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His Holiness,
Pope John Paul II |
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John
Paul II was
born
Karol Józef Wojtyła on May 18, 1920, in Wadowice (Kraków),
Poland. His mother died on April 13, 1929, and then his eldest brother, a doctor,
died in 1932. His father, a non-commissioned army officer died in 1941. He
made his First Holy Communion at age 9 and received the Sacrament of
Confirmation at 18. Upon graduation he enrolled in the Faculty of Philosophy
at Kraków’s Jagiellonian University in 1938 where he also studied drama and
literature. The
Nazi occupation closed the university in 1939. To earn a living young Karol
had to work in a quarry (1940-1944) and later in the Solvay chemical factory to avoid imprisonment or deportation to
Germany. Aware of his calling to the priesthood, in 1942, he studied courses in the seminary of Kraków, at first clandestinely and after the Second World War openly until his priestly ordination on November 1, 1946. Sent to Rome soon thereafter, he finished his doctorate in philosophy in 1948. He earned a master's degree in theology at the Jagellonian University in Kraków (1942-1946) and a doctorate in sacred theology in the Faculty of Theology at the Jagellonian University with highest marks. From 1948 to 1951 he served as a parish
priest in Krakow. He resumed his studies on philosophy and theology in 1951,
eventually becoming professor of moral theology and social ethics in the
major seminary of Kraków (1952) and in the Faculty of Theology at the
Catholic University Lublin (1956). On July 4, 1958, he was appointed Auxiliary
Bishop of Kraków by Pope Pius XII, and was ordained Bishop September 28,
1958, in Wavel Cathedral, Kraków, by Archbishop Baziak. On January 13, 1964,
he was nominated Archbishop of Kraków by Pope Paul VI, who made him a
cardinal June 26, 1967. Besides taking part in Vatican Council II, Cardinal
Wojtyła also participated in all the assemblies of the Synod of Bishops. On October 16, 1978 Cardinal Karol Wojtyla ,
was elected successor to Pope John Paul I at approximately 5:15 p.m., and
became the 264th Pope of the Catholic Church. He is the 263rd
Successor of Peter and the first non-Italian pontiff since the early-1500s.
He took the name of his predecessors John XXIII, Paul VI, and John Paul I. One of the characteristic features of his
pontificate has been his effort to promote Catholic spirituality — and the
role of Mary as joint source of salvation ("corredemptrix") with
Jesus Christ. Known throughout the world as the “Pilgrim
Pope” because of his extensive travels, Pope John Paul II has travelled more
than any other pontiff in the history of the Roman Catholic Church, having
visited nearly every country but China and has hosted audiences of over a
million. He has revolutionized the modern papacy.
While other popes never wandered far from the Vatican, he maintains a busy
travel schedule to this day despite the fact that he suffers from Parkinson’s
Disease, an arthritic knee, an aching hip and the lingering effects suffered
from an assassin’s bullet in 1981. John Paul II radiates charm and charisma
that captures audiences’ affections wherever he goes. People who meet him describe it
as a "luminescence". John Paul II
is also the first pope to have a website, to visit Canada, to enter a mosque,
to pray with Muslims, to ski, to wear a wristwatch, to wear running shoes and
hiking boots, and the first Polish Pope. He is also multilingual, fluent in
11 languages. Since the start of his Pontificate on October
16, 1978, he has completed 95 pastoral
visits outside of Italy and 141
within Italy. As Bishop of Rome he has visited 301 of the 334 parishes. His
principal documents include 13
encyclicals, 13 apostolic
exhortations, 11 apostolic constitutions
and 41 apostolic letters. The
Pope has also published two books: "Crossing the Threshold of Hope"
(October 1994) and "Gift and Mystery: On the 50th Anniversary of My
Priestly Ordination" (November 1996). John Paul II has presided at 131 beatification
ceremonies (1,282 Blesseds proclaimed) and 43 canonization
ceremonies (456 Saints) during his pontificate. He has held 8
consistories in which he created 201 cardinals. He has also
convened six plenary meetings of the College of Cardinals. From 1978
to today the Holy Father has presided at 15 Synods of Bishops. So far more than 16 million pilgrims have
participated in the 1,000 General Audiences held by the pope. This does not include special audiences and
religious ceremonies held (for more than 8 million pilgrims during the Great
Jubilee of the Year 2000 alone) and the millions of faithful he met during
pastoral visits locally and abroad. The pope has also had 862 audiences with
government Heads of State and Prime Ministers during 38 official
visits. |
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Let Us Pray
Come praise the Lord for He is
good Mmm come join in love and
brotherhood We'll hear the word and bring
our gifts of bread and wine And we'll be blessed beneath the
sign So let us pray together, pray
together Pray with the one mighty voice
(heavenly voice) And let us sing together, sing
together Pray and we'll rejoice (we'll
rejoice) When strangers reach out for
your hand (for your hand) Respond to them and understand
(heaven obeyed to understand) We'll rise as one to calm the
storm outside the gate (calm the storm) With faith in Him we'll never leave
(never leave) So let us pray together, pray
together Pray with the one mighty voice
(heavenly voice) And let us sing together, sing
together Pray and we'll rejoice (we'll
rejoice) (We'll rejoice) The love of God is on our side
(love is, love is on our side) We have the strength to move the
tide (we'll move the tide) The world will say so, there'll
be peace and love for all (love for all) And we must give our brothers
love So let us pray together, pray
together Pray with the one mighty voice
(heavenly voice) And let us sing together, sing
together Pray and we'll rejoice (we'll
rejoice) Love for all, love for all to
the Lord We'll rejoice love for all to
the Lord We'll rejoice love for all to
the Lord We'll rejoice for the Lord Words &
music: Buddy Kaye/ Ben
Weisman |
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Music: Let Us
Pray, sung by Elvis Presley |
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The music is purely for your listening
pleasure only, without any commercial interest whatsoever or profit of any kind.
Titles have copyright by their respective artists and record companies. |
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Graceland,
Elvis, and Elvis Presley are trademarks of Elvis Presley Enterprises, Inc. |
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Please take a minute and sign my guestbook to let me
know you were here.
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Thanks to
for the graphics on this page. |
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