The Man, the Pope, the Saint

The Man, the Pope, the Saint

Saint Pope John Paul II was more than his office: He was a man who embodied all the qualities of a true Catholic.

The Late, Great Saint John Paul II

Today marks the memorial of Pope Saint John Paul II, who was beatified on May 1st, 2011 by Pope Benedict XVI, and canonized three years later by Pope Francis on April 27th in 2014. This October 22nd was chosen as his feast, for it was on this day in 1978 that Karol Wojtyla, Archbishop of Krakow, having been elected in conclave on October 16th, was installed as the 264th successor of Saint Peter, which seems aeons ago in more ways than one.  An e…

Saint Pope John Paul II

Born on May 18, 1920, in the Polish town of Wadowice, Karol Józef Wojtyła, who would later be known as Pope John Paul II, was the youngest of three children. His parents, Karol Wojtyła and Emilia Kaczorowska, suffered the loss of their daughter Olga before Karol Józef was born. Karol Józef’s mother passed away in 1929, his brother Edmund, a physician, died in 1932, and his father, a former non-commissioned military officer, passed away in 1941. …