Pope John Paul II Paper

“We are not the sum of our weaknesses and failures; we are the sum of the Father’s love for us and our real capacity to become the image of his Son.” Said by St. Pope John Paul II during one of his World Youth Day homilies this quote perfectly represents the man that St. Pope John Paul II was: a bold, forgiving, selfless, and loving man. Born on May 18, 1920 in Wadowice, Poland; John Paul II suffered a number of tragedies in the early years of his life. By the age of the twenty he lost all of his immediate family, and he credits the death of his father as the point in his life when he heard the call to live a life of religious vocation. In 1939, about one year after John Paul enrolled in The Krawkow Jaggelonian University, the Nazi closed the school and to avoid deportation to Germany all able men had to work. From 1940 to 1941 his holiness did various jobs, but it was during this time period that he was seriously contemplating priesthood. In 1942 John Paul II started studying at the underground seminary run by the Archbishop of Krakow, and during this time he was hit by a truck and recovered in matter of two weeks. To him this was a confirmation of his vocation. Once the war was finished the future pope was ordained priest and was then sent to Rome for further studies. After a two year time period in Rome, His Holy Father received his doctorate in theology and returned to Poland. After serving in several parishes and becoming a well-known religious face in Poland, St. John Paul II became the bishop of Ombi. During the six year time period that his holiness was the Bishop of Ombi, he achieved one of his life’s major accomplishments: he became one of the leading thinkers on the Vatican II council. While he was one the Vatican II co...

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...oved a lot was sports. Pope John Paul was one of the most athletic and fit popes of all time. He loved football, swimming, skiing, mountain climbing, kayaking, and almost any other physical activity. But in 2001 after almost 25 years as pope, over 129 pastoral trips, two assassination attempts and so much more; Pope John Paul II’s health began to decline. In 2001 the pope was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, and in the years following his health only went downhill. On April 2, 2005 Pope John II succumbed to his many illnesses and died in his private apartment. Saint Pope John Paul II’s funeral set the record for the largest amount of attendees and for the largest amount of heads of state gathered together. On that day more than 10 billion people, both present at St. Peters Square and watching through their TV’s, mourned for their forever remember and loved Pope.