Passion with the image of St. John Paul II - Križovany nad Dudváhom

* May 18, 1920 Wadowice, Poland

† 2 April 2005 Rome, Italy

Pontificate: 1978-2005

Meaning of the name John: God is merciful (Heb.); Paul: a small figure (Latin); Karol: strong, masculine, single (German); Joseph: God added, expanded (Heb.)

The patron saint of Slovak mountain rescuersKarol Józef Wojtyła was born in Wadowice (Poland) on May 18, 1920 as the second son of Karol Wojtyła and Emilie, born Kaczorowska. He received the sacrament of baptism on June 20 in the parish church in Wadowice.

The joy and peace of childhood were very soon shaken by the premature departure of a mother who died when Karol was nine years old. Three years later (1932), his older brother Edmund also died, and in 1941, at the age of twenty-one, Karol lost his father.

He was raised in a healthy patriotic and religious atmosphere. From his father, a deeply Christian man, he learned compassion and love for his neighbors, whom he nourished through persevering prayer and the sacramental life.

The features of the spirituality to which he remained faithful until death were sincere devotion to the Holy Spirit and love for the Virgin Mary. His relationship with the Mother of God was especially deep and alive. He experienced it with the tenderness of a child entrusted to his mother's arms, and at the same time with the masculinity of a knight always ready to listen with his Lady's command: "Do whatever he tells you!" The total devotion to Mary, expressed as a bishop by the motto "Totus tuus" the mystery of looking at the world through the eyes of the Mother of God.

The personality of young Charles also matured in connection with the richness of his intellectual, moral and spiritual gifts and also in connection with the events of the time that marked the history of his homeland and Europe.

During his high school studies, he was aroused in his enthusiasm for theater and poetry, which he developed through the activities of the theater circle at the Faculty of Philology of the Jagiellonian University, where he enrolled in the academic year 1938.

During the Nazi occupation of Poland, he secretly continued his studies and at the same time worked for four years (October 1940 - August 1944) as a worker in the Solvay factory. He was thus able to personally and closely experience the social problems associated with working conditions and gain valuable experience, which he later used in his social studies, first as the Archbishop of Krakow, and then as the High Priest.

In those years, the desire for the priesthood matured in him, and so from 1942 he began to attend secret lectures on theology in a large seminary in Krakow. One layman, Mr. Jan Tyranovsky, a true apostle of the youth, helped him a lot in distinguishing his profession. Even then, young Charles had a clear awareness of the universal vocation of all Christians to holiness and of the irreplaceable role of the laity in the mission of the Church.

He received the ordination of the priesthood on November 1, 1946. The next day, in the suggestive atmosphere of the crypt of St. Leonard in Wawel Cathedral, celebrated the primary Holy Mass.

He was later sent to Rome to complete his theological education. He became a student of the Faculty of Theology at the Pontifical Dominican University Angelicum. Here he drew hard from the source of sound Christian doctrine and also experienced his first encounter with the liveliness and wealth of the universal Church in a certain privileged situation offered by life behind the "Iron Curtain." This period includes Karol Wojtyła's encounter with Father Pio of Pietrelčina.

In June 1948, he defended his doctoral dissertation and returned to Cracow to begin his pastoral work as a chaplain. In his priestly ministry, he gave himself with enthusiasm and generosity. After becoming an associate professor, he began teaching at the Faculty of Theology of the Jagiellonian University and, after its abolition, at the Faculty of Priestly Seminary in Cracow and at the Catholic University of Lublin.

The years he spent among the young enabled him to know in depth the restlessness of their hearts, and as a priest he became for them not only a teacher but also a spiritual guide and friend.

At the age of 38, he was appointed auxiliary bishop of the Krakow diocese. He received the episcopal ordination on September 28, 1958 from Archbishop Eugeniusz Baziak. In 1964 he was appointed Archbishop of Krakow and Paul VI. he was created cardinal on June 26, 1967.

As a shepherd of the Diocese of Krakow, he immediately gained respect as a man of unwavering and courageous faith, close to the people and their problems.

In the discussions, he manifested himself as one who is able to listen and lead a dialogue. He was never compromised, but defended before all the primacy of God and Christ as the foundation of true humanism and as the source of the inalienable rights of the human person. He aroused love in the hearts of his diocesan believers, enjoyed the respect of the confreres in the episcopal ministry, and raised concerns among those who saw in him an adversary.

On October 16, 1978, he was elected Pope and Bishop of Rome and took the name John Paul II. With his pastoral heart, fully given the things of the kingdom of God, he embraced the whole world. Christ's love led him to visit Roman parishes and preach the gospel in all settings. She was the driving force behind his innumerable apostolic journeys to various continents, on which he undertook to strengthen the faith of believers in Christ, to please the sorrowful and depressed, and also to bring the message of reconciliation between the Christian churches and build bridges of friendship between believers in one God. people of good will.

His radiant teaching office had no purpose other than to proclaim Christ, the only Savior of man, always and everywhere.

In his extraordinary missionary zeal, he had a great love for young people. He established the tradition of calling World Youth Days, which were intended for him to preach to the new generations of Jesus Christ and his gospel, and to make young people the protagonists of their own future and co-workers in creating a better world.

His care as a pastor of the whole Church manifested itself in the convening of numerous meetings of the Synod of Bishops, the establishment of new dioceses and ecclesiastical administrative areas, the promulgation of the Code of Canon Law of the Latin Rite and the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches, the publication of encyclicals and apostolic exhortations. To enable God's people to survive the moments of a more intense spiritual life, he declared the Jubilee Year of Redemption, the Marian Year, the Year of the Eucharist and the Great Jubilee of 2000.

The captivating optimism based on trust in God's providence was driven by John Paul II, who survived the tragic experience of two dictatorships, the assassination attempt on May 13, 1981 and who was hardly physically tested in the last years of his life as the disease progressed. He called on people to tear down the walls of division, not to resign, but instead to move towards spiritual, moral and material renewal.

He ended his long and fruitful earthly life at the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican on Saturday, April 2, 2005, with the vigil Sunday "in Albis," which he himself called the Sunday of God's Mercy. The ceremonial funeral ceremonies took place on the Square of St. Petra on April 8, 2005.

The touching testimony of the good he has done has been confirmed by the participation of many delegations coming from all over the world and by the millions of men and women, believers and unbelievers, who have learned in it a clear sign of God's love for humanity. He was declared a saint together with Pope John XXIII. April 27, 2014 on Námestí sv. Peter in Rome. They were canonized by Pope Francis in the presence of Pope Benedict XVI.