Pope John Paul II, born Karol Józef Wojtyła in Poland in 1920. St. Pope John Paul II is a saint of our times. Many of us lived with this holy man as our Pope for a good bit of life.
In 1978, he was chosen as pope, becoming one of the most influential figures of modern time. His papacy was marked by his strong commitment to human dignity, the defense of religious freedom, and tireless efforts for peace. His travels across the globe and numerous meetings with leaders and believers alike fostered unity and hope. He arguably traveled more and met more people than anyone.
He drew crowds of hundreds of thousands. People just wanted to be near to him, even if that nearness was hundreds of yards away. There was always something about JPII that captured the hearts of people.
John Paul II exercised the Petrine ministry with a tireless missionary spirit, dedicating it all his energy. He made 104 pastoral visits outside Italy and 146 within Italy. As bishop of Rome he visited 317 of the city’s 333 parishes. More than 17,600,000 pilgrims participated in the General Audiences held on Wednesdays (more than 1160), not counting other special audiences and religious ceremonies [more than 8 million pilgrims during the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000 alone].
His legacy includes the destruction of the USSR and its grip on the world. He bravely and boldly stepped into their vast control, challenging them to stop his words. In the Communist controlled land of Poland, Pope JPII drew hundreds of thousands from their hiding places and broke the walls of the Soviet Union.
He celebrated 147 beatification ceremonies, during which he proclaimed 1,338 blesseds, and celebrated 51 canonizations for a total of 482 saints. That is more than the combined tally of his predecessors over the five centuries before.
Pope John Paul II canonized the first saint of the new millennium. One especially dear to John Paul II and myself – St. Faustina Kowalska, the fellow Polish native who received the message of divine mercy. He may be single-handedly the most influential piece in the devotion of Divine Mercy. As cardinal, he brought the diary and St. Faustina’s cause out of the locked drawers of the Church. Now, it is the most widely known and fastest growing grassroots devotion of the Church – maybe even rivaling the Rosary in prayers said (no contest between either).
“Sister Faustina’s canonization has a particular eloquence: By this act I intend today to pass this message on to the new millennium,” he said in the homily of her canonization. “I pass it on to all people, so that they will learn to know ever better the true face of God and the true face of their brethren.” – Pope John Paul II
St. Pier Giorgio Frassati, whom Pope John Paul II beatified in 1990 and nicknamed the “man of the beatitudes”.
He impacted millions of teens and the future of the Church when he created World Youth Days in 1985 – presiding over 19 of them as pope.
he also published five books of his own: “Crossing the Threshold of Hope” (October 1994), “Gift and Mystery, on the fiftieth anniversary of my ordination as priest” (November 1996), “Roman Triptych” poetic meditations (March 2003), “Arise, Let us Be Going” (May 2004) and “Memory and Identity” (February 2005).
In the light of Christ risen from the dead, on 2 April a.D. 2005, at 9.37 p.m., while Saturday was drawing to a close and the Lord’s Day was already beginning, the Octave of Easter and Divine Mercy Sunday, the Church’s beloved Pastor, John Paul II, departed this world for the Father.
From that evening until April 8, date of the funeral of the late Pontiff, more than three million pilgrims came to Rome to pay homage to the mortal remains of the Pope. Some of them queued up to 24 hours to enter St. Peter’s Basilica.
On April 27 , 2014 he was canonized by Pope Francis during a ceremony in St. Peter’s Square.
St. Pope John Paul II is truly a man to emulate. I learn so much from him even now, two decades after he went home. The books on his life are numerous. I recommend reading and studying this great man. I expect someday, he will join the ranks of Doctors of the Church. His brilliance and devotion to God, the Blessed Mother and her Rosary and the Church are certainly just pieces of what we can learn to imitate of JPII’s life.
This post could go on for pages and just touch what this man gives us.
The more I read about Saint Pope John Paul II, the more often my jaw drops in awe. He was a man filled with the charisms of the Holy Spirit.