Pope St John Paul II

Pope St John Paul II (1920-2005)

Born May 18, 1920 in Wadowice, Poland, he lost his mother at age 9 and his father at 21. In spite of the war, he studied at the Jagellonian University and later at the Krakow Seminary where he was ordained as a priest on November 1, 1946. Karol Wojtyla was made auxiliary bishop of Krakow in 1958 and was installed as Archbishop of Krakow in 1964 , becoming Cardinal on June 28, 1967. 

Karol Wojtyla , a few months old

On October 16, 1978 at age 58, Karol Wojtyla was elected the 264th Pope and Bishop of Rome. Within a few days, he visited Assisi, the first of 146 trips within Italy. A later visit to a Rome parish marks the start of visits to 317 of Rome’s 333 parishes. His election was a surprise election because his predecessor, Pope John Paul I, died after 33 days into his Papacy, and he was the first non-Italian Pope in almost 400 years. His reign became the second longest in history.

Fr Wojtyla as a young priest

Cardinal Wojtyla with Pope Paul VI

The day he was elected Pope, October 16, 1978