Saint John Paul II was Pope of the Catholic Church from 1978 to 2005. He was the first non-Italian Pope in 450 years. As Pope, he sought to improve relations with other faiths and spread a message of peace that helped undermine the Soviet Union. His life was nearly cut short by an assassination attempt in 1981 but he survived and later forgave his attacker.
Saint John Paul II was Pope of the Catholic Church from 1978 to 2005. He was the first non-Italian Pope in 450 years. As Pope, he sought to improve relations with other faiths and spread a message of peace that helped undermine the Soviet Union. His life was nearly cut short by an assassination attempt in 1981 but he survived and later forgave his attacker.
Saint John Paul II was Pope of the Catholic Church from 1978 to 2005. He was the first non-Italian Pope in 450 years. As Pope, he sought to improve relations with other faiths and spread a message of peace that helped undermine the Soviet Union. His life was nearly cut short by an assassination attempt in 1981 but he survived and later forgave his attacker.
Saint John Paul II was Pope of the Catholic Church from 1978 to 2005. He was the first non-Italian Pope in 450 years. As Pope, he sought to improve relations with other faiths and spread a message of peace that helped undermine the Soviet Union. His life was nearly cut short by an assassination attempt in 1981 but he survived and later forgave his attacker.
1920 to Apr 2, 2005 • He is the patron saint of World Youth Day. • The feast day of Saint John Paul II is on October 22 • From October of 1978 to April 2, 2005 John Paul II was Pope of the Catholic Church. EARLY LIFE
• Saint John Paul II or Karol Józef Wojtyla,
which was his original name, grew up in Wadowice, Poland. • He lost his mother and older brother when he was young • Later he went to study at Jagiellonian University in Warsaw until Germany invaded Poland in 1939. • As the war waged on, John Paul II joined and underground seminary and he eventually became ordained to priesthood. RISE TO PAPACY
• In 1958 Karol was anointed as archbishop
of Kraków • Later he was anointed as a Cardinal in 1967. • Then in October 16, 1978 Karol became Pope John Paul II and the first non-Italian Pope in 450 years. DESTROYING AN EMPIRE • Saint John Paul II’s message of peace and faith to many and this caused problems for the Soviet Union during the Cold War. • When he stepped out of his plane in Poland and kissed the ground he set off a fire that would destroy the Soviets Union. • “You are not who they say you are, so let me remind you who you are.” –Saint John Paul II • “I have had a feeling, particularly in the pope’s visit to Poland, that religion may turn out to be the Soviets’ Achilles’ heel” –Ronald Reagan • Eventually, all the Soviet puppet states drift away from the Soviet Union and led to the collapse of it. IMPROVING RELATIONS
• He sought to improve relations between
the Catholic church and the other Abrahamic religions, Islam and Judaism. • For Judaism, he improved relations by recognizing Israel, making anti-Semitism a sin, and becoming the first Pope to visit a synagogue (the Great Synagogue of Rome). • He improved relations with Islam by becoming the first Pope to visit a mosque (the Great Mosque of Damascus) and kissed the Koran, the Muslim holy book etc. END OF LIFE • John Paul II’s life could have been cut short on May 13, 1981 when a man named Mehmet Ali Agca attempted to assassinate the Pope, but a miracle saved the Pope’s life as the bullet grazed his organs. • After recovering, John Paul II did the last thing anyone would ever expect and that was visiting his assassin in prison and forgave him for trying to kill him. • He died on Apr 02, 2005 at the age of 84 from Parkinson’s disease. Pope Francis canonized him on April 27, 2014.