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Special Treat -Pop John Paul II

April 3, 2005

Pope John Paul II May 18, 1920- April 2, 2005

INDEPTH:
POPE JOHN PAUL II
CBC News Online

John Paul II will be remembered as The Pilgrim Pope. Since being elected in 1978, he has travelled to more places in the world and has spoken to more people than any other pontiff in the history of the Roman Catholic Church.

He revolutionized the modern papacy. Where previous pontiffs remained distant, never straying far from the Vatican, John Paul maintained a busy travel schedule. Since the start of his Pontificate on October 16, 1978, Pope John Paul II completed 102 pastoral visits outside of Italy and 144 within Italy, visiting almost 130 countries during his 26 years as Pope. He logged more kilometres of travel than all other popes combined.

He was only 58 when elected, making him the youngest pope of the 20th century. He was the first non-Italian pope since the 15th century. His charisma - people who met him described it as a "luminescence" - and common touch drew adoring crowds wherever he went.

On March 14, 2004, John Paul became the longest-serving pope after Pius IX and St. Peter when his pontificate overtook that of Leo XIII.

It is significant, but not surprising, that one of John Paul's last grand pilgrimages was to the Holy Land early in the new millennium when he visited the birthplace of Christ and said, "Bethlehem is the heart of my Jubilee Pilgrimage."

In April 2002, he called 12 U.S. cardinals to the Vatican for an extraordinary two-day session to discuss the growing scandal of priestly sexual abuse of children in America. The Pope told the visiting cardinals that sexual abuse of children by priests and religious is "rightly considered a crime" and is "an appalling sin in the eyes of God."

Later that summer he paid his third and final visit to Canada, kicking off World Youth Day celebrations held in Toronto.

He appeared frail upon arrival, but walked down the steps of his chartered jet rather than using the lift provided.

It was a show of strength for the then-82-year-old who suffered from Parkinson's disease, a painful hip and the lingering effects of a would-be assassin's bullet in 1981.

Health problems were numerous late in the pope's life. He had a tumour removed from his colon in 1992, dislocated his shoulder in 1993, broke his femur in 1994 and had his appendix removed in 1996.

John Paul first visited Canada in 1984, the first pope ever to do so. Thousands of Catholics, as well as many others from different faiths, came to wave and cheer the charismatic leader as he headed a motorcade in his new "Popemobile."

Studied during Nazi occupation

Born Karol Wojtyla
Pope John Paul was born Karol Wojtyla on May 18, 1920, in Wadowice, Poland, where he studied for the priesthood during the Nazi occupation. His father was a sergeant in the army and his mother died before he was nine. He was a gregarious young man who loved skiing, hiking, mountain climbing, swimming and kayaking. He was also a keen student of the stage. He became a superb linguist and was fluent in 11 languages.

As a student, John Paul was passionate about religion. He maintained a devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary, choosing as his personal motto Totus tuus (Latin for "All yours," meaning Mary).

He became the youngest bishop in modern Polish history at the age of 38. Nine years later he was the youngest cardinal, guiding the faithful in a country that was officially atheist. In 1978, at the age of 58, the College of Cardinals elected him to lead the Roman Catholic Church.

It was a surprise choice for many, and the crowds who gathered outside the Vatican were startled when they heard the name of the new pope, the first non-Italian in 456 years, and the youngest in the 20th century.

To some, John Paul was a revolutionary. He took strong stands on human rights, criticized dictators, sought reconciliation with the Jewish world, opened a dialogue with other faiths, and tried - mostly in vain - to bring unity to Christians of the world. Many argue his support for the Solidarity movement in his native Poland helped bring down communism in Europe. He also turned his eye toward the growing gap between the rich and poor, criticizing the excesses of capitalism and the empty materialism of the West.

To his detractors, he was a reactionary trying to turn back the clock on modern reality. Some harshly criticized his ultra-conservative theology, which prohibited female ordination, birth control and abortion. He branded the notion of overpopulation a myth and said the use of condoms as a precaution against AIDS only encouraged the behaviour that led to the spread of the disease.

In a 1993 letter to his bishops, John Paul said contraception and sex before marriage were intrinsically evil. He also broadened the definition of mortal sins to include abortion, euthanasia, drug dealing and drug taking. Many liberal Catholics believed John Paul centralized power during his reign and blocked the democratization of the church.

Assassination attempt

He saw great significance in the fact that the day the would-be assassin shot him in 1981 was the anniversary of the apparition of the Blessed Virgin at Fatima in Portugal. He believed he survived the attempt on his life because of the intercession of Mary. He later visited the man who had tried to kill him - a Turkish man named Mehmet Ali Agca - to forgive him in his prison cell. He also visited the shrine at Fatima to thank Mary for sparing his life when, incredibly, a priest with a knife lunged at him, but was stopped before any harm was done.

He returned to Canada in 1987 to fulfill a promise to visit the Northwest Territories. His scheduled visit to Fort Simpson had to be cancelled during his 1984 Canadian tour because the airport was socked in. The Pope's 2002 visit marked his third to Canada. Then, a visibly frail pontiff attended World Youth Day festivities in Toronto.

John Paul II, at the age of 84, suffers from Parkinson's disease, an arthritic knee, an aching hip and the lingering effects of the 1981 assassination attempt. He had a bowel tumour removed in 1992 and had a hip joint replaced after a fall in 1994. However, the Pope was determined to continue his globetrotting, making historic trips to Cuba, South Africa, Syria, Ukraine, and Greece.

But during his visit to Slovakia in September 2003, he was unable to complete his arrival remarks - the first time that had happened in dozens of foreign trips. In 2004, his curtailed travel schedule included visits to Lourdes and Switzerland.

In October 2004, Pope John Paul II announced a major Catholic conference would be held in Quebec City to coincide with the city's 400th anniversary. The pontiff said he would attend if his health permitted.

But in February 2005, the Pope was rushed to hospital with severe respiratory problems. Weeks later, he underwent a tracheotomy and had a breathing tube inserted in his throat to ease his breathing difficulties.

On Feb. 27, 2005, John Paul II turned over the responsibility of the Sunday Angelus blessing to his aide. It was the first time in his papacy that he wasn't able to perform the ceremony. Except for the Easter blessing, the Pope designated cardinals to lead the events for Holy Week.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/obit/pope/

[Pope John Paul II, the Polish pontiff who led the Roman Catholic Church for more than a quarter century and became history's most-traveled pope, died Saturday in his Vatican apartment. He was 84.]

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