St. John Paul II (1969-1978 A.D.)

Series: On the life of John Paul II

From 1969 - 1978 A.D.

Still athletic even as a Cardinal
Cardinal Wojtyla was one of the youngest cardinals of the Church. Just in his late forties, his student-friends wanted to give him a present upon his consecration as cardinal, but they were uncertain what to give him. When they spoke with him, Wojtyla suggested to them: "buy me a new sleeping bag; the one I still have is worn out and when I sleep in a tent or in the barracks, it fails to keep me warm". This short anecdote on John Paul proves that even while still a Cardinal, he had no intention of giving up his sports activities, which kept his body fit and strong. When he travelled to Rome to take part in the Synod of Bishops, he spends his free afternoons climbing the Terminillo for a ski descent, or practising a slalom.

The late 1960s unrest in Poland
The late 1960s saw a renewed period of struggle against the communists in Poland, as the epoch of youth culture and affluence in the West began to affect also the aspirations of the younger generations. During this time, it was really the workers who felt the pinch of lower wages and shortages of the Polish staple food - meat. Their children, who were in Polish schools, began to demonstrate on the streets when the government banned the anti-Soviet play "The Forefather's Eve". They were beaten, and Polish schools and universities were closed down. The increase in food prices really began the mass unrest. And this was felt all over the country, and more intensely in the Gdansk shipyards, where there were strikes and demonstrations, culminating in violence and the deaths of hundreds of workers.

A spokesman-pastor for his country
Since the Catholics in Poland have no access to the mass media for the defense and propagation of their faith, Cardinal Wojtyla intensifies his visits to the parishes. He spoke personally to the people, to groups, and to individuals. His words made a great impact, and they impressed an amazing number of people. In 1971 A.D., as a member of the Synod of Bishops, he would speak with some bitterness in the Synod meetings: "In Poland, the entire educational system, as well as the press, radio and television are permeated with atheism, which is considered a new religion of the state. Atheistic propaganda enjoys all privileges."

As unrest heightens in Poland, Wojtyla enters politics The year 1976 A.D. was a fatal year for Poland. Demonstrations against rising food prices resulted in violent clashes with workers in different parts of the country. It was during this time that Cardinal Wojtyla showed his consummate skill as a politician. When union leaders called a general strike, the Soviets intervened. To make peace, Wojtyla persuaded the workers to return to work. But at the same time, he dissuaded the Soviet regime from punishing the dissidents and strike organizers. Through this situation, he re-echoes very well the words of St. Maximillian Kolbe: "Only love is capable of building. Hatred destroys. Hatred cannot build. It can only destroy. It breaks up society; at most it may impress the weakling, but it cannot build."

Attending the Conclave that chose Pope John Paul I
After two years, there was sudden news of the death of Paul VI, who was pope since 1963 A.D. He died on August 6, 1978 A.D. The media spread the news, and the world was shocked by his death. At once, Cardinals from all over the world attended the Conclave to elect a new pope. Two of Poland's cardinals attended this Conclave: Stephen Wyszynski, the "silent but renowned Cardinal"; and Karol Wojtyla, just 58 years old. Three weeks later, after only one day's voting, the Conclave elected Albino Luciani on the fourth ballot. It was the shortest conclave of the century and almost the shortest in history. Albino Luciani was about sixty-six years old, had a winning smile, and was known to have spent much of his life in pastoral work. What was striking about Luciani's pontificate is that it lasted only three weeks. Albino Luciani, a.k.a. Pope John Paul I, died of a pulmonary embolism on the night of September 28, 1978 A.D.

Wojtyla makes a pilgrimage before the second Conclave
After the world was shocked again by the news of the death of Pope John Paul I, Cardinals Wyszynski and Wojtyla would fly again to Rome for another Conclave. As the Conclave was about to open, Wojtyla resolves to have a day off. He makes a pilgrimage to a shrine of the Blessed Mother, the Mentorella, which was run by a small community of Polish monks. Wojtyla climbed 12 kilometers up in the mountains, goes to the shrine, prays at length in front of the statue of Our Lady, then goes back to Rome for the Conclave.

The first non-Italian pope since 1522 A.D. October 15, 1978 A.D. The Conclave chimney continues to emit black smoke - a sign that a Pope has not yet been chosen. On the ninth ballot of the conclave, the votes revealed an impressive 103 out of 109 for Cardinal Karol Wojtyla. It was final. Karol Wojtyla was to be the first non-Italian Pope since 1522 A.D., and at fifty-eight years old, the youngest pope since Pope Pius IX was elected at the age of fifty-four in 1846 A.D. October 16, 1978 A.D. Karol Wojtyla, now Pope John Paul II, appeared at the balcony of St. Peter's Square. He was not yet known to the world. However, through his first contact with the people at St. Peter's Square, even though it lasted only a couple of minutes, an enduring relationship was established between the Pope and the crowd at St. Peter's Square. Pope John Paul II had won the peoples' hearts and obtained their deepest sympathy.

Edited from the following books

• The Pope Coming from the East, by Teresio Bosco, S.D.B.
• An Intimate Portrait: John Paul II, by Mark Bakermans
• The Pontiff in Winter, by John Cornwell
• Pope John Paul II: Champion of Faith, by TV Guide Magazine Group, Inc.

Memorial of Saints (October 3)

St. Francis Borgia was a Spanish nobleman who married, and had eight children. When his wife passed away, he joined the Jesuits at 38 years of age. He eventually became commissionary general in Spain, and founded numerous monasteries, colleges and foundations. In 1565 A.D., he became father general of the Order. His success in revitalizing the Jesuits earned him the recognition as the Order's second founder (died ca. 1572 A.D.).

St. Gerard of Brogne gave up a military career for the religious life. He became a monk at Saint-Denis and founded an abbey in his estate in Brogne, Belgium. He also was a recluse and a reformer. He spent his last years reforming monasteries and restoring monastic discipline (died ca. 959 A.D.).

St. Hesychius was a disciple of the hermit St. Hilarion at Majuma, Palestine. When St. Hilarion went to Egypt, Hesychius followed, and then the two went on to Dalmatia and Cyprus. St. Hilarion sent Hesychius back to the monastery at Majuma to report to the community. When St. Hilarion passed away at Cyprus, St. Hesychius brought the body of his spiritual father back to the monastery of Majuma (died 4th century).

The Two Ewalds were brothers who went as missionaries to Germany in 694 A.D. One was dark and the other fair of skin. Both were killed by barbarians who felt threatened by the brothers' friendship with a local chieftain. The barbarians who killed the two brothers feared that the local chieftain would adopt the Christian faith. However, the chieftain, had the killers of the two brothers put to death (died ca. 695 A.D.).

Sts. Froilan and Attilanus were hermits. They organized a Benedictine community at Moreruela, Old Castile. In 900 A.D., St. Froilan became bishop of Léon, while St. Attilanus was named bishop of Zamora. These two were considered the restorers of Benedictine monasticism in Western Spain. St. Froilan died in ca. 905 A.D.

St. Thomas of Hereford was from a distinguished family in England. He was active and successful in the politics of his time. He became bishop of Hereford, but had to contend with the Archbishop of Canterbury on a certain jurisdictional dispute. St. Thomas was excommunicated by this archbishop. Thomas journeyed to appeal his case to the Pope, but became worn out by the trip and passed away. His shrine was noted for many miracles (died ca. 1282 A.D.).

St. John Paul II (1939-1969 A.D.)

Series: On the life of John Paul II

From 1939 - 1969 A.D.

Life as a student during the German occupation

The German occupation brought an official end to all religious training and cultural activity in Poland. But this did not deter Karol Wojtyla to continue his studies in an underground university, where he also set up a secret theatrical group - the Rhapsodic Theater - which performed secretly in stores and private homes. Besides his studies and theater activities, Karol also worked with the underground networks that helped hide and give refuge to Kraków's Jews. This is not the only responsibility he undertook. As a student during this time, his biggest responsibility was to care of his sick father. A family friend of Karol, Irene Szocka, helped Karol find work at a factory so that he may earn for the living expenses needed by his father and himself.

The death of his father

The many tragic events that surrounded the life of Karol and his father during these war-torn years in Poland, was too hard to bear for Karol's father. And so the health of Karol's father rapidly deteriorated, and he died on February 18, 1941 A.D. Lolek (Karol's nickname) was not at home when his father died of a heart attack in bed in their basement apartment. When Lolek returned home with food and medicine, he just discovered that his father had already died. Stories tell that Lolek knelt in deep prayer at his father's bedside for twelve hours. The experience had such a profound effect on one who would champion the faith in the Catholic Church. After his father's death, Karol Jósef Wojtyla, at age 20, was on his own.

Karol works to avoid deportation to Germany

The Germans in Poland started to deport into Germany throngs of Poles to work as slaves for their German masters. To avoid this deportation, Karol had to stop studying and started to work in the stone quarries, and later on in the chemical factory of Solway. Besides this work, Karol also began to organize another form of resistance against the Germans. He organized a group of young actors who perform on stage so that they can boost the morale of their fellow laborers - helping these laborers find hope, and to continue believing that Poland will most certainly see the dawn of a new day in freedom.

Entrance into the priesthood

Besides the daily toil and the resistance movement, Karol also devoted an important part of his time to religion. Together with Fr. Michal Szafarsky, a Salesian priest, he was a member of a parish association directed by Jan Tyranowski. They also had another Salesian priest as their spiritual director. This association would pray together, read the Bible and other spiritual books, and spend time in devout silence, practicing deep meditation. This religious activity greatly contributed to Karol's decision to enter the priesthood. Since a priestly education could not be done openly, in 1942 A.D., Karol was invited to join the secret seminary of Cardinal Adam Sapieha. After years of study in Sapieha's seminary, Sapieha ordained Karol Wojtyla on the feast of All Saints, the 1st of November 1946 A.D. Fr. Karol was twenty-six years old. After his ordination, Cardinal Sapieha sent Fr. Karol to Rome for further studies.

A student at Rome in Angelicum

Cardinal Sapieha, who was already 80 years old at the time, had enrolled Fr. Karol Wojtyla at the Dominican house of theological studies known as the Angelicum. Here, he was supervised by Father Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange, the well-known French Dominican scholar. Father Reginald was a specialist in spirituality, the author of a three-volume work on St. John of the Cross (Carmelite priest and Doctor of the Church), and a preeminent champion of the conservative interpretations of St. Thomas Aquinas. It was as a student in Rome that Karol learned also how to speak Italian, and he was able to bring his Latin to a high level of competence.

Immersion in the worker-priest movement in France

Cardinal Sapieha was keen to have Fr. Wojtyla and a companion Polish student from the diocese of Kraków, to travel and acquaint themselves with the worker-parish movement in France - a movement promoted by Fr. Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange and Pope Pius XII. Karol agreed to this project and traveled throughout France and Belgium meeting many worker-priests. It was not long however before the worker-priest movement was soon to be disbanded because of the threat it posed to traditionalist notions of the priesthood. Pope Pius XII ordered the worker-priests to abandon their communities, where they worked, and to take up residence again in the priests' homes and religious communities. Despite its being disbanded, the seeds sown by the spiritual culture of this worker-priest movement would survive and thrive in the spirituality of Fr. Karol Wojtyla.

Assigned to the parish of St. Florian in Niegowic

In 1948 A.D., after completing doctoral studies at Rome's Angelicum University, Fr. Wojtyla was appointed to St. Florian's parish in the village of Niegowic. There he spent a lot of time with the young people of the parish - teaching them, playing soccer with them, and inviting university students to the rectory for discussions. This experience with the youth will someday provide him with an obvious burst of energy when he is surrounded by a crowd of exuberant young people in the World Youth Day celebrations he would lead as Pope John Paul II.

Rising to the episcopate of Kraków

In 1951 A.D., Fr. Wojtyla earned his degree. Shortly afterwards, he was sent to teach in the diocesan seminary of Kraków. Then in 1954 A.D., Fr. Wojtyla began lecturing on ethics at the Catholic University of Lublin. Over the next ten years, he was appointed bishop (September 1958 A.D.), and then archbishop (December 30, 1963 A.D.), of Kraków. It is an overpowering and heavy cross for a young man of 43 years of age. Kraków at the time counts 2,132,000 inhabitants. Out of them, 2,043,000 declare themselves Catholics. It is the most Catholic center of Catholic Poland - a center which Archbishop Wojtyla would take to heart.

Elevation to the position of Cardinal

Karol Wojtyla's rise to prominence in the international hierarchy of the Church began in the 1960s with his participation in the conclaves that produced the reforms, known as Vatican II, under Pope John XXIII. On May 29, 1967 A.D., Pope John XXIII's successor, Pope Paul VI, consecrated Wojtyla as cardinal. From this point on, Cardinal Wojtyla widened his travels in the world - attending conferences in the United States and Australia, with stops in Manila and New Guinea. And in 1969 A.D., Cardinal Wojtyla made a point of paying his respects to the Jewish community of Kraków, including a visit to a synagogue.

Edited from the following references

• The Pope Coming from the East, by Teresio Bosco, S.D.B.
• An Intimate Portrait: John Paul II, by Mark Bakermans
• The Pontiff in Winter, by John Cornwell
• Pope John Paul II: Champion of Faith, by TV Guide Magazine Group, Inc.