Saint Pope John Paul II

Widely popular among Catholics worldwide, Saint Pope John Paul II, a native of Poland, was the second longest-serving pope in modern history from 1978 to 2005 and the most traveled one, having visited 129 countries. He was the first non-Italian elected to the pontificate since Pope Adrian VI in 1522. He also had the fastest path to sainthood in the Catholic Church history. The cause for his canonization began just after a month from his death in 2005 in which the five-year waiting period was waived. Two miracles have been attributed to his intercession. The first was the miraculous cure of a French nun with Parkinson’s disease, which was basis of his beatification. The final miracle needed to canonize the Pope happened with a woman from Costa Rica who was healed of her brain aneurysm. Saint Pope John Paul II was known for his deep devotion to the Blessed Mother as well as his conservative stance, which upheld the teachings of the Church on subjects like abortion, euthanasia, human sexuality, divorce, and ordination of women. This Polish Pope was truly a talented man — a highly intellectual philosopher, a poet, a writer, a playwright and a charismatic speaker.

Saint Pope John Paul II was born as Karol Józef Wojtyła in the town of Wadowice, Krakow, Poland to a faithful Catholic family. His early loss of his mother, sister and older brother made him closer to his father, and he learned much from his Catholic ways. In 1942, he entered an underground seminary in Poland, and was ordained a priest on All Saints Day of 1946. With his hard work and dedication to his pastoral role and prolific writing on Church teachings, he later found himself appointed as Cardinal by Pope Paul VI in 1967. Then in 1978, the Lord had given him his most significant task- becoming the Pope, the 263rd successor of Saint Peter. Truly, Pope John Paul II was a holy man in our midst, putting the message of God’s mercy at the forefront of his papacy and being an example to Catholics of how to live one’s life in Jesus.

ZAIRE - AUGUST 01: John-Paul II in Zaire in August, 1985. (Photo by Francois LOCHON/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images)

Saint Pope John Paul II, pray for us!

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