John Paul II Research Paper

St. John Paul II is one of the most well-known Pope’s of all time. He was the first non-Italian pope to assume the papacy in 455 years. His love and care for all people around the world stood out the most. During his time as Pope, he visited over one hundred counties and he not only visited world leaders but those in hospitals, slums and prison. He was very talented in communicating with the youth. The Legacy St. John Paul II left will never be forgotten. He was the most influential pope to ever live. His goal was to advance the recognition in human dignity and to deter the use of violence. Enormous Crowds of people would go see him every Wednesday in the Vatican.
John Paul II was born on May 18th, 1920 in Wadowice, a small city in Poland.

He had a rough early life with the death of his mother in 1929 and his eldest brother Edmund, who died in 1932. His father was a non-commissioned army officer who passed away in 1941. John Paul II enrolled in Krakow's Jagiellonian University in 1938. (The Nazi occupation forces closed the university in 1939 and young Karol had to work in a quarry (1940-1944) and then in the Solvay chemical factory to earn his living and to avoid being deported to Germany.)("St. Pope John Paul II - Saints & Angels." 1) His journey of becoming a priest began in 1942 when he started taking classes in the clandestine seminary of Cracow. Following World War II, he continued his studies in the major seminary of Cracow. On November 1, 1946 John Paul II was ordained a priest in Cracow.
John Paul II began his journey as a priest in Rome where he worked under the guidance of the French Dominican. In 1948 he finished his doctorate in theology. During this time, he exercised his pastoral with the Polish immigrants of France, Belgium and Holland. That same year he returned to Poland and was vicar of various parishes in Cracow. He was also a chaplain for the university unit 1951, when he once again took up his studies on philosophy and theology. (In 1953 he defended his habilitation thesis on "evaluation of the possibility of founding a Christian ethic on the ethical system of Max Scheler" at the Faculty of Theology of Jagiellonian University)("St. Pope John Paul II - Saints & Angels." 2). This was the last habilitation before closing the Faculty by communist government. Soon later he became a professor of moral philosophy and social ethics in the major seminary of Cracow and in the Faculty of philosophy at the Catholic University of Lublin.
On July 4, 1958, he was appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Cracow by Pope Pius XII and was cosecred September 28, 1958 by Archbishop Baziak. He was then nominated by Pope Paul VI to be Archbishop of Cracow on January 13, 1964. A few years later on June 26, 1967 he was made a cardinal. Cardinal Wojtyla made important contributions to the elaboration of the Constitution Gaudium et spes in Vatican Council II. He also was a part of all the assemblies of the Synod of Bishops. Finally on October 16, 1978 Cardinal Wojtyla was elected pope and choose the name as Pope John Paul II.
Pope John Paul II was extremely well liked by all people around the world. He created the “Theology of the body” which explains the vision of the human person. He answered seven questions that were all on the topic of the purpose to life, purity, marriage and love. He answered all these questions in one hundred and twenty nine Wednesday audiences between 1979 and 1984. St. John Paul II says “The human body incles right from the beginning… the capacity of expressing love, that love in which the person becomes a gift - and by means of this gift - fulfills the meaning of his being and existence.” This made a huge impact on thousands of people and helped them understand the true meaning of life, love and marriage
Pope John Paul II’s reflections were most based on scripture and constrain a vision of the human person truly worthy of man. The trends in today’s society view the body as an object of pleasure or as a machine for manipulation. He tries extremely hard to point out to the world that the body is way more than an object used for please. He emphasises the theme of love as self-gift. Not many catholics in our world today were educated correctly on the purpose of life and that we were created in God’s image out of love. This helped out people know the real and true meaning of love.
John Paul II motivates a true reverence for the gift of our sexuality and challenges us to live it in a way worthy of our great dignity as human persons.

“ His theology is not only for young adults or married couples, but for all ages and vocations, since it sums up the true meaning of being a person.”) (theology of the body 1). John Paul II intelligence in understanding the scripture and the meaning of life really impacted the world. This is an example of his love and care for all people. He wanted everyone to know and love who they are. He also wanted to make a point to society that they are corrupting people all over the world on what the true meaning of life and body. He tried his best to get people to understand the body and not fall into the trap of the evil

society.
Pope John Paul II also made a huge impact in the collapse of European communism. In his early life he lived under oppression and tyranny. He always had the desire to make end to communism. During his time as a priest, John Paul II would promote Christianity and religious freedom under threat of a regime trying to squash any opposition to atheistic totalitarian rule. Eventually when he became the archbishop of Krakow he spread his philosophy of Christian “humanism” through a series of poem-cycles that worked to threaten the Marxist foundation of Communism.
When John Paul II got elected pope it gave him the opportunity to put an end to communism. He came up with a rallying cry called “Be not afraid”. He lead a nine-day public pilgrimage to “strengthen the brethren” in Poland. This was very courageous of him to do this because communication was extremely dangerous and put the pope at risk. Pope John Paul II (warned Communist authorities that the papacy would watch them closely, and he reminded them of their responsibility "before history and before your conscience.")(Christian history 1). Many people were extremely happy in what John Paul II was doing and they saw him as real leader.
John Paul II’s example encouraged other leading church authorities to become angry critics of Communism. He also influenced Lech Walesa to form the Soviet Union’s first and only trade union. This scared the soviet union because they were afraid that the Solidarity could undermine Soviet power which lead them to plan an invasion and have a mass arrest on solidarity leaders. John Paul II responded to this by writing to the Soviet president and giving his support to Solidarity and warning against the consequences of such an action. In 1998 the Solidarity swept available seats in a semi free election. This helped them gain control and be more apart of the government. On December 1, 1989, the Soviet president visited John Paul II in the Vatican. This put an end to Hostilities between Rome and Moscow and also the triumph of Christian faith over communism. This shows how Pope John Paul II never gave up in what he believed should happen.
John Paul II did many things that no other pope has ever done.

He was very well liked worldwide because he was not afraid to travel. He was the first pope to ever visit the white house. President Carter welcomed John Paul II to the white house on October 6, 1979. They discussed situations concerning world peace and justice. He was not afraid to show his love all over the world in various countries. He was also the first modern pope to visit a Synagogue. Israel saw this as a positive sign for the relationship between the catholic church and the Jewish community. Pope John Paul was all about building relationships between the different religions throughout the world. He taught people to always love one another no matter what they believe. He also was the first Pope to ever visit Cuba. When he addressed cuba he in his homily said "The good of a nation must be promoted and achieved by its citizens themselves.” During his time as Pope, he always wanted peace for every country all around the

world.
Pope John Paul II canonized the most saints ever as a Pope. He canonized over 400 saints at 51 canonizations. Also during his time as pope he appointed 232 cardinals. Pope John paul was all about making the world a better and holier place. John Paul II loved to educate the youth on the catholic faith. He created world youth day which is an event every three years held for the youth. Thousands of kids meet in one country and shows there love for God. Pope John Paul II became the voice that matters in the world. It is said that Pope John paul has had the most influence on the world since the Renaissance. He was always doing his job to the best of his ability. It is hard to find someone in our corrupt society today that stands for what he believes and shows real leadership. That is what Pope John Paul II did. He gave a bold example on uncompressing leadership which is something rare in our world today. On April 2nd, 2005 Pope John Paul II dies of septic shock.
Pope John Paul II is the most influential Pope to ever live. He worked tirelessly to build a moral foundation in the world while playing a extremely important in overthrowing communism and promoting peace. He was canonized a saint on April 27, 2014. Not many Popes become saints. There are only seven Popes in the last 1,000 years that are canonized saints. Pope John Paul’s legacy will last forever. He is the patron of world youth day and he will always be remembered.