Is there anyone in this generation who doesn't not know him? Because he is known and respected not only by us Catholics but also by Protestants, Eastern rite Churches, Jews, Moslems, Buddhists and even by some atheists and agnostics. And he reigned as pope for almost 30 years which brought large influence and development for the Church and for the world. As the title of this blog says, he is indeed forever young, he defied age and remains close with us young people hence he is also called "the Pope for the Youth". He remains an inspiration to the young and it is rightly that we have now an intercessor before God as we continually uphold the faith he proclaimed and the ideals he fought.
He was born as Karol Josef Wojtyla on May 18, 1920 in Wadowice, Poland. He was the youngest and the third son of Karol Wojtyla and Emilia Kaczorowska. His elder sister Olga died in infancy before Karol's birth and his mother died when he was just eight terribly affecting his carefree childhood. Much more, his brother Edmund whom he is very close, also died after being contaminated by a disease through Edmund's work as a physician.
He managed to live as a happy youth being an athlete as a football goalkeeper. He studied at the Jagiellonian University in Karakow. There, he became a librarian, a philosopher, a playwright and a linguist. He learned there twelve languages, nine of which he used later, during his papacy. Karol's studies were abruptly stopped during the Nazi occupation in 1939 because the university professors and academicians were arrested and deported. In order to avoid being deported to Germany and also to earn his living, he became a manual laborer in a limestone quarry and then as a salesman in a restaurant. In 1941, his father died of heart attack and this incident leads him to become the only surviving member of his immediate family.
A year after his father's death, having been in a political and social turmoil, he began thinking seriously about his vocation to the priesthood. He entered an underground seminary run by the Archbishop of Krakow, Adam Cardinal Sapieha. He was ordained priest on November 1, 1946. On September 28, 1958, he became the youngest bishop in Poland at 38 years of age. He was appointed archbishop of Krakow in December 1963, as a cardinal in 1967, and in 1978, he was elected as the 264th pope. He was the first non-Italian Pope since Adrian VI, who was a Dutch who reigned in 1522-1523 and the youngest being 58 at election since Pius IX in 1846.
He chose Totus Tuus for his motto, revealing his deep Marian spirituality. In his coat of arms, he also inscribed a letter M under a cross. He desired to dedicate all of his work to the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Throughout his papacy, he was a human life and family activist. He continuously speaks about the dignity of human life and therefore condemned artificial birth control, euthanasia, stem-cell research and all stages of abortion, making a stand that life begins at fertilization. He taught about the Theology of the Body and also made a stand against homosexuality, premarital sex and other illicit sexual union. He also talked about the dignity of women but made a stand against their ordination as priests. He wrote extensively regarding the Social Teaching of the Church and fought against exploitation and unjust compensation of workers. He was nominated for Nobel Peace Prize in February 2003 for opposing Communist oppression and his efforts to reshape the world. He also recognized more blesseds and saints than any pope in history.
He is known to be an athletic, lovable with a good sense of humor. As a Pope for the Youth, he usually hike and camp with young people. He established the World Youth day in 1984 in Rome with the intention of having young people throughout the world to gather, worship and celebrate the faith. It was followed by 19 other World Youth days. He brings a huge gathering of people whenever he comes. The X World Youth day in Manila was the largest recorded Christian gathering with five to seven million people. He also initiated the World Meeting of Families in 1994.
Throughout his papacy, he traveled more than one million miles outside of Italy and has visited over 126 countries. He was also held in esteem by other political and religious leaders like the Dalai Lama of Buddhism, Patriarchs of the Eastern rite churches, bishops of Anglicanism and other Protestant churches. He was also known as the first pope to pray in the Jews' Wailing Wall of Jerusalem and inside an Islamic mosque in Syria.
In May 13, 1981, he was critically wounded in an assassination attempt by Mehmet Ali Agca, a Turkish member of a fascist group. After surviving the incident, he visited and forgave Agca and offered the bullet to the Virgin of Fatima. A second assassination attempt took place on 12 May 1982, just a day before the anniversary of the first attempt on his life, by Juan Maria Fernandez, a traditionalist priest, suffering from a mental illness. John Paul II fully recovered from the assassination attempts, and sported an impressive physical condition throughout the 1980s. It was in the 90s that this athletic and strong man's health has been reduced by Parkinson's disease. On April 2, 2005, he died in Papal Apartments with an estimated crowd of ten thousand holding a vigil in St. Peter's Square below. Then a crowd of over four million within the Vatican City was there during the public viewing of his body and burial and it was considered as one of the largest pilgrimages in the history of Christianity. Besides, the funeral rites has been one of the most viewed television special throughout the world.
After his death, many clamor for his sainthood and he was referred as John Paul the Great, in the tradition of the popes, St. Leo (440-461) and St. Gregory (540- 604). In January 14, 2011, Pope Benedict XVI had confirmed the miracle involving Sister Marie Simon-Pierre. He was beatified last May 1, 2011. The date was chosen for his demise on the dignity of workers since that day is also the feast of St. Joseph the Worker.
Blessed John Paul's message to the young is "Do not be afraid!". He inspires them to walk in the midst of the darkness of relativism and practical atheism, bearing the light of faith and love for God and humankind. "Duc in Altum!" (Set out into the deep!) He continually inspire us to make a stand especially now that the God-given values for love of the family and respect for life are being threatened by self-choice and materialism. Let this pope who is forever young inspire us to remain rooted and built up in Jesus Christ and be firm in faith. May we ask his intercession for us to understand and love the Truth by which, we can be free.
Blessed John Paul the Great, father of World Youth Days, pray for us!
No comments:
Post a Comment