memory and Identity, he described the 12 years of the Nazi régime as "bestiality", quoting from the Polish theologian and philosopher Konstanty Michalski.

Priesthood

After finishing his studies at the seminary in Kraków, Wojtyła was ordained as a priest on All Saints' Day, 1 November 1946, by the Archbishop of Kraków, Cardinal Adam Stefan Sapieha. Sapieha sent Wojtyła to Rome's Pontifical International Athenaeum Angelicum, the future Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas, to study under the French Dominican friar Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange beginning on 26 November 1946. He resided in the Belgian Pontifical College during this time, under rectorship of Maximilien de Furstenberg. Wojtyła earned a licence in July 1947, passed his doctoral exam on 14 June 1948, and successfully defended his doctoral thesis titled Doctrina de fide apud S. Ioannem a Cruce (The Doctrine of Faith in St. John of the Cross) in philosophy on 19 June 1948. The Angelicum preserves the original copy of Wojtyła's typewritten thesis. Among other courses at the Angelicum, Wojtyła studied Hebrew with the Dutch Dominican Peter G. Duncker, author of the Compendium grammaticae linguae hebraicae biblicae.

According to Wojtyła's fellow student the future Austrian Cardinal Alfons Stickler, in 1947 during his sojourn at the Angelicum, Wojtyła visited Padre Pio, who heard his confession and told him that one day he would ascend to "the highest post in the Church". Cardinal Stickler added that Wojtyła believed that the prophecy was fulfilled when he became a Cardinal.

Wojtyła returned to Poland in the summer of 1948 for his first pastoral assignment in the village of Niegowić, 24 kilometres (15 miles) from Kraków, at the Church of the Assumption. He arrived at Niegowić at harvest time, where his first action was to kneel and kiss the ground. He repeated this gesture, which he adopted from the French saint Jean Marie Baptiste Vianney, throughout his papacy.

The Pontifical International Athenaeum Angelicum in Rome, Italy

In March 1949, Wojtyła was transferred to the parish of Saint Florian in Kraków. He taught ethics at Jagiellonian University and subsequently at the Catholic University of Lublin. While teaching, he gathered a group of about 20 young people, who began to call themselves Rodzinka, the "little family". They met for prayer, philosophical discussion, and to help the blind and the sick. The group eventually grew to approximately 200 participants, and their activities expanded to include annual skiing and kayaking trips.

In 1953, Wojtyła's habilitation thesis was accepted by the Faculty of Theology at the Jagiellonian University. In 1954, he earned a Doctorate in Sacred Theology, evaluating the feasibility of a Catholic ethic based on the ethical system of the phenomenologist Max Scheler with a dissertation titled "Reevaluation of the possibility of founding a Catholic ethic on the ethical system of Max Scheler" (Polish: Ocena możliwości zbudowania etyki chrześcijańskiej przy założeniach systemu Maksa Schelera). Scheler was a German philosopher who founded a broad philosophical movement that emphasised the study of conscious experience. However, the Communist authorities abolished the Faculty of Theology at the Jagellonian University, thereby preventing him from receiving the degree until 1957. Wojtyła developed a theological approach, called phenomenological Thomism, that combined traditional Catholic Thomism with the ideas of personalism, a philosophical approach deriving from phenomenology, which was popular among Catholic intellectuals in Kraków during Wojtyła's intellectual development. He translated Scheler's Formalism and the Ethics of Substantive Values. In 1961, he coined "Thomistic Personalism" to describe Aquinas's philosophy.

During this period, Wojtyła wrote a series of articles in Kraków's Catholic newspaper, Tygodnik Powszechny ("Universal Weekly"), dealing with contemporary Church issues. He focused on creating original literary work during his first dozen years as a priest. War, life under Communism, and his pastoral responsibilities all fed his poetry and plays. Wojtyła published his work under two pseudonyms—Andrzej Jawień and Stanisław Andrzej Gruda—to distinguish his literary from his religious writings (issued under his own name), and also so that his literary works would be considered on their own merits. In 1960, Wojtyła published the influential theological book Love and Responsibility, a defence of traditional Church teachings on marriage from a new philosophical standpoint.

While a priest in Kraków, groups of students regularly joined Wojtyła for hiking, skiing, bicycling, camping and kayaking, accompanied by prayer, outdoor Masses and theological discussions. In Stalinist-era Poland, it was not permitted for priests to travel with groups of students. Wojtyła asked his younger companions to call him "Wujek" (Polish for "Uncle") to prevent outsiders from deducing he was a priest. The nickname gained popularity among his followers. In 1958, when Wojtyła was named auxiliary bishop of Kraków, his acquaintances expressed concern that this would cause him to change. Wojtyła responded to his friends, "Wujek will remain Wujek," and he continued to live a simple life, shunning the trappings that came with his position as Bishop. This beloved nickname stayed with Wojtyła for his entire life and continues to be affectionately used, particularly by the Polish people.

Episcopate and cardinalate

Where John Paul II once lived as priest and bishop on Kanonicza Street, Kraków (now an Archdiocese Museum)

Call to the episcopate

On 4 July 1958, while Wojtyła was on a kayaking holiday in the lakes region of northern Poland, Pope Pius XII appointed him as an auxiliary bishop of Kraków. He was consequently summoned to Warsaw to meet the Primate of Poland, Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński, who informed him of his appointment. Wojtyła accepted the appointment as auxiliary bishop to Kraków's Archbishop Eugeniusz Baziak, and he received episcopal consecration (as titular bishop of Ombi) on 28 September 1958, with Baziak as the principal consecrator and as co-consecrators Bishop Boleslaw Kominek (titular bishop of Sophene and Vågå, auxiliary of the Catholic Archdiocese of Wrocław, and Franciszek Jop, Auxiliary Bishop of Sandomierz (Titular Bishop of Daulia. Kominek was to become Cardinal Archbishop of Wrocław) and Jop was later Auxiliary Bishop of Wrocław and then Bishop of Opole). At the age of 38, Wojtyła became the youngest bishop in Poland.

In 1959, Wojtyła began an annual tradition of saying a Midnight Mass on Christmas Day in an open field at Nowa Huta, the so-called model workers' town outside Kraków that was without a church building. Baziak died in June 1962 and on 16 July, Wojtyła was selected as Vicar Capitular (temporary administrator) of the Archdiocese until an archbishop could be appointed.

Participation in Vatican II and subsequent events

From October 1962, Wojtyła took part in the Second Vatican Council (1962–1965), where he made contributions to two of its most historic and influential products, the Decree on Religious Freedom (in Latin, Dignitatis humanae) and the Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World (Gaudium et spes). Wojtyła and the Polish bishops contributed a draft text to the Council for Gaudium et spes. According to the Jesuit historian John W. O'Malley, the draft text Gaudium et spes that Wojtyła and the Polish delegation sent "had some influence on the version that was sent to the council fathers that summer but was not accepted as the base text". According to John F. Crosby, as pope, John Paul II used the words of Gaudium et spes later to introduce his own views on the nature of the human person in relation to God: man is "the only creature on earth that God has wanted for its own sake", but man "can fully discover his true self only in a sincere giving of himself".

He also participated in the assemblies of the Synod of Bishops. On 13 January 1964, Pope Paul VI appointed him Archbishop of Kraków. On 26 June 1967, Paul VI announced Wojtyła's promotion to the College of Cardinals. Wojtyła was named cardinal priest of the titulus of San Cesareo in Palatio.

In 1967, he was instrumental in formulating the encyclical Humanae vitae, which dealt with the same issues that forbid abortion and artificial birth control.

According to a contemporary witness, Wojtyła was against the distribution of a letter around Kraków in 1970, stating that the Polish Episcopate was preparing for the 50th anniversary of the Polish–Soviet War.

In 1973, Wojtyła met philosopher Anna-Teresa Tymieniecka, the wife of Hendrik S. Houthakker, professor of economics at Stanford University and Harvard University, and member of President Nixon's Council of Economic Advisers Tymieniecka collaborated with Wojtyła on a number of projects including an English translation of Wojtyła's book Osoba i czyn (Person and Act). Person and Act, one of John Paul II's foremost literary works, was initially written in Polish. Tymieniecka produced the English-language version. They corresponded over the years, and grew to be good friends. When Wojtyła visited New England in the summer of 1976, Tymieniecka put him up as a guest in her family home. Wojtyła enjoyed his holiday in Pomfret, Vermont kayaking and enjoying the outdoors, as he had done in his beloved Poland.

During 1974–1975, Wojtyła served Pope Paul VI as consultor to the Pontifical Council for the Laity, as recording secretary for the 1974 synod on evangelism and by participating extensively in the original drafting of the 1975 apostolic exhortation, Evangelii nuntiandi.

Papacy

Election

Main article: October 1978 papal conclave

The newly elected John Paul II stands on the balcony at St. Peter's Basilica on 16 October 1978 in Vatican City.

The coat of arms of John Paul II displaying the Marian Cross with the letter M signifying the Blessed Virgin Mary, the mother of Jesus

In August 1978, following the death of Pope Paul VI, Wojtyła voted in the papal conclave, which elected John Paul I. John Paul I died after only 33 days as pope, triggering another conclave.

The second conclave of 1978 started on 14 October, ten days after the funeral. It was split between two strong candidates for the papacy: Cardinal Giuseppe Siri, the conservative Archbishop of Genoa, and the liberal Archbishop of Florence, Cardinal Giovanni Benelli, a close friend of John Paul I.

Supporters of Benelli were confident that he would be elected, and in early ballots, Benelli came within nine votes of success. However, both men faced sufficient opposition for neither to be likely to prevail. Giovanni Colombo, the Archbishop of Milan was considered as a compromise candidate among the Italian cardinal-electors, but when he started to receive votes, he announced that, if elected, he would decline to accept the papacy. Cardinal Franz König, Archbishop of Vienna, suggested Wojtyła as another compromise candidate to his fellow electors. Wojtyła won on the eighth ballot on the third day (16 October)—coincidentally the day that the American evangelical preacher Billy Graham had just concluded a 10-day pilgrimage to Poland—with, according to the Italian press, 99 votes from the 111 participating electors.

Among those cardinals who rallied behind Wojtyła were supporters of Giuseppe Siri, Stefan Wyszyński, most of the American cardinals (led by John Krol), and other moderate cardinals. He accepted his election with the words: "With obedience in faith to Christ, my Lord, and with trust in the Mother of Christ and the Church, in spite of great difficulties, I accept". The pope, in tribute to his immediate predecessor, then took the regnal name of John Paul II, also in honor of the late Pope Paul VI, and the traditional white smoke informed the crowd gathered in St. Peter's Square that a pope had been chosen. There had been rumors that the new pope wished to be known as Pope Stanislaus in honor of the Polish saint of the name, but was convinced by the cardinals that it was not a Roman name. When the new pontiff appeared on the balcony, he broke tradition by addressing the gathered crowd:

John Paul II and the president of Italy Sandro Pertini in 1984.

Dear brothers and sisters, we are saddened at the death of our beloved Pope John Paul I, and so the cardinals have called for a new bishop of Rome. They called him from a faraway land—far and yet always close because of our communion in faith and Christian traditions. I was afraid to accept that responsibility, yet I do so in a spirit of obedience to the Lord and total faithfulness to Mary, our most Holy Mother. I am speaking to you in your—no, our Italian language. If I make a mistake, please corrict [sic] me ....

Wojtyła became the 264th pope according to the chronological list of popes, the first non-Italian in 455 years. At only 58 years of age, he was the youngest pope since Pope Pius IX in 1846, who was 54. Like his predecessor, John Paul II dispensed with the traditional papal coronation and instead received ecclesiastical investiture with a simplified papal inauguration on 22 October 1978. During his inauguration, when the cardinals were to kneel before him to take their vows and kiss his ring, he stood up as the Polish prelate, Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński knelt down, stopped him from kissing the ring, and simply embraced him.

Pastoral journeys

Main article: List of pastoral visits of Pope John Paul II outside Italy

A statue of John Paul II with an image of the Virgin of Guadalupe, near the Metropolitan Cathedral in Mexico City. The statue was made entirely of metal keys donated by the Mexican people.

During his pontificate, John Paul II made journeys to 129 countries, travelling more than 1,100,000 kilometres (680,000 mi) while doing so. He consistently attracted large crowds, some among the largest ever assembled in human history, such as the Manila World Youth Day, which gathered up to four million people, the largest papal gathering ever, according to the Vatican. John Paul II's earliest official visits were to the Dominican Republic and Mexico in January 1979. While some of his journeys (such as to the United States and the Holy Land) were to places previously visited by Pope Paul VI, John Paul II became the first pope to visit the White House in October 1979, where he was greeted warmly by then-President Jimmy Carter. He was the first pope ever to visit several countries in one year, starting in 1979 with Mexico and Ireland. He was the first reigning pope to travel to the United Kingdom, in 1982, where he met Queen Elizabeth II, the Supreme Governor of the Church of England. While in Britain he also visited Canterbury Cathedral and knelt in prayer with Robert Runcie, the Archbishop of Canterbury, at the spot where Thomas à Becket had been killed, as well as holding several large-scale open air masses, including one at Wembley Stadium, which was attended by some 80,000 people.

He travelled to Haiti in 1983, where he spoke in Creole to thousands of impoverished Catholics gathered to greet him at the airport. His message, "things must change in Haiti," referring to the disparity between the wealthy and the poor, was met with thunderous applause. In 2000, he was the first modern pope to visit Egypt, where he met with the Coptic pope, Pope Shenouda III and the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Alexandria. He was the first Catholic pope to visit and pray in an Islamic mosque, in Damascus, Syria, in 2001. He visited the Umayyad Mosque, a former Christian church where John the Baptist is believed to be interred, where he made a speech calling for Muslims, Christians and Jews to live together.

On 15 January 1995, during the X World Youth Day, he offered Mass to an estimated crowd of between five and seven million in Luneta Park, Manila, Philippines, which was considered to be the largest single gathering in Christian history. In March 2000, while visiting Jerusalem, John Paul became the first pope in history to visit and pray at the Western Wall. In September 2001, amid post-11 September concerns, he travelled to Kazakhstan, with an audience largely consisting of Muslims, and to Armenia, to participate in the celebration of 1,700 years of Armenian Christianity.

In June 1979, John Paul II travelled to Poland, where ecstatic crowds constantly surrounded him. This first papal trip to Poland uplifted the nation's spirit and sparked the formation of the Solidarity movement in 1980, which later brought freedom and human rights to his troubled homeland. Poland's Communist leaders intended to use the pope's visit to show the people that although the pope was Polish it did not alter their capacity to govern, oppress, and distribute the goods of society. They also hoped that if the pope abided by the rules they set, that the Polish people would see his example and follow them as well. If the pope's visit inspired a riot, the Communist leaders of Poland were prepared to crush the uprising and blame the suffering on the pope.

The pope won that struggle by transcending politics. His was what Joseph Nye calls 'soft power' — the power of attraction and repulsion. He began with an enormous advantage, and exploited it to the utmost: He headed the one institution that stood for the polar opposite of the Communist way of life that the Polish people hated. He was a Pole, but beyond the regime's reach. By identifying with him, Poles would have the chance to cleanse themselves of the compromises they had to make to live under the regime. And so they came to him by the millions. They listened. He told them to be good, not to compromise themselves, to stick by one another, to be fearless, and that God is the only source of goodness, the only standard of conduct. 'Be not afraid,' he said. Millions shouted in response, 'We want God! We want God! We want God!' The regime cowered. Had the Pope chosen to turn his soft power into the hard variety, the regime might have been drowned in blood. Instead, the Pope simply led the Polish people to desert their rulers by affirming solidarity with one another. The Communists managed to hold on as despots a decade longer. But as political leaders, they were finished. Visiting his native Poland in 1979, Pope John Paul II struck what turned out to be a mortal blow to its Communist regime, to the Soviet Empire, [and] ultimately to Communism."

John Paul's first papal trip to Poland in June 1979

According to John Lewis Gaddis, one of the most influential historians of the Cold War, the trip led to the formation of Solidarity and would begin the process of Communism's demise in Eastern Europe:

When Pope John Paul II kissed the ground at the Warsaw airport he began the process by which Communism in Poland—and ultimately elsewhere in Europe—would come to an end.

On later trips to Poland, he gave tacit support to the Solidarity organisation. These visits reinforced this message and contributed to the collapse of East European Communism that took place between 1989/1990 with the reintroduction of democracy in Poland, and which then spread through Eastern Europe (1990–1991) and South-Eastern Europe (1990–1992).

World Youth Days

As an extension of his successful work with youth as a young priest, John Paul II pioneered the international World Youth Days. John Paul II presided over nine of them: Rome (1985 and 2000), Buenos Aires (1987), Santiago de Compostela (1989), Częstochowa (1991), Denver (1993), Manila (1995), Paris (1997), and Toronto (2002). Total attendance at these signature events of the pontificate was in the tens of millions.

Russian President Vladimir Putin meeting John Paul II in June 2000

Dedicated Years

Keenly aware of the rhythms of time and the importance of anniversaries in the Church's life, John Paul II led nine "dedicated years" during the twenty-six and a half years of his pontificate: the Holy Year of the Redemption in 1983–84, the Marian Year in 1987–88, the Year of the Family in 1993–94, the three Trinitarian years of preparation for the Great Jubilee of 2000, the Great Jubilee itself, the Year of the Rosary in 2002–3, and the Year of the Eucharist, which began on 17 October 2004, and concluded six months after the Pope's death.

Great Jubilee of 2000

The Great Jubilee of 2000 was a call to the Church to become more aware and to embrace her missionary task for the work of evangelization.

From the beginning of my Pontificate, my thoughts had been on this Holy Year 2000 as an important appointment. I thought of its celebration as a providential opportunity during which the Church, thirty-five years after the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, would examine how far she had renewed herself, in order to be able to take up her evangelising mission with fresh enthusiasm.

John Paul II also made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land for the Great Jubilee of 2000. During his visit to the Holy Land, John Paul II visited many sites of the Rosary, including the following locations: the Wadi Al-Kharrar at the River Jordan, where it is believed John the Baptist baptized Jesus, one of the Luminous Mysteries; Manger Square in the Palestinian Territories of Bethlehem, near the site of Jesus' birth, one of the Joyful Mysteries; and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the site of Jesus' burial and resurrection, Sorrowful and Glorious Mysteries, respectively.

Teachings

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As pope, John Paul II wrote 14 papal encyclicals and taught about sexuality in what is referred as the "Theology of the Body". Some key elements of his strategy to "reposition the Catholic Church" were encyclicals such as Ecclesia de Eucharistia, Reconciliatio et paenitentia and Redemptoris Mater. In his At the beginning of the new millennium (Novo Millennio Ineunte), he emphasised the importance of "starting afresh from Christ": "No, we shall not be saved by a formula but by a Person." In The Splendour of the Truth (Veritatis Splendor), he emphasised the dependence of man on God and His Law ("Without the Creator, the creature disappears") and the "dependence of freedom on the truth". He warned that man "giving himself over to relativism and scepticism, goes off in search of an illusory freedom apart from truth itself". In Fides et Ratio (On the Relationship between Faith and Reason) John Paul promoted a renewed interest in philosophy and an autonomous pursuit of truth in theological matters. Drawing on many different sources (such as Thomism), he described the mutually supporting relationship between faith and reason, and emphasised that theologians should focus on that relationship. John Paul II wrote extensively about workers and the social doctrine of the Church, which he discussed in three encyclicals: Laborem exercens, Sollicitudo rei socialis, and Centesimus annus. Through his encyclicals and many Apostolic Letters and Exhortations, John Paul II talked about the dignity and the equality of women. He argued for the importance of the family for the future of humanity. Other encyclicals include The Gospel of Life (Evangelium Vitae) and Ut Unum Sint (That They May Be One). Though critics accused him of inflexibility in explicitly re-asserting Catholic moral teachings against abortion and euthanasia that have been in place for well over a thousand years, he urged a more nuanced view of capital punishment. In his second encyclical Dives in misericordia he stressed that divine mercy is the greatest feature of God, needed especially in modern times.

Social and political stances

Main article: Social and political stances of Pope John Paul II

During a visit to West Germany, 1980

John Paul II was considered a conservative on doctrine and issues relating to human sexual reproduction and the ordination of women.

While he was visiting the United States in 1977, the year before becoming pope, Wojtyla said: "All human life, from the moments of conception and through all subsequent stages, is sacred."

A series of 129 lectures given by John Paul II during his Wednesday audiences in Rome between September 1979 and November 1984 were later compiled and published as a single work titled Theology of the Body, an extended meditation on human sexuality. He extended it to the condemnation of abortion, euthanasia and virtually all capital punishment, calling them all a part of a struggle between a "culture of life" and a "culture of death". He campaigned for world debt forgiveness and social justice. He coined the term "social mortgage", which related that all private property had a social dimension, namely, that "the goods of this are originally meant for all." In 2000, he publicly endorsed the Jubilee 2000 campaign on African debt relief fronted by Irish rock stars Bob Geldof and Bono, once famously interrupting a U2 recording session by telephoning the studio and asking to speak to Bono.

John Paul II, who was present and very influential at the 1962–65 Second Vatican Council, affirmed the teachings of that Council and did much to implement them. Nevertheless, his critics often wished that he would embrace the so-called "progressive" agenda that some hoped would evolve as a result of the Council. In fact, the Council did not advocate "progressive" changes in these areas; for example, they still condemned abortion as an unspeakable crime. John Paul II continued to declare that contraception, abortion, and homosexual acts were gravely sinful, and, with Joseph Ratzinger (future Pope Benedict XVI), opposed liberation theology.

Following the Church's exaltation of the marital act of sexual intercourse between a baptised man and woman within sacramental marriage as proper and exclusive to the sacrament of marriage, John Paul II believed that it was, in every instance, profaned by contraception, abortion, divorce followed by a 'second' marriage, and by homosexual acts. In 1994, John Paul II asserted the Church's lack of authority to ordain women to the priesthood, stating that without such authority ordination is not legitimately compatible with fidelity to Christ. This was also deemed a repudiation of calls to break with the constant tradition of the Church by ordaining women to the priesthood. In addition, John Paul II chose not to end the discipline of mandatory priestly celibacy, although in a small number of unusual circumstances, he did allow certain married clergymen of other Christian traditions who later became Catholic to be ordained as Catholic priests.

Apartheid in South Africa

John Paul II was an outspoken opponent of apartheid in South Africa. In 1985, while visiting the Netherlands, he gave an impassioned speech condemning apartheid at the International Court of Justice, proclaiming that "No system of apartheid or separate development will ever be acceptable as a model for the relations between peoples or races." In September 1988, John Paul II made a pilgrimage to ten Southern African countries, including those bordering South Africa, while demonstratively avoiding South Africa. During his visit to Zimbabwe, John Paul II called for economic sanctions against South Africa's government. After John Paul II's death, both Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Desmond Tutu praised the pope for defending human rights and condemning economic injustice.

Capital punishment

John Paul II was an outspoken opponent of the death penalty, although previous popes had accepted the practice. At a papal mass in St. Louis, Missouri, in the United States he said:

A sign of hope is the increasing recognition that the dignity of human life must never be taken away, even in the case of someone who has done great evil. Modern society has the means of protecting itself, without definitively denying criminals the chance to reform. I renew the appeal I made most recently at Christmas for a consensus to end the death penalty, which is both cruel and unnecessary.

During that visit, John Paul II convinced the then governor of Missouri, Mel Carnahan, to reduce the death sentence of convicted murderer Darrell J. Mease to life imprisonment without parole. John Paul II's other attempts to reduce the sentence of death-row inmates were unsuccessful. In 1983, John Paul II visited Guatemala and unsuccessfully asked the country's president, Efraín Ríos Montt, to reduce the sentence for six left-wing guerrillas sentenced to death.

In 2002, John Paul II again travelled to Guatemala. At that time, Guatemala was one of only two countries in Latin America (the other being Cuba) to apply capital punishment. John Paul II asked the Guatemalan president, Alfonso Portillo, for a moratorium on executions.

European Union

John Paul II pushed for a reference to Europe's Christian cultural roots in the draft of the European Constitution. In his 2003 apostolic exhortation Ecclesia in Europa, John Paul II wrote that he "fully (respected) the secular nature of (European) institutions". However, he wanted the EU Constitution to enshrine religious rights, including acknowledging the rights of religious groups to organise freely, recognise the specific identity of each denomination and allow for a "structured dialogue" between each religious community and the EU, and extend across the European Union the legal status enjoyed by religious institutions in individual member states. "I wish once more to appeal to those drawing up the future European Constitutional Treaty so that it will include a reference to the religion and in particular to the Christian heritage of Europe," John Paul II said. The pope's desire for a reference to Europe's Christian identity in the Constitution was supported by non-Catholic representatives of the Church of England and Eastern Orthodox Churches from Russia, Romania, and Greece. John Paul II's demand to include a reference to Europe's Christian roots in the European Constitution was supported by some non-Christians, such as Joseph Weiler, a practising Orthodox Jew and renowned constitutional lawyer, who said that the Constitution's lack of a reference to Christianity was not a "demonstration of neutrality," but, rather, "a Jacobin attitude".

At the same time, however, John Paul II was an enthusiastic supporter of European integration; in particular, he supported his native Poland's entry into the bloc. On 19 May 2003, three weeks before a referendum was held in Poland on EU membership, the Polish pope addressed his compatriots and urged them to vote for Poland's EU membership at St. Peter's Square in Vatican City State. While some conservative, Catholic politicians in Poland opposed EU membership, John Paul II said:

I know that there are many in opposition to integration. I appreciate their concern about maintaining the cultural and religious identity of our nation. However, I must emphasise that Poland has always been an important part of Europe. Europe needs Poland. The Church in Europe needs the Poles' testimony of faith. Poland needs Europe.

The Polish pope compared Poland's entry into the EU to the Union of Lublin, which was signed in 1569 and united the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania into one nation and created an elective monarchy.

Evolution

On 22 October 1996, in a speech to the Pontifical Academy of Sciences plenary session at the Vatican, John Paul II said of evolution that "this theory has been progressively accepted by researchers, following a series of discoveries in various fields of knowledge. The convergence, neither sought nor fabricated, of the results of work that was conducted independently is in itself a significant argument in favour of this theory." John Paul II's embrace of evolution was enthusiastically praised by American paleontologist and evolutionary biologist Stephen Jay Gould, with whom he had an audience in 1984.

Although generally accepting the theory of evolution, John Paul II made one major exception—the human soul. "If the human body has its origin in living material which pre-exists it, the spiritual soul is immediately created by God."

Iraq War

In 2003 John Paul II criticised the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq, saying in his State of the World address "No to war! War is not always inevitable. It is always a defeat for humanity." He sent Pio Cardinal Laghi, the former Apostolic Pro-Nuncio to the United States, to talk with George W. Bush, the US president, to express opposition to the war. John Paul II said that it was up to the United Nations to solve the international conflict through diplomacy and that a unilateral aggression is a crime against peace and a violation of international law. The pope's opposition to the Iraq War led to him being a candidate to win the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize, which was ultimately awarded to Iranian attorney/judge and noted human rights advocate, Shirin Ebadi.

Liberation theology

In 1984 and 1986, through Cardinal Ratzinger (future Pope Benedict XVI) as Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, John Paul II officially condemned aspects of liberation theology, which had many followers in Latin America.

Visiting Europe, Salvadoran Archbishop Óscar Romero unsuccessfully attempted to obtain a Vatican condemnation of the right-wing El Salvador's regime for violations of human rights during the Salvadoran Civil War and its support of death squads, and expressed his frustration in working with clergy who cooperated with the government. He was encouraged by John Paul II to maintain episcopal unity as a top priority.

In his travel to Managua, Nicaragua, in 1983, John Paul II harshly condemned what he dubbed the "popular Church" (i.e. "ecclesial base communities" supported by the CELAM), and the Nicaraguan clergy's tendencies to support the leftist Sandinistas, reminding the clergy of their duties of obedience to the Holy See. During that visit Ernesto Cardenal, a priest and minister in the Sandinista government, knelt to kiss his hand. John Paul withdrew it, wagged his finger in Cardinal's face, and told him, "You must straighten out your position with the church."

Organised crime

John Paul II was the first pontiff to denounce Mafia violence in Southern Italy. In 1993, during a pilgrimage to Agrigento, Sicily, he appealed to the Mafiosi: "I say to those responsible: 'Convert! One day, the judgment of God will arrive!'" In 1994, John Paul II visited Catania and told victims of Mafia violence to "rise up and cloak yourself in light and justice!" In 1995, the Mafia bombed two historical churches in Rome. Some believed that this was the mob's vendetta against the pope for his denunciations of organised crime.

Persian Gulf War

Between 1990 and 1991, a 34-nation coalition led by the United States waged a war against Saddam Hussein's Iraq, which had invaded and annexed Kuwait. John Paul II was a staunch opponent of the Gulf War. Throughout the conflict, he appealed to the international community to stop the war, and after it was over led diplomatic initiatives to negotiate peace in the Middle East. In his 1991 encyclical Centesimus Annus, John Paul II harshly condemned the conflict:

No, never again war, which destroys the lives of innocent people, teaches how to kill, throws into upheaval even the lives of those who do the killing and leaves behind a trail of resentment and hatred, thus making it all the more difficult to find a just solution of the very problems which provoked the war.

In April 1991, during his Urbi et Orbi Sunday message at St. Peter's Basilica, John Paul II called for the international community to "lend an ear" to "the long-ignored aspirations of oppressed peoples". He specifically named the Kurds, a people who were fighting a civil war against Saddam Hussein's troops in Iraq, as one such people, and referred to the war as a "darkness menacing the earth". During this time, the Vatican had expressed its frustration with the international ignoring of the pope's calls for peace in the Middle East.

Rwandan genocide

Further information: Rwandan genocide

John Paul II was the first world leader to describe as genocide the massacre by Hutus of Tutsis in the mostly Catholic country of Rwanda, which started in 1990 and reached its height in 1994. He called for a ceasefire and condemned the massacres on 10 April and 15 May 1990. In 1995, during his third visit to Kenya before an audience of 300,000, John Paul II pleaded for an end to the violence in Rwanda and Burundi, pleading for forgiveness and reconciliation as a solution to the genocide. He told Rwandan and Burundian refugees that he "was close to them and shared their immense pain". He said:

What is happening in your countries is a terrible tragedy that must end. During the African Synod, we, the pastors of the church, felt the duty to express our consternation and to launch an appeal for forgiveness and reconciliation. This is the only way to dissipate the threats of ethnocentrism that are hovering over Africa these days and that have so brutally touched Rwanda and Burundi.

Views on sexuality

Main article: Theology of the Body

While taking a traditional position on human sexuality, maintaining the Church's moral opposition to homosexual acts, John Paul II asserted that people with homosexual inclinations possess the same inherent dignity and rights as everybody else. In his book Memory and Identity he referred to the "strong pressures" by the European Parliament to recognise homosexual unions as an alternative type of family, with the right to adopt children. In the book, as quoted by Reuters, he wrote: "It is legitimate and necessary to ask oneself if this is not perhaps part of a new ideology of evil, more subtle and hidden, perhaps, intent upon exploiting human rights themselves against man and against the family." A 1997 study determined that 3% of the pope's statements were about the issue of sexual morality.

In 1986, the Pope approved the release of a document from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith regarding Letter to the Bishops of the Catholic Church on the Pastoral Care of Homosexual Persons. While not neglecting to comment on homosexuality and moral order, the letter issued multiple affirmations of the dignity of homosexual persons.

Reform of canon law

Canon law of the Catholic Church

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Main article: Canon law (Catholic Church)

John Paul II completed a full-scale reform of the Catholic Church's legal system, Latin and Eastern, and a reform of the Roman Curia.

On 18 October 1990, when promulgating the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches, John Paul II stated

By the publication of this Code, the canonical ordering of the whole Church is thus at length completed, following as it does...the "Apostolic Constitution on the Roman Curia" of 1988, which is added to both Codes as the primary instrument of the Roman Pontiff for 'the communion that binds together, as it were, the whole Church'

In 1998 John Paul II issued the motu proprio Ad tuendam fidem, which amended two canons (750 and 1371) of the 1983 Code of Canon Law and two canons (598 and 1436) of the 1990 Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches.

1983 Code of Canon Law

Main article: 1983 Code of Canon Law

On 25 January 1983, with the Apostolic Constitution Sacrae disciplinae leges John Paul II promulgated the current Code of Canon Law for all members of the Catholic Church who belonged to the Latin Church. It entered into force the first Sunday of the following Advent, which was 27 November 1983. John Paul II described the new Code as "the last document of Vatican II". Edward N. Peters has referred to the 1983 Code as the "Johanno-Pauline Code" (Johannes Paulus is Latin for "John Paul"), paralleling the "Pio-Benedictine" 1917 code that it replaced.

Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches

Main article: Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches

John Paul II promulgated the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches (CCEO) on 18 October 1990, by the document Sacri Canones. The CCEO came into force of law on 1 October 1991. It is the codification of the common portions of the Canon Law for the 23 of the 24 sui iuris churches in the Catholic Church that are the Eastern Catholic Churches. It is divided into 30 titles and has a total of 1540 canons.

Pastor bonus

Main article: Pastor bonus

John Paul II promulgated the apostolic constitution Pastor bonus on 28 June 1988. It instituted a number of reforms in the process of running the Roman Curia. Pastor bonus laid out in considerable detail the organisation of the Roman Curia, specifying precisely the names and composition of each dicastery, and enumerating the competencies of each dicastery. It replaced the previous special law, Regimini Ecclesiæ universæ, which was promulgated by Paul VI in 1967.

Catechism of the Catholic Church

Main article: Catechism of the Catholic Church

On 11 October 1992, in his apostolic constitution Fidei depositum (The Deposit of Faith), John Paul ordered the publication of the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

He declared the publication to be "a sure norm for teaching the faith … a sure and authentic reference text for teaching Catholic doctrine and particularly for preparing local catechisms". It was "meant to encourage and assist in the writing of new local catechisms [both applicable and faithful]" rather than replacing them.

Role in the collapse of dictatorships

John Paul II has been credited with inspiring political change that not only led to the collapse of Communism in his native Poland and eventually all of Eastern Europe, but also in many countries ruled by dictators. In the words of Joaquín Navarro-Valls, John Paul II's press secretary:

The single fact of John Paul II's election in 1978 changed everything. In Poland, everything began. Not in East Germany or Czechoslovakia. Then the whole thing spread. Why in 1980 did they lead the way in Gdansk? Why did they decide, now or never? Only because there was a Polish pope. He was in Chile and Pinochet was out. He was in Haiti and Duvalier was out. He was in the Philippines and Marcos was out. On many of those occasions, people would come here to the Vatican thanking the Holy Father for changing things.

Chile

Before John Paul II's pilgrimage to Latin America, during a meeting with reporters, he criticised Augusto Pinochet's regime as "dictatorial". In the words of The New York Times, he used "unusually strong language" to criticise Pinochet and asserted to journalists that the Church in Chile must not only pray, but actively fight for the restoration of democracy in Chile.

During his visit to Chile in 1987, John Paul II asked Chile's 31 Catholic bishops to campaign for free elections in the country. According to George Weigel and Cardinal Stanisław Dziwisz, he encouraged Pinochet to accept a democratic opening of the regime, and may even have called for his resignation. According to Monsignor Sławomir Oder, the postulator of John Paul II's beatification cause, John Paul's words to Pinochet had a profound impact on the Chilean dictator. The pope confided to a friend: "I received a letter from Pinochet in which he told me that as a Catholic he had listened to my words, he had accepted them, and he had decided to begin the process to change the leadership of his country."

During his visit to Chile, John Paul II supported the Vicariate of Solidarity, the Church-led pro-democracy, anti-Pinochet organisation. John Paul II visited the Vicariate of Solidarity's offices, spoke with its workers, and "called upon them to continue their work, emphasizing that the Gospel consistently urges respect for human rights". While in Chile, John Paul II made gestures of public support of Chile's anti-Pinochet democratic opposition. For instance, he hugged and kissed Carmen Gloria Quintana, a young student who had been nearly burned to death by Chilean police and told her that "We must pray for peace and justice in Chile." Later, he met with several opposition groups, including those that had been declared illegal by Pinochet's government. The opposition praised John Paul II for denouncing Pinochet as a "dictator", for many members of Chile's opposition were persecuted for much milder statements. Bishop Carlos Camus, one of the harshest critics of Pinochet's dictatorship within the Chilean Church, praised John Paul II's stance during the papal visit: "I am quite moved, because our pastor supports us totally. Never again will anyone be able to say that we are interfering in politics when we defend human dignity." He added: "No country the Pope has visited has remained the same after his departure. The Pope's visit is a mission, an extraordinary social catechism, and his stay here will be a watershed in Chilean history."

Some have erroneously accused John Paul II of affirming Pinochet's regime by appearing with the Chilean ruler in public. However, Cardinal Roberto Tucci, the organiser of John Paul II's visits, revealed that Pinochet tricked the pontiff by telling him he would take him to his living room, while in reality he took him to his balcony. Tucci says that the pontiff was "furious".

Haiti

John Paul II visited Haiti on 9 March 1983, when the country was ruled by Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier. He bluntly criticised the poverty of the country, directly addressing Baby Doc and his wife, Michèle Bennett in front of a large crowd of Haitians:

Yours is a beautiful country, rich in human resources, but Christians cannot be unaware of the injustice, the excessive inequality, the degradation of the quality of life, the misery, the hunger, the fear suffered by the majority of the people.

John Paul II spoke in French and occasionally in Creole, and in the homily outlined the basic human rights that most Haitians lacked: "the opportunity to eat enough, to be cared for when ill, to find housing, to study, to overcome illiteracy, to find worthwhile and properly paid work; all that provides a truly human life for men and women, for young and old." Following John Paul II's pilgrimage, the Haitian opposition to Duvalier frequently reproduced and quoted the pope's message. Shortly before leaving Haiti, John Paul II called for social change in Haiti by saying: "Lift up your heads, be conscious of your dignity of men created in God's image...."

John Paul II's visit inspired massive protests against the Duvalier dictatorship. In response to the visit, 860 Catholic priests and Church workers signed a statement committing the Church to work on behalf of the poor. In 1986, Duvalier was deposed in an uprising.

Paraguay

The collapse of the dictatorship of General Alfredo Stroessner of Paraguay was linked, among other things, to John Paul II's visit to the South American country in May 1988. Since Strossner's taking power through a coup d'état in 1954, Paraguay's bishops increasingly criticised the regime for human rights abuses, rigged elections, and the country's feudal economy. During his private meeting with Stroessner, John Paul II told the dictator:

Politics has a fundamental ethical dimension because it is first and foremost a service to man. The Church can and must remind men—and in particular those who govern—of their ethical duties for the good of the whole of society. The Church cannot be isolated inside its temples just as men's consciences cannot be isolated from God.

Later, during a Mass, John Paul II criticised the regime for impoverishing the peasants and the unemployed, saying that the government must give people greater access to the land. Although Stroessner tried to prevent him from doing so, John Paul II met opposition leaders in the one-party state.

Role in the fall of Communism

US President Ronald Reagan meeting John Paul II in Fairbanks, Alaska in May 1984 Main article: Holy See–Soviet Union relations

Role as spiritual inspiration and catalyst

By the late 1970s the dissolution of the Soviet Union had been predicted by some observers. John Paul II has been credited with being instrumental in bringing down Communism in Central and Eastern Europe, by being the spiritual inspiration behind its downfall and catalyst for "a peaceful revolution" in Poland. Lech Wałęsa, the founder of Solidarity and the first post-Communist President of Poland, credited John Paul II with giving Poles the courage to demand change. According to Wałęsa, "Before his pontificate, the world was divided into blocs. Nobody knew how to get rid of Communism. In Warsaw, in 1979, he simply said: 'Do not be afraid', and later prayed: 'Let your Spirit descend and change the image of the land … this land'." It has also been widely alleged that the Vatican Bank covertly funded Solidarity.

US President George W. Bush presenting the Presidential Medal of Freedom to John Paul II in June 2004

In 1984 the foreign policy of the Ronald Reagan administration saw opened diplomatic relations with the Vatican for the first time since 1870. In sharp contrast to the long history of strong domestic opposition, this time there was very little opposition from Congress, the courts, and Protestant groups. Relations between Reagan and John Paul II were close especially because of their shared anti-communism and keen interest in forcing the Soviets out of Poland. Reagan's correspondence with the pope reveals "a continuous scurrying to shore up Vatican support for U.S. policies. Perhaps most surprisingly, the papers show that, as late as 1984, the pope did not believe the Communist Polish government could be changed."

The British historian Timothy Garton Ash, who describes himself as an "agnostic liberal", said shortly after John Paul II's death:

No one can prove conclusively that he was a primary cause of the end of communism. However, the major figures on all sides—not just Lech Wałęsa, the Polish Solidarity leader, but also Solidarity's arch-opponent, General Wojciech Jaruzelski; not just the former American president George Bush Senior but also the former Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev—now agree that he was. I would argue the historical case in three steps: without the Polish Pope, no Solidarity revolution in Poland in 1980; without Solidarity, no dramatic change in Soviet policy towards eastern Europe under Gorbachev; without that change, no velvet revolutions in 1989.

Graffiti showing John Paul II with quote "Do not be afraid" in Rijeka, Croatia

In December 1989, John Paul II met with the Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev at the Vatican and each expressed his respect and admiration for the other. Gorbachev once said "The collapse of the Iron Curtain would have been impossible without John Paul II." On John Paul II's death, Mikhail Gorbachev said: "Pope John Paul II's devotion to his followers is a remarkable example to all of us."

On 4 June 2004 US President George W. Bush presented the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the United States' highest civilian honour, to John Paul II during a ceremony at the Apostolic Palace. The president read the citation that accompanied the medal, which recognised "this son of Poland" whose "principled stand for peace and freedom has inspired millions and helped to topple communism and tyranny". After receiving the award, John Paul II said, "May the desire for freedom, peace, a more humane world symbolised by this medal inspire men and women of goodwill in every time and place."

Communist attempt to compromise John Paul II

In 1983 Poland's Communist government unsuccessfully tried to humiliate John Paul II by falsely saying he had fathered an illegitimate child. Section D of Służba Bezpieczeństwa (SB), the security service, had an action named "Triangolo" to carry out criminal operations against the Catholic Church; the operation encompassed all Polish hostile actions against the pope. Captain Grzegorz Piotrowski, one of the murderers of beatified Jerzy Popiełuszko, was the leader of section D. They drugged Irena Kinaszewska, the secretary of the Kraków-based weekly Catholic magazine Tygodnik Powszechny where Karol Wojtyła had worked, and unsuccessfully attempted to make her admit to having had sexual relations with him.

The SB then attempted to compromise Kraków priest Andrzej Bardecki, an editor of Tygodnik Powszechny and one of the closest friends of Cardinal Karol Wojtyła before he became pope, by planting false memoirs in his dwelling, but Piotrowski was exposed and the forgeries were found and destroyed before the SB could "discover" them.

Relations with other Christian denominations

John Paul II travelled extensively and met with believers from many divergent faiths. At the World Day of Prayer for Peace, held in Assisi on 27 October 1986, more than 120 representatives of different religions and denominations spent a day of fasting and prayer.

Churches of the East

Although the contact between the Holy See and many Christians of the East had never totally ceased, communion had been interrupted since ancient times. Again, the history of conflict in Central Europe was a complex part of John Paul II's personal cultural heritage which made him all the more determined to react so as to attempt to overcome abiding difficulties, given that relatively speaking the Holy See and the non-Catholic Eastern Churches are close in many points of faith.

Eastern Orthodox Church

Main article: Pope John Paul II's relations with the Eastern Orthodox Church

In May 1999, John Paul II visited Romania on the invitation from Patriarch Teoctist Arăpaşu of the Romanian Orthodox Church. This was the first time a pope had visited a predominantly Eastern Orthodox country since the Great Schism in 1054. On his arrival, the Patriarch and the President of Romania, Emil Constantinescu, greeted the pope. The Patriarch stated,

"The second millennium of Christian history began with a painful wounding of the unity of the Church; the end of this millennium has seen a real commitment to restoring Christian unity."

On 23–27 June 2001, John Paul II visited Ukraine, another heavily Orthodox nation, at the invitation of the President of Ukraine and bishops of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church. The Pope spoke to leaders of the All-Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organisations, pleading for "open, tolerant and honest dialogue". About 200 thousand people attended the liturgies celebrated by the Pope in Kyiv, and the liturgy in Lviv gathered nearly one and a half million faithful. John Paul II said that an end to the Great Schism was one of his fondest wishes. Healing divisions between the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches regarding Latin and Byzantine traditions was clearly of great personal interest. For many years, John Paul II sought to facilitate dialogue and unity stating as early as 1988 in Euntes in mundum, "Europe has two lungs, it will never breathe easily until it uses both of them."

During his 2001 travels, John Paul II became the first pope to visit Greece in 1291 years. In Athens, the pope met with Archbishop Christodoulos, the head of the Church of Greece. After a private 30-minute meeting, the two spoke publicly. Christodoulos read a list of "13 offences" of the Catholic Church against the Eastern Orthodox Church since the Great Schism, including the pillaging of Constantinople by crusaders in 1204, and bemoaned the lack of apology from the Catholic Church, saying "Until now, there has not been heard a single request for pardon" for the "maniacal crusaders of the 13th century".

The pope responded by saying "For the occasions past and present, when sons and daughters of the Catholic Church have sinned by action or omission against their Orthodox brothers and sisters, may the Lord grant us forgiveness", to which Christodoulos immediately applauded. John Paul II said that the sacking of Constantinople was a source of "profound regret" for Catholics. Later John Paul II and Christodoulos met on a spot where Saint Paul had once preached to Athenian Christians. They issued a 'common declaration', saying

"We shall do everything in our power, so that the Christian roots of Europe and its Christian soul may be preserved.... We condemn all recourse to violence, proselytism and fanaticism, in the name of religion."

The two leaders then said the Lord's Prayer together, breaking an Orthodox taboo against praying with Catholics.

The pope had said throughout his pontificate that one of his greatest dreams was to visit Russia, but this never occurred. He attempted to solve the problems that had arisen over centuries between the Catholic and Russian Orthodox churches, and in 2004 gave them a 1730 copy of the lost icon of Our Lady of Kazan.

Armenian Apostolic Church

John Paul II was determined to maintain good relations with the Armenian Apostolic Church, whose separation from the Holy See dated to Christian antiquity. In 1996, he brought the Catholic Church and the Armenian Apostolic Church closer by agreeing with Armenian Archbishop Karekin II on Christ's nature. During an audience in 2000, John Paul II and Karekin II, by then the Catholicos of All Armenians, issued a joint statement condemning the Armenian genocide. Meanwhile, the pope gave Karekin the relics of St. Gregory the Illuminator, the first head of the Armenian Church that had been kept in Naples, Italy, for 500 years. In September 2001, John Paul II went on a three-day pilgrimage to Armenia to take part in an ecumenical celebration with Karekin II in the newly consecrated St. Gregory the Illuminator Cathedral in Yerevan. The two Church leaders signed a declaration remembering the victims of the Armenian genocide.

Protestantism

Like his successors after him, John Paul II took a large number of initiatives to promote friendly relations, practical humanitarian cooperation and theological dialogue with a range of Protestant bodies. Of these the first in importance had to be with Lutheranism, given that the contention with Martin Luther and his followers was the most significant historical split in Western Christianity.

Lutheranism

From 15 to 19 November 1980, John Paul II visited West Germany on his first trip to a country with a large Lutheran Protestant population. In Mainz, he met with leaders of the Evangelical Church in Germany, and with representatives of other Christian denominations.

On 11 December 1983, John Paul II participated in an ecumenical service in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Rome, the first papal visit ever to a Lutheran church. The visit took place 500 years after the birth of the German Martin Luther, who was first an Augustinian friar and subsequently a leading Protestant Reformer.

In his apostolic pilgrimage to Norway, Iceland, Finland, Denmark and Sweden of June 1989, John Paul II became the first pope to visit countries with Lutheran majorities. In addition to celebrating Mass with Catholic believers, he participated in ecumenical services at places that had been Catholic shrines before the Reformation: Nidaros Cathedral in Norway; near St. Olav's Church at Thingvellir in Iceland; Turku Cathedral in Finland; Roskilde Cathedral in Denmark; and Uppsala Cathedral in Sweden.

On 31 October 1999, (the 482nd anniversary of Reformation Day, Martin Luther's posting of the 95 Theses), representatives of the Catholic Church's Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity and the Lutheran World Federation signed a Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification, as a gesture of unity. The signing was a fruit of a theological dialogue that had been going on between the Lutheran World Federation and the Holy See since 1965.

Anglicanism

John Paul II had good relations with the Church of England, as also with other parts of the Anglican Communion. He was the first reigning pope to travel to the United Kingdom, in 1982, where he met Queen Elizabeth II, the Supreme Governor of the Church of England. He preached in Canterbury Cathedral and received Robert Runcie, the Archbishop of Canterbury. He said that he was disappointed by the Church of England's decision to ordain women and saw it as a step away from unity between the Anglican Communion and the Catholic Church.

In 1980, John Paul II issued a Pastoral Provision allowing married former Episcopal priests to become Catholic priests, and for the acceptance of former Episcopal Church parishes into the Catholic Church. He allowed the creation of the a form of the Roman Rite, known informally by some as the Anglican Use, which incorporates selected elements of the Anglican Book of Common Prayer that are compatible with Catholic doctrine. He permitted Archbishop Patrick Flores of San Antonio, Texas, to establish Our Lady of the Atonement Catholic Church, together as the inaugural parish for the use of this hybrid liturgy.

Relations with Judaism

Main article: Pope John Paul II and Judaism

Relations between Catholicism and Judaism improved dramatically during the pontificate of John Paul II. He spoke frequently about the Church's relationship with the Jewish faith. There can be little doubt that his attitude was shaped in part by his own experience of the terrible fate of the Jews in Poland and the rest of Central Europe in the 1930s and 1940s.

In 1979, John Paul II visited the Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland, where many of his compatriots (mostly Jews) had perished during the German occupation there in World War II, the first pope to do so. In 1998, he issued We Remember: A Reflection on the Shoah, which outlined his thinking on the Holocaust. He became the first pope known to have made an official papal visit to a synagogue, when he visited the Great Synagogue of Rome on 13 April 1986.

On 30 December 1993, John Paul II established formal diplomatic relations between the Holy See and the State of Israel, acknowledging its centrality in Jewish life and faith.

On 7 April 1994, he hosted the Papal Concert to Commemorate the Holocaust. It was the first-ever Vatican event dedicated to the memory of the six million Jews murdered in World War II. This concert, which was conceived and conducted by US conductor Gilbert Levine, was attended by the Chief Rabbi of Rome Elio Toaff, the President of Italy Oscar Luigi Scalfaro, and survivors of the Holocaust from around the world. The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, actor Richard Dreyfuss and cellist Lynn Harrell performed on this occasion under Levine's direction. On the morning of the concert, the pope received the attending members of survivor community in a special audience in the Apostolic Palace.

In March 2000, John Paul II visited Yad Vashem, the national Holocaust memorial in Israel, and later made history by touching one of the holiest sites in Judaism, the Western Wall in Jerusalem, placing a letter inside it (in which he prayed for forgiveness for the actions against Jews). In part of his address he said:

"I assure the Jewish people the Catholic Church … is deeply saddened by the hatred, acts of persecution and displays of anti-Semitism directed against the Jews by Christians at any time and in any place,"

and he added that there were

"no words strong enough to deplore the terrible tragedy of the Holocaust."

Israeli cabinet minister Rabbi Michael Melchior, who hosted the pope's visit, said he was "very moved" by the pope's gesture.

It was beyond history, beyond memory.

We are deeply saddened by the behaviour of those who in the course of history have caused these children of yours to suffer, and asking your forgiveness we wish to commit ourselves to genuine brotherhood with the people of the Covenant.

In October 2003, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) issued a statement congratulating John Paul II on entering the 25th year of his papacy. In January 2005, John Paul II became the first pope known to receive a priestly blessing from a rabbi, when Rabbis Benjamin Blech, Barry Dov Schwartz, and Jack Bemporad visited the Pontiff at Clementine Hall in the Apostolic Palace.

Immediately after John Paul II's death, the Anti-Defamation League said in a statement that he had revolutionised Catholic-Jewish relations, saying, "more change for the better took place in his 27-year Papacy than in the nearly 2,000 years before." In another statement issued by the Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council, Director Dr Colin Rubenstein said, "The Pope will be remembered for his inspiring spiritual leadership in the cause of freedom and humanity. He achieved far more in terms of transforming relations with both the Jewish people and the State of Israel than any other figure in the history of the Catholic Church."

With Judaism, therefore, we have a relationship which we do not have with any other religion. You are our dearly beloved brothers, and in a certain way, it could be said that you are our elder brothers.

In an interview with the Polish Press Agency, Michael Schudrich, chief rabbi of Poland, said that never in history did anyone do as much for Christian-Jewish dialogue as John Paul II, adding that many Jews had a greater respect for the late pope than for some rabbis. Schudrich praised John Paul II for condemning anti-Semitism as a sin, which no previous pope had done.

On John Paul II's beatification the Chief Rabbi of Rome Riccardo Di Segni said in an interview with the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano that "John Paul II was revolutionary because he tore down a thousand-year wall of Catholic distrust of the Jewish world." Meanwhile, Elio Toaff, the former Chief Rabbi of Rome, said that:

Remembrance of the Pope Karol Wojtyła will remain strong in the collective Jewish memory because of his appeals to fraternity and the spirit of tolerance, which excludes all violence. In the stormy history of relations between Roman popes and Jews in the ghetto in which they were closed for over three centuries in humiliating circumstances, John Paul II is a bright figure in his uniqueness. In relations between our two great religions in the new century that was stained with bloody wars and the plague of racism, the heritage of John Paul II remains one of the few spiritual islands guaranteeing survival and human progress.

Relations with other world religions

Animism

In his book-length interview Crossing the Threshold of Hope with the Italian journalist Vittorio Messori published in 1995, John Paul II draws parallels between animism and Christianity. He says:

… it would be helpful to recall … the animist religions which stress ancestor worship. It seems that those who practice them are particularly close to Christianity, and among them, the Church's missionaries also find it easier to speak a common language. Is there, perhaps, in this veneration of ancestors a kind of preparation for the Christian faith in the Communion of Saints, in which all believers—whether living or dead—form a single community, a single body? […] There is nothing strange, then, that the African and Asian animists would become believers in Christ more easily than followers of the great religions of the Far East.

In 1985, the pope visited the African country of Togo, where 60 per cent of the population espouses animist beliefs. To honour the pope, animist religious leaders met him at a Catholic Marian shrine in the forest, much to the pontiff's delight. John Paul II proceeded to call for the need for religious tolerance, praised nature, and emphasised common elements between animism and Christianity, saying:

Nature, exuberant and splendid in this area of forests and lakes, impregnates spirits and hearts with its mystery and orients them spontaneously toward the mystery of He who is the author of life. It is this religious sentiment that animates you and one can say that animates all of your compatriots.

During the investiture of President Thomas Boni Yayi of Benin as a titled Yoruba chieftain on 20 December 2008, the reigning Ooni of Ile-Ife, Nigeria, Olubuse II, referred to John Paul II as a previous recipient of the same royal honour.

Buddhism

Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama, visited John Paul II eight times. The two men held many similar views and understood similar plights, both coming from nations affected by Communism and both serving as heads of major religious bodies. As Archbishop of Kraków, long before the 14th Dalai Lama was a world-famous figure, Wojtyła held special Masses to pray for the Tibetan people's non-violent struggle for freedom from Maoist China. During his 1995 visit to Sri Lanka, a country where a majority of the population adheres to Theravada Buddhism, John Paul II expressed his admiration for Buddhism:

In particular I express my highest regard for the followers of Buddhism, the majority religion in Sri Lanka, with its … four great values of … loving kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy and equanimity; with its ten transcendental virtues and the joys of the Sangha expressed so beautifully in the Theragathas. I ardently hope that my visit will serve to strengthen the goodwill between us, and that it will reassure everyone of the Catholic Church's desire for interreligious dialogue and cooperation in building a more just and fraternal world. To everyone I extend the hand of friendship, recalling the splendid words of the Dhammapada: "Better than a thousand useless words is one single word that gives peace...."

Islam

John Paul II was the first Pope to enter and pray in a mosque, visiting the tomb of John the Baptist at Damascus' Umayyad Mosque.

John Paul II made considerable efforts to improve relations between Catholicism and Islam.

On 6 May 2001, he became the first Catholic pope to enter and pray in a mosque, namely the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus, Syria. Respectfully removing his shoes, he entered the former Byzantine era Christian church dedicated to John the Baptist, who is also revered as a prophet of Islam. He gave a speech including the statement:

"For all the times that Muslims and Christians have offended one another, we need to seek forgiveness from the Almighty and to offer each other forgiveness."

He kissed the Qur'an in Syria, an act that made him popular among Muslims but that disturbed many Catholics.

In 2004, John Paul II hosted the "Papal Concert of Reconciliation", which brought together leaders of Islam with leaders of the Jewish community and of the Catholic Church at the Vatican for a concert by the Kraków Philharmonic Choir from Poland, the London Philharmonic Choir from the United Kingdom, the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra from the United States, and the Ankara State Polyphonic Choir of Turkey. The event was conceived and conducted by Sir Gilbert Levine, KCSG and was broadcast throughout the world.

John Paul II oversaw the publication of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, which makes a special provision for Muslims; therein, it is written, "together with us they adore the one, merciful God, mankind's judge on the last day."

Jainism

In 1995, John Paul II held a meeting with 21 Jains, organised by the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue. He praised Mohandas Gandhi for his "unshakeable faith in God", assured the Jains that the Catholic Church will continue to engage in dialogue with their religion and spoke of the common need to aid the poor. The Jain leaders were impressed with the pope's "transparency and simplicity", and the meeting received much attention in the Gujarat state in western India, home to many Jains.

Assassination attempts and plots

Main articles: Pope John Paul II assassination attempt, Juan María Fernández y Krohn, and Bojinka Plot

The Fiat Popemobile that carried John Paul II during the 1981 assassination attempt on his life in St. Peter's Square in Vatican City

As he entered St. Peter's Square to address an audience on 13 May 1981, John Paul II was shot and critically wounded by Mehmet Ali Ağca, an expert Turkish gunman who was a member of the militant fascist group Grey Wolves. The assassin used a Browning 9 mm semi-automatic pistol, shooting the pope in the abdomen and perforating his colon and small intestine multiple times. John Paul II was rushed into the Vatican complex and then to the Gemelli Hospital. On the way to the hospital, he lost consciousness. Even though the two bullets missed his mesenteric artery and abdominal aorta, he lost nearly three-quarters of his blood. He underwent five hours of surgery to treat his wounds. Surgeons performed a colostomy, temporarily rerouting the upper part of the large intestine to let the damaged lower part heal. When he briefly regained consciousness before being operated on, he instructed the doctors not to remove his Brown Scapular during the operation. One of the few people allowed in to see him at the Gemelli Clinic was one of his closest friends philosopher Anna-Teresa Tymieniecka, who arrived on Saturday 16 May and kept him company while he recovered from emergency surgery. The pope later stated that the Blessed Virgin Mary helped keep him alive throughout his ordeal.

Small marble tablet in St. Peter's Square indicating where the shooting of John Paul II occurred. The tablet bears John Paul's personal papal arms and the date of the shooting in Roman numerals.

Could I forget that the event in St. Peter's Square took place on the day and at the hour when the first appearance of the Mother of Christ to the poor little peasants has been remembered for over sixty years at Fátima, Portugal? For in everything that happened to me on that very day, I felt that extraordinary motherly protection and care, which turned out to be stronger than the deadly bullet.

Ağca was caught and restrained by a nun and other bystanders until police arrived. He was sentenced to life imprisonment. Two days after Christmas in 1983, John Paul II visited Ağca in prison. John Paul II and Ağca spoke privately for about twenty minutes. John Paul II said, "What we talked about will have to remain a secret between him and me. I spoke to him as a brother whom I have pardoned and who has my complete trust."

Numerous other theories were advanced to explain the assassination attempt, some of them controversial. One such theory, advanced by Michael Ledeen and heavily pushed by the United States Central Intelligence Agency at the time of the assassination but never substantiated by evidence, was that the Soviet Union was behind the attempt on John Paul II's life in retaliation for the pope's support of Solidarity, the Catholic, pro-democratic Polish workers' movement. This theory was supported by the 2006 Mitrokhin Commission, set up by Silvio Berlusconi and headed by Forza Italia senator Paolo Guzzanti, which alleged that Communist Bulgarian security departments were utilised to prevent the Soviet Union's role from being uncovered, and concluded that Soviet military intelligence (Glavnoje Razvedyvatel'noje Upravlenije), not the KGB, were responsible. Russian Foreign Intelligence Service spokesman Boris Labusov called the accusation "absurd". The pope declared during a May 2002 visit to Bulgaria that the country's Soviet-bloc-era leadership had nothing to do with the assassination attempt. However, his secretary, Cardinal Stanisław Dziwisz, alleged in his book A Life with Karol, that the pope was convinced privately that the former Soviet Union was behind the attack. It was later discovered that many of John Paul II's aides had foreign-government attachments; Bulgaria and Russia disputed the Italian commission's conclusions, pointing out that the pope had publicly denied the Bulgarian connection.

A second assassination attempt was made on 12 May 1982, just a day before the anniversary of the first attempt on his life, in Fátima, Portugal when a man tried to stab John Paul II with a bayonet. He was stopped by security guards. Stanisław Dziwisz later said that John Paul II had been injured during the attempt but managed to hide a non-life-threatening wound. The assailant, a traditionalist Catholic Spanish priest named Juan María Fernández y Krohn, had been ordained as a priest by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre of the Society of Saint Pius X and was opposed to the changes made by the Second Vatican Council, saying that the pope was an agent of Communist Moscow and of the Marxist Eastern Bloc. Fernández y Krohn subsequently left the priesthood and served three years of a six-year sentence. The ex-priest was treated for mental illness and then expelled from Portugal to become a solicitor in Belgium.

The Al-Qaeda-funded Bojinka plot planned to kill John Paul II during a visit to the Philippines during World Youth Day 1995 celebrations. On 15 January 1995 a suicide bomber was planning to dress as a priest and detonate a bomb when the pope passed in his motorcade on his way to the San Carlos Seminary in Makati. The assassination was supposed to divert attention from the next phase of the operation. However, a chemical fire inadvertently started by the cell alerted police to their whereabouts, and all were arrested a week before the pope's visit, and confessed to the plot.

In 2009 John Koehler, a journalist and former army intelligence officer, published Spies in the Vatican: The Soviet Union's Cold War Against the Catholic Church. Mining mostly East German and Polish secret police archives, Koehler says the assassination attempts were "KGB-backed" and gives details. During John Paul II's papacy there were many clerics within the Vatican who on nomination, declined to be ordained, and then mysteriously left the church. There is wide speculation that they were, in reality, KGB agents.

Apologies

Main article: Apologies by Pope John Paul II

John Paul II apologised to many groups that had suffered at the hands of the Catholic Church through the years. Before becoming pope he had been a prominent editor and supporter of initiatives such as the Letter of Reconciliation of the Polish Bishops to the German Bishops from 1965. As pope, he officially made public apologies for over 100 wrongdoings, including:

The legal process on the Italian scientist and philosopher Galileo Galilei, himself a devout Catholic, around 1633 (31 October 1992).
Catholics' involvement with the African chiefs who sold their subjects and captives in the African slave trade (9 August 1993).
The Church Hierarchy's role in burnings at the stake and the religious wars that followed the Protestant Reformation (20 May 1995, in the Czech Republic).
The injustices committed against women, the violation of women's rights and the historical denigration of women (10 July 1995, in a letter to "every woman").
The inactivity and silence of many Catholics during the Holocaust (see the article Religion in Nazi Germany) (16 March 1998).

The Great Jubilee of the year 2000 included a day of Prayer for Forgiveness of the Sins of the Church on 12 March 2000.

On 20 November 2001, from a laptop in the Vatican, John Paul II sent his first e-mail apologising for the Catholic sex abuse cases, the Church-backed "Stolen Generations" of Aboriginal children in Australia, and to China for the behaviour of Catholic missionaries in colonial times.

Health

Main article: Pope John Paul II's health

An ailing John Paul II riding in the Popemobile in September 2004 in St. Peter's Square

When he became pope in 1978 at the age of 58, John Paul II was an avid sportsman. He was extremely healthy and active, jogging in the Vatican gardens, weight training, swimming, and hiking in the mountains. He was fond of football. The media contrasted the new pope's athleticism and trim figure to the poor health of John Paul I and Paul VI, the portliness of John XXIII and the constant claims of ailments of Pius XII. The only modern pope with a fitness regimen had been Pope Pius XI (1922–1939), who was an avid mountaineer. An Irish Independent article in the 1980s labelled John Paul II the keep-fit pope.

However, after over twenty-five years as pope, two assassination attempts, one of which injured him severely, and a number of cancer scares, John Paul's physical health declined. In 2001 he was diagnosed as suffering from Parkinson's disease. International observers had suspected this for some time, but it was only publicly acknowledged by the Vatican in 2003. Despite difficulty speaking more than a few sentences at a time, trouble hearing, and severe osteoarthrosis, he continued to tour the world although rarely walking in public.

Death and funeral

Main article: Funeral of Pope John Paul II

Final months

John Paul II was hospitalised with breathing problems caused by a bout of influenza on 1 February 2005. He left the hospital on 10 February, but was subsequently hospitalised again with breathing problems two weeks later and underwent a tracheotomy.

Final illness and death

On 31 March 2005, following a urinary tract infection, he developed septic shock, a form of infection with a high fever and low blood pressure, but was not hospitalised. Instead, he was monitored by a team of consultants at his private residence. This was taken as an indication by the pope, and those close to him, that he was nearing death; it would have been in accordance with his wishes to die in the Vatican. Later that day, Vatican sources announced that John Paul II had been given the Anointing of the Sick by his friend and secretary Stanisław Dziwisz. The day before his death, one of his closest personal friends, Anna-Teresa Tymieniecka visited him at his bedside. During the final days of the pope's life, the lights were kept burning through the night where he lay in the Papal apartment on the top floor of the Apostolic Palace. Tens of thousands of people assembled and held vigil in St. Peter's Square and the surrounding streets for two days. Upon hearing of this, the dying pope was said to have stated: "I have searched for you, and now you have come to me, and I thank you."

On Saturday, 2 April 2005, at approximately 15:30 CEST, John Paul II spoke his final words in Polish, "Pozwólcie mi odejść do domu Ojca" ("Allow me to depart to the house of the Father"), to his aides, and fell into a coma about four hours later. The Mass of the vigil of the Second Sunday of Easter commemorating the canonisation of Saint Maria Faustina on 30 April 2000, had just been celebrated at his bedside, presided over by Stanisław Dziwisz and two Polish associates. Present at the bedside was a cardinal Lubomyr Husar from Ukraine, who served as a priest with John Paul in Poland, along with Polish nuns of the Congregation of the Sisters Servants of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, who ran the papal household. John Paul II died in his private apartment at 21:37 CEST (19:37 UTC) of heart failure from profound hypotension and complete circulatory collapse from septic shock, 46 days before his 85th birthday. His death was verified when an electrocardiogram that ran for 20 minutes showed a flatline. He had no close family by the time of his death; his feelings are reflected in his words written in 2000 at the end of his Last Will and Testament. Stanisław Dziwisz later said he had not burned the pontiff's personal notes despite the request being part of the will.

(l-r) George W. Bush, Laura Bush, George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton, Condoleezza Rice, and Andrew Card, US dignitaries paying respects to John Paul II on 6 April 2005 at St. Peter's Basilica, Vatican City

Aftermath

The death of the pontiff set in motion rituals and traditions dating back to medieval times. The Rite of Visitation took place from 4 April 2005 to 7 April 2005 at St. Peter's Basilica. John Paul II's testament, published on 7 April 2005, revealed that the pontiff contemplated being buried in his native Poland but left the final decision to The College of Cardinals, which in passing, preferred burial beneath St. Peter's Basilica, honouring the pontiff's request to be placed "in bare earth".

The Requiem Mass held on 8 April 2005 was said to have set world records both for attendance and number of heads of state present at a funeral. (See: List of Dignitaries.) It was the single largest gathering of heads of state up to that time, surpassing the funerals of Winston Churchill (1965) and Josip Broz Tito (1980). Four kings, five queens, at least 70 presidents and prime ministers, and more than 14 leaders of other religions attended. An estimated four million mourners gathered in and around Vatican City. Between 250,000 and 300,000 watched the event from within the Vatican's walls.

The Dean of the College of Cardinals, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, conducted the ceremony. John Paul II was interred in the grottoes under the basilica, the Tomb of the Popes. He was lowered into a tomb created in the same alcove previously occupied by the remains of John XXIII. The alcove had been empty since John XXIII's remains had been moved into the main body of the basilica after his beatification.

Posthumous recognition

Title "the Great"

Upon the death of John Paul II, a number of clergy at the Vatican and laymen began referring to the late pontiff as "John Paul the Great" — in theory only the fourth pope to be so acclaimed. Cardinal Angelo Sodano specifically referred to John Paul as "the Great" in his published written homily for the pope's funeral Mass of Repose. The South African Catholic newspaper The Southern Cross has referred to him in print as "John Paul II the Great". Some Catholic educational institutions in the US have additionally changed their names to incorporate "the Great", including John Paul the Great Catholic University and schools called some variant of John Paul the Great High School.

Scholars of canon law say that there is no official process for declaring a pope "Great"; the title simply establishes itself through popular and continued usage, as was the case with celebrated secular leaders (for example, Alexander III of Macedon became popularly known as Alexander the Great). The three popes who today commonly are known as "Great" are Leo I, who reigned from 440–461 and persuaded Attila the Hun to withdraw from Rome; Gregory I, 590–604, after whom the Gregorian Chant is named; and Pope Nicholas I, 858–867, who consolidated the Catholic Church in the Western world in the Middle Ages.

John Paul's successor, Benedict XVI, has not used the term directly in public speeches, but has made oblique references to "the great Pope John Paul II" in his first address from the loggia of St. Peter's Basilica, at the 20th World Youth Day in Germany 2005 when he said in Polish: "As the great Pope John Paul II would say: Keep the flame of faith alive in your lives and your people"; and in May 2006 during a visit to Poland where he repeatedly made references to "the great John Paul" and "my great predecessor".

The tomb of John Paul II in the Vatican Chapel of St. Sebastian within St. Peter's Basilica

Institutions named after John Paul II

Pope John Paul II High School (Tennessee)
John Paul the Great Catholic University
John Paul the Great Catholic High School (Indiana)
John Paul II Catholic Secondary School (London, Ontario, Canada)
Saint John Paul the Great Catholic High School (Virginia)
Scoil Eoin Phóil, Leixlip, Ireland
John Paul II Gymnasium, Kaunas, Lithuania
Pope John Paul II High School in Olympia, Washington
Karol Wojtyła building at Atma Jaya Catholic University of Indonesia in Jakarta, Indonesia
St. John Paul II Chapel and Museum at Pakuwon Mall in Surabaya, Indonesia
St. John Paul II Minor Seminary, Minor Seminary in Antipolo City, Philippines
St. John Paul II Parish Community (Lake View, NY)
St. John Paul II High School (Hyannis, MA)
Saint John Paul II Academy Boca Raton, FL
St. John Paul II Catholic High School (Alabama)
St. John Paul II Catholic High School (Arizona)
St. John Paul II Seminary (Washington, DC)
Pope Saint John Paul II Major Seminary Awka (Nigeria)

Beatification

Main article: Beatification of Pope John Paul II

1.5 million St. Peter's Square attendees witness the beatification of John Paul II on 1 May 2011 in Vatican City

A monument to John Paul II in Poznań, Poland

Inspired by calls of "Santo Subito!" ("[Make him a] Saint Immediately!") from the crowds gathered during the funeral Mass that he celebrated, Benedict XVI began the beatification process for his predecessor, bypassing the normal restriction that five years must pass after a person's death before beginning the beatification process. In an audience with Pope Benedict XVI, Camillo Ruini, Vicar General of the Diocese of Rome, who was responsible for promoting the cause for canonisation of any person who died within that diocese, cited "exceptional circumstances", which suggested that the waiting period could be waived. This decision was announced on 13 May 2005, the Feast of Our Lady of Fátima and the 24th anniversary of the assassination attempt on John Paul II at St. Peter's Square.

In early 2006, it was reported that the Vatican was investigating a possible miracle associated with John Paul II. Sister Marie Simon-Pierre, a French nun and member of the Congregation of Little Sisters of Catholic Maternity Wards, confined to her bed by Parkinson's disease, was reported to have experienced a "complete and lasting cure after members of her community prayed for the intercession of Pope John Paul II". As of May 2008, Sister Marie-Simon-Pierre, then 46, was working again at a maternity hospital run by her religious institute.

"I was sick and now I am cured," she told reporter Gerry Shaw. "I am cured, but it is up to the church to say whether it was a miracle or not."

On 28 May 2006, Pope Benedict XVI celebrated Mass before an estimated 900,000 people in John Paul II's native Poland. During his homily, he encouraged prayers for the early canonisation of John Paul II and stated that he hoped canonisation would happen "in the near future".

In January 2007, Cardinal Stanisław Dziwisz announced that the interview phase of the beatification process, in Italy and Poland, was nearing completion. In February 2007, second class relics of John Paul II—pieces of white papal cassocks he used to wear—were freely distributed with prayer cards for the cause, a typical pious practice after a saintly Catholic's death. On 8 March 2007, the Vicariate of Rome announced that the diocesan phase of John Paul's cause for beatification was at an end. Following a ceremony on 2 April 2007—the second anniversary of the Pontiff's death—the cause proceeded to the scrutiny of the committee of lay, clerical, and episcopal members of the Vatican's Congregation for the Causes of Saints, to conduct a separate investigation. On the fourth anniversary of John Paul II's death, 2 April 2009, Cardinal Dziwisz, told reporters of a presumed miracle that had recently occurred at the former pope's tomb in St. Peter's Basilica. A nine-year-old Polish boy from Gdańsk, who was suffering from kidney cancer and was completely unable to walk, had been visiting the tomb with his parents. On leaving St. Peter's Basilica, the boy told them, "I want to walk," and began walking normally. On 16 November 2009, a panel of reviewers at the Congregation for the Causes of Saints voted unanimously that John Paul II had lived a life of heroic virtue. On 19 December 2009, Pope Benedict XVI signed the first of two decrees needed for beatification and proclaimed John Paul II "Venerable", asserting that he had lived a heroic, virtuous life. The second vote and the second signed decree certifying the authenticity of the first miracle, the curing of Sister Marie Simon-Pierre, a French nun, from Parkinson's disease. Once the second decree is signed, the position (the report on the cause, with documentation about his life and writings and with information on the cause) is complete. He can then be beatified. Some speculated that he would be beatified sometime during (or soon after) the month of the 32nd anniversary of his 1978 election, in October 2010. As Monsignor Oder said, this course would have been possible if the second decree were signed in time by Benedict XVI, stating that a posthumous miracle directly attributable to his intercession had occurred, completing the positio.

Candles around monument to John Paul II in Zaspa, Gdańsk at the time of his death

The Vatican announced on 14 January 2011 that Pope Benedict XVI had confirmed the miracle involving Sister Marie Simon-Pierre and that John Paul II was to be beatified on 1 May, the Feast of Divine Mercy. 1 May is commemorated in former communist countries, such as Poland, and some Western European countries as May Day, and John Paul II was well known for his contributions to communism's relatively peaceful demise. In March 2011 the Polish mint issued a gold 1,000 Polish złoty coin (equivalent to US$350), with the Pope's image to commemorate his beatification.

On 29 April 2011, John Paul II's coffin was disinterred from the grotto beneath St. Peter's Basilica ahead of his beatification, as tens of thousands of people arrived in Rome for one of the biggest events since his funeral. John Paul II's remains, which were not exposed, were placed in front of the Basilica's main altar, where believers could pay their respect before and after the beatification mass in St. Peter's Square on 1 May 2011. On 3 May 2011 his remains were interred in the marble altar in Pier Paolo Cristofari Chapel of St. Sebastian, where Pope Innocent XI was buried. This more prominent location, next to the Chapel of the Pietà, the Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament, and statues of Popes Pius XI and Pius XII was intended to allow more pilgrims to view his memorial. John Paul II's body is located near the bodies of Pope Pius X and Pope John XXIII, whose bodies were reinterred in the Basilica after their own canonizations and together are three of the four popes canonized in the last century. The only pope who was not exhumed and reinterred after becoming a saint in the last century was Pope Paul VI, who remains buried in the papal grottos.

In July 2012, a Colombian man, Marco Fidel Rojas, the former mayor of Huila, Colombia, testified that he was "miraculously cured" of Parkinson's disease after a trip to Rome where he met John Paul II and prayed with him. Dr. Antonio Schlesinger Piedrahita, a renowned neurologist in Colombia, certified Fidel's healing. The documentation was then sent to the Vatican office for sainthood causes.

In September 2020, Poland unveiled a sculpture of him in Warsaw, designed by Jerzy Kalina [pl] and installed outside the National Museum, holding up a meteorite. In the same month, a relic containing his blood was stolen from the Spoleto Cathedral in Italy.

Canonisation

Main article: Canonization of Pope John XXIII and Pope John Paul II

The canonisation of John Paul II and John XXIII

To be eligible for canonisation (being declared a saint) by the Catholic Church, two miracles must be attributed to a candidate.

The first miracle attributed to John Paul was the above mentioned healing of a woman's Parkinson's disease, which was recognised during the beatification process. According to an article on the Catholic News Service (CNS) dated 23 April 2013, a Vatican commission of doctors concluded that a healing had no natural (medical) explanation, which is the first requirement for a claimed miracle to be officially documented.

The second miracle was deemed to have taken place shortly after the late pope's beatification on 1 May 2011; it was reported to be the healing of Costa Rican woman Floribeth Mora of an otherwise terminal brain aneurysm. A Vatican panel of expert theologians examined the evidence, determined that it was directly attributable to the intercession of John Paul II, and recognised it as miraculous. The next stage was for Cardinals who compose the membership of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints to give their opinion to Pope Francis to decide whether to sign and promulgate the decree and set a date for canonisation.

On 4 July 2013, Pope Francis confirmed his approval of John Paul II's canonisation, formally recognising the second miracle attributed to his intercession. He was canonised together with John XXIII. The date of the canonisation was on 27 April 2014, Divine Mercy Sunday.

The canonisation Mass for Blessed Popes John Paul II and John XXIII, was celebrated by Pope Francis (with Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI), on 27 April 2014 in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican (John Paul II had died on vigil of Divine Mercy Sunday in 2005). About 150 cardinals and 700 bishops concelebrated the Mass, and at least 500,000 people attended the Mass, with an estimated 300,000 others watching from video screens placed around Rome.

Beatification of the Pope's parents

On 10 October 2019, the Archdiocese of Krakow and the Polish Bishops' Conference approved nihil obstat the opening of the beatification cause of the parents of its patron saint John Paul II, Karol Wojtyła Sr. and Emilia Kaczorowska. It gained approval from the Holy See to open the diocesan phase of the cause on 7 May 2020.

Criticism and controversy

Main articles: Criticism of Pope John Paul II and Criticism of the Catholic Church

John Paul II was widely criticised for a variety of his views. He was a target of criticism from progressives for his opposition to the ordination of women and use of contraception, and from Traditional Catholics for his support for the Second Vatican Council and its reform of the liturgy. John Paul II's response to child sexual abuse within the Church has also come under heavy censure.

Sex abuse scandals

Main article: Catholic sex abuse cases

John Paul II was criticised by representatives of the victims of clergy sexual abuse for failing to respond quickly enough to the Catholic sex abuse crisis. In his response, he stated that "there is no place in the priesthood and religious life for those who would harm the young." The Church instituted reforms to prevent future abuse by requiring background checks for Church employees and, because a significant majority of victims were boys, disallowing ordination of men with "deep-seated homosexual tendencies". They now require dioceses faced with an allegation to alert the authorities, conduct an investigation and remove the accused from duty. In 2008, the Church asserted that the scandal was a very serious problem and estimated that it was "probably caused by 'no more than 1 per cent' " (or 5,000) of the over 500,000 Catholic priests worldwide.

In April 2002, John Paul II, despite being frail from Parkinson's disease, summoned all the American cardinals to the Vatican to discuss possible solutions to the issue of sexual abuse in the American Church. He asked them to "diligently investigate accusations". John Paul II suggested that American bishops be more open and transparent in dealing with such scandals and emphasised the role of seminary training to prevent sexual deviance among future priests. In what The New York Times called "unusually direct language", John Paul condemned the arrogance of priests that led to the scandals:

Priests and candidates for the priesthood often live at a level both materially and educationally superior to that of their families and the members of their own age group. It is therefore very easy for them to succumb to the temptation of thinking of themselves as better than others. When this happens, the ideal of priestly service and self-giving dedication can fade, leaving the priest dissatisfied and disheartened.

The pope read a statement intended for the American cardinals, calling the sex abuse "an appalling sin" and said the priesthood had no room for such men.

In 2002, Archbishop Juliusz Paetz, the Catholic Archbishop of Poznań, was accused of molesting seminarians. John Paul II accepted his resignation, and placed sanctions on him, prohibiting Paetz from exercising his ministry as bishop. It was reported that these restrictions were lifted, though Vatican spokesperson Federico Lombardi strenuously denied this saying "his rehabilitation was without foundation".

In 2003, John Paul II reiterated that "there is no place in the priesthood and religious life for those who would harm the young." In April 2003, a three-day conference was held, titled "Abuse of Children and Young People by Catholic Priests and Religious", where eight non-Catholic psychiatric experts were invited to speak to near all Vatican dicasteries' representatives. The panel of experts overwhelmingly opposed implementation of policies of "zero-tolerance" such as was proposed by the US Conference of Catholic Bishops. One expert called such policies a "case of overkill" since they do not permit flexibility to allow for differences among individual cases.

In 2004, John Paul II recalled Bernard Francis Law to be Archpriest of the Papal Basilica of Saint Mary Major in Rome. Law had previously resigned as archbishop of Boston in 2002 in response to the Catholic Church sexual abuse cases after Church documents were revealed that suggested he had covered up sexual abuse committed by priests in his archdiocese. Law resigned from this position in November 2011.

John Paul II was a firm supporter of the Legion of Christ, and in 1998 discontinued investigations into sexual misconduct by its leader Marcial Maciel, who in 2005 resigned his leadership and was later requested by the Vatican to withdraw from his ministry. However, Maciel's trial began in 2004 during the pontificate of John Paul II, but the Pope died before it ended and the conclusions were known.

On 10 November 2020, the Vatican published a report which found that John Paul II learned of allegations of sexual impropriety against former cardinal Theodore McCarrick, who at the time was serving as Archbishop of Newark, through a 1999 letter from Cardinal John O'Connor warning him that appointing McCarrick to be Archbishop of Washington D.C., a position which had recently been opened, would be a mistake. John Paul II ordered an investigation, which stalled when three of the four bishops tasked with investigating claims allegedly brought back "inaccurate or incomplete information." John Paul II planned on not giving McCarrick the appointment anyway, but relented and gave him the appointment after McCarrick wrote a letter of denial. He created McCarrick a cardinal in 2001. McCarrick would eventually be laicized after allegations surfaced that he abused minors. George Weigel, a biographer of John Paul II, defended the pope's actions as follows: "Theodore McCarrick fooled a lot of people ... and he deceived John Paul II in a way that is laid out in almost biblical fashion in [the Vatican's] report."

Opus Dei controversies

Main article: Controversies about Opus Dei

John Paul II was criticised for his support of the Opus Dei prelature and the 2002 canonisation of its founder, Josemaría Escrivá, whom he called "the saint of ordinary life". Other movements and religious organisations of the Church went decidedly under his wing Legion of Christ, the Neocatechumenal Way, Schoenstatt, the charismatic movement, etc. And he was accused repeatedly of taking a soft hand with them, especially in the case of Marcial Maciel, founder of the Legion of Christ.

In 1984 John Paul II appointed Joaquín Navarro-Valls, a member of Opus Dei, as Director of the Vatican Press Office. An Opus Dei spokesman said that "the influence of Opus Dei in the Vatican has been exaggerated". Of the nearly 200 cardinals in the Catholic Church, only two are known to be members of Opus Dei.

Banco Ambrosiano scandal

Main article: Banco Ambrosiano

John Paul II was alleged to have links with Banco Ambrosiano, an Italian bank that collapsed in 1982. At the centre of the bank's failure was its chairman, Roberto Calvi, and his membership in the illegal Masonic Lodge Propaganda Due (aka P2). The Vatican Bank was Banco Ambrosiano's main shareholder, and the death of John Paul I in 1978 is rumoured to be linked to the Ambrosiano scandal.

Calvi, often referred to as "God's Banker", was also involved with the Vatican Bank, Istituto per le Opere di Religione, and was close to Bishop Paul Marcinkus, the bank's chairman. Ambrosiano also provided funds for political parties in Italy, and for both the Somoza dictatorship in Nicaragua and its Sandinista opposition. It has been widely alleged that the Vatican Bank provided money for Solidarity in Poland.

Calvi used his complex network of overseas banks and companies to move money out of Italy, to inflate share prices, and to arrange massive unsecured loans. In 1978, the Bank of Italy produced a report on Ambrosiano that predicted future disaster. On 5 June 1982, two weeks before the collapse of Banco Ambrosiano, Calvi had written a letter of warning to John Paul II, stating that such a forthcoming event would "provoke a catastrophe of unimaginable proportions in which the Church will suffer the gravest damage". On 18 June 1982 Calvi's body was found hanging from scaffolding beneath Blackfriars Bridge in the financial district of London. Calvi's clothing was stuffed with bricks, and contained cash valued at US$14,000, in three different currencies.

Problems with traditionalists

In addition to all the criticism from those demanding modernisation, some Traditionalist Catholics denounced him as well. These issues included demanding a return to the Tridentine Mass and repudiation of the reforms instituted after the Second Vatican Council, such as the use of the vernacular language in the formerly Latin Roman Rite Mass, ecumenism, and the principle of religious liberty. In 1988, the controversial traditionalist Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, founder of the Society of St. Pius X (1970), was excommunicated under John Paul II because of the unapproved ordination of four bishops, which Cardinal Ratzinger called a "schismatic act".

The World Day of Prayer for Peace, with a meeting in Assisi, Italy, in 1986, in which the pope prayed only with the Christians, was criticised for giving the impression that syncretism and indifferentism were openly embraced by the Papal Magisterium. When a second 'Day of Prayer for Peace in the World' was held, in 2002, it was condemned as confusing the laity and compromising to false religions. Likewise criticised was his kissing of the Qur'an in Damascus, Syria, on one of his travels on 6 May 2001. His call for religious freedom was not always supported; bishops like Antônio de Castro Mayer promoted religious tolerance, but at the same time rejected the Vatican II principle of religious liberty as being liberalist and already condemned by Pope Pius IX in his Syllabus errorum (1864) and at the First Vatican Council.

Religion and AIDS

Main article: Catholic Church and HIV/AIDS

John Paul II's continued the tradition of advocating for the "Culture of life" and, in solidarity with Pope Paul VI's Humanae Vitae rejected artificial birth control, even in the use of condoms to prevent the spread of AIDS. Critics have said that large families are caused by lack of contraception and exacerbate Third World poverty and problems such as street children in South America. John Paul II argued that the proper way to prevent the spread of AIDS was not condoms, but rather, "correct practice of sexuality, which presupposes chastity and fidelity." The focus of John Paul II's point is that the need for artificial birth control is itself artificial, and that principle of respecting the sacredness of life ought not be rend asunder in order to achieve the good of preventing AIDS.

Social programmes

There was strong criticism of the pope for the controversy surrounding the alleged use of charitable social programmes as a means of converting people in the Third World to Catholicism. The pope created an uproar in the Indian subcontinent when he suggested that a great harvest of faith would be witnessed on the subcontinent in the third Christian millennium.

Dictatorships in Latin America

John Paul visited General Augusto Pinochet, Chile's military ruler. According to the United Press International, "Pope John Paul II preached the need for peaceful change and greater participation up and down Chile...but stayed away from direct confrontation with Gen. Augusto Pinochet's military regime...disappointing Pinochet's opponents who had hoped the pope would publicly condemn the regime and bless their campaign for a return to democracy."

John Paul endorsed Pío Cardinal Laghi, who critics say supported the "Dirty War" in Argentina and was on friendly terms with the Argentine generals of the military dictatorship, playing regular tennis matches with Navy's representative in the junta, Admiral Emilio Eduardo Massera.

Ian Paisley

In 1988, when John Paul II was delivering a speech to the European Parliament, Ian Paisley, the leader of the Democratic Unionist Party and Moderator of the Free Presbyterian Church of Ulster, shouted "I denounce you as the Antichrist!" and held up a red banner reading "Pope John Paul II ANTICHRIST". Otto von Habsburg (the last Crown Prince of Austria-Hungary), an MEP for Germany, snatched Paisley's banner, tore it up and, along with other MEPs, helped eject him from the chamber. The pope continued with his address after Paisley had been ejected.

Međugorje apparitions

Beatification controversy

Some Catholic theologians disagreed with the call for the beatification of John Paul II. Eleven dissident theologians, including Jesuit professor José María Castillo and Italian theologian Giovanni Franzoni, said that his stance against contraception and the ordination of women as well as the Church scandals during his pontificate presented "facts which according to their consciences and convictions should be an obstacle to beatification". Some traditionalist Catholics opposed his beatification and canonisation for his views on liturgy and participation in prayer with enemies of the Church, heretics and non-Christians.

After the 2020 report about the handling of the sexual misconduct complaints against Theodore McCarrick, some called for John Paul II's sainthood to be revoked.

Personal life

Anna-Teresa Tymieniecka

Karol Wojtyła was a Cracovia football team supporter (club retired number 1 in his honour). Having played the game himself as a goalkeeper, John Paul II was a fan of English football team Liverpool, where his compatriot Jerzy Dudek played in the same position.

In 1973, while still the archbishop of Kraków, Karol Wojtyła befriended a Polish-born, later American philosopher, Anna-Teresa Tymieniecka. The thirty-two-year friendship (and occasional academic collaboration) lasted until his death. She served as his host when he visited New England in 1976 and photos show them together on skiing and camping trips. Letters that he wrote to her were part of a collection of documents sold by Tymieniecka's estate in 2008 to the National Library of Poland. According to the BBC the library had initially kept the letters from public view, partly because of John Paul's path to sainthood, but a library official announced in February 2016 the letters would be made public. In February 2016 the BBC documentary program Panorama reported that John Paul II had apparently had a 'close relationship' with the Polish-born philosopher. The pair exchanged personal letters over 30 years, and Stourton believes that Tymieniecka had confessed her love for Wojtyła. The Vatican described the documentary as "more smoke than mirrors", and Tymieniecka denied being involved with John Paul II.

Writers Carl Bernstein, the veteran investigative journalist of the Watergate scandal, and Vatican expert Marco Politi, were the first journalists to talk to Anna-Teresa Tymieniecka in the 1990s about her importance in John Paul's life. They interviewed her and dedicated 20 pages to her in their 1996 book His Holiness. Bernstein and Politi even asked her if she had ever developed any romantic relationship with John Paul II, "however one-sided it might have been." She responded, "No, I never fell in love with the cardinal. How could I fall in love with a middle-aged clergyman? Besides, I'm a married woman."

Jerusalem Icon of the Mother of God, Blessed on the Stone of Anointing This pocket-sized icon was lithographed by Holy Land artisans on olive tree wood, embellished with gold leaf and blessed upon the Stone of Anointing at Jerusalem’s Temple of the Holy Sepulcher.

Icon of the Holy Family, Blessed on the Stone of Anointing This pocket-sized icon features the image of Virgin Mary, St. Joseph and Infant Jesus, raising both arms in blessing. It represents a replica of the original from the ancient Byzantine temple, lithographed by Jerusalem artisans on olive wood and embellished with gold leaf.

Bethlehem Icon of the Mother of God, Blessed on the Stone of Anointing By tradition the Bethlehem Icon of the Mother of God was painted by the holy Evangelist St. Luke within the lifetime of the Most Holy Mother of God and is Her most documentary depiction.

Icon of Christ the Almighty This pocket-sized icon in a box was hand crafted by Holy Land artisans on olive tree wood, embellished with gold leaf and blessed upon the Stone of Anointing at Jerusalem’s Temple of the Holy Sepulcher.

St. Pope John Paul II

Saint John Paul II Biography

Check out the Latest News on Saint Pope John Paul II Canonization »

The Young Karol Wojtyla

The Birth of Karol Josef Wojtyla

A Friend of Consequence

Karol Loses His Mother

Karol: The Father and the Son

A Cardinal's Inquiry

Seeds Planted in the Heart

Actor and Student of Philosophy

A Friend is used by the Lord

Karol the Seminarian

The Student who became a Professor; the Pastor who became a Bishop

Fr. Karol, Graduate Student

Fr. Karol Becomes a Professor

From Priest to Bishop

Bishop Wojtyla Writes His First Book

Invited to Historic Vatican II Council

Significant Contributor to Council Documents

Home to Poland to Implement the Council

Church Reformer

Seeds of the Council become Roots of a Magisterium

From Cardinal to Chair of Peter to Grain of Wheat

The Bishop Becomes a Prince of the Church

Champion of the Dignity of Life and Love

From Cardinal to the Chair of Peter

Pope John Paul II Begins his Service

Pope of Freedom and Fidelity

Prolific and Courageous

Saint John Paul's Themes

Saint John Paul's Magisterium

Saint John Paul the Evangelist

An Apostle of Life

A Promoter of Peace

A Champion of Freedom

A Healer of Divisions

A Man of Living Faith

The Lion becomes a Lamb

A Seed of a New Springtime

From Blessed to Saint John Paul II

A Virtual Exhibit Hall

The Communion of Saints

The Saints: A Great Cloud of Witnesses

The Saints as Intercessors and Models

Pope John Paul II Passes to the father

A Prophetic Pronouncement

Blessed John Paul II

Path to Sainthood

The Vigil, 30 April, 2011 (Circus Maximus)

The Mass of Beatification, May 1, 2011, Sunday after Easter or of Divine Mercy (St. Peter's Square, officiated by the Holy Father).

Mass of Thanksgiving, Monday May 2, 2011 (officiated by Cardinal Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone, St. Peter's Square)

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Life of Saint Pope John Paul II

Parents

Grandparents

Great Grandparents

Apostolic Voyages

Ecyclical Letters of John Paul II

[Updated: 17.04.2003]

Social Encyclicals of the most recent Pontificates

[Updated: 17.04.2003]

Beatification and Canonization Ceremonies

[Updated: 05.01.2005]

Consistories

[Updated: 21.10.2003]

Episcopal Ordinationsconferred by John Paul II

[Updated: 09.01.2003]

Baptisms by John Paul II

[Updated: 11.04.2004]

Synod of Bishops

[Updated: 16.10.2001]

Audiences and Meetings with olitical figures

[Updated: 25.02.2005]

General Audiences

[Updated: 25.02.2005]

World Days

[Updated: 24.01.2005]

World Days of Fasting for Peaceasked by John Paul II

[Updated: 05.05.2003]

Episcopal Ordinations
conferred by John Paul II

World Days of Fasting for Peace
asked by John Paul II

Pontificate of John Paul II
Dedicated Years