22 OCTOBER: SAINT JOHN PAUL II
A life donated to the Church through Mary
Cardinal Karol Józef Wojtyła was elected Pope on 16 October 1978. In line with his predecessor, who died suddenly on 28 September 1978, he chose the name John Paul II. He was the first non-Italian Pope in 455 years, since the death of the last foreigner, Adrian VI from Utrecht, in 1523. He was also the first Pope from Poland and the first Pope to be a native speaker of a Slavic language. His Pontificate was among the longest in history, second only to Saint Peter and Pius IX. It lasted almost 27 years.
During his Pontificate, John Paul II travelled more than 1,200,000 kilometres to proclaim the Gospel throughout the world and to promote dialogue with everyone. He completed a total of 250 trips, not taking into consideration those in Rome and Castel Gandolfo, 104 of which were abroad. His first international journey began on 25 January 1979 with a visit to the Dominican Republic, Mexico and Bahamas. On 2 June of the same year, he went on his first of eight pastoral visits to Poland. His last trip was to Lourdes from 15-16 August 2004. Meanwhile, he made 146 pastoral visits in Italy, and as Bishop of Rome, he visited 317 out 333 parishes. He published 14 Encyclical Letters, 15 Apostolic Exhortations, 11 Apostolic Constitutions and 45 Apostolic Letters. In 1985, he announced the first World Youth Day.
During his Pontificate, he promulgated the Code of Canon Law on 25 January 1983, the Code of Canon Law for Eastern Churches on 18 October 1990 and the Catechism of the Catholic Church on 15 August 1997. He proclaimed the Year of Redemption in 1983, the Marian Year in 1987, the Great Jubilee Year in 2000 and the Year of the Eucharist in 2004. He boosted the number of canonizations and beatifications to offer authentic witnesses for today’s world. He celebrated 147 Beatifications, proclaiming 1,338 Blesseds, and 51 canonizations, for a total of 482 Saints. He proclaimed Saint Teresa of the Child Jesus, a Doctor of the Church.
Born in Wadowice, Poland, on 18 May 1920, he was the last of Karol Wojtyła and Emilia Kaczorowska’s three children. He was baptized on 20 June 1920 in the parish Church of Wadowice, received his First Communion when he was nine years old, and his Confirmation at 18. After completing his high school studies in Wadowice, he enrolled at the Jagiellonian University of Krakow in 1938.
When the occupying Nazi troops closed his university in 1939, he went to work as a labourer from 1940-1944, first in a quarry and then in Solvay’s chemical factory. Having understood his vocation to the priesthood, he began his formation at the underground major seminary in Krakow in 1942. He was ordained a priest on 1 November 1946. After obtaining a doctorate in theology in Rome in 1948, he returned to Poland, where he was appointed Coadjutor of Niegowić Parish and later of Saint Florian in Krakow. He was entrusted with the pastoral care of university students until 1951.
Pope Pius XII appointed him Titular Bishop of Ombi and Auxiliary of Krakow on 4 July 1958. He was ordained a Bishop on 28 September 1958. Pope Paul VI appointed him Archbishop of Krakow on 13 January 1964 and then created him a Cardinal during the Consistory of 26 June 1967. John Paul II was greatly devoted to Mary, choosing as his episcopal motto, Totus tuus, from the words of Saint Louis-Marie Grignion de Monfort: “Tuus totus ego sum, et omnia mea tua sunt”. He was a synodal Father at the Second Vatican Council, where he contributed to the drafting of the Pastoral Constitution, Gaudium et Spes. He began his solemn Petrine Ministry on 22 October and died on 2 April 2005. He was beatified by Benedict XVI on 30 April 2011 and canonized by Pope Francis on 27 April 2014.