Tuesday, July 3, 2012

Bl. Pope John Paul II



Most influential leader of the 20th century
Born
May 18, 1920, Wadowice,Poland
Birth name
Karol Jozef Wojty
Died
2 April 2005(2005-04-02) (aged 84), Vatican
Servant of God
June 28, 2005
Venerated
19 December 2009
Beatified
1 May 2011, by Pope Benedict XVI
Papacy began
16 October 1978
Papacy ended
2 April 2005
Predecessor
John Paul I
Successor
Benedict XVI
Feast
22 October

Motto
Totus Tuus meaning "totally yours"






Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II was born  on May 18, 1920, in Wadowice, Poland. His original name was Karol Jozef Wojty?. He was ordained in 1946, became the bishop of Ombi in 1958, and became the archbishop of Krakow in 1964. He was made a cardinal by Pope Paul VI in 1967.
In 1978, when became the pope, he was the first non-Italian person in  above 400 years to attain this position.

With 27 years of service, he was the longest serving pope of the 20th century (the second longest serving pontiff was Pope Pius XII -- 19 years -- from 1939 to 1958).

He was the most traveled pope with 104 trips from the Vatican to different countries of the world in all the continents. He met with the highest number of Catholics as a pope in the Vatican as well as a traveler to other countries

He played a crucial role in the downfall of communism in Europe.

He was acclaimed as the most influential leader of the 20th century.

He spoke in 12 languages (Polish, Ancient Greek, Croatian, English, Esperanto, German, Italian, Latin, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish and Ukranian).

He wrote five books during his papacy: Crossing the Threshold of Hope (1994), Gift and Mystery (1996), Roman Triptych – Meditations (2003), Rise, Let Us Be On Our Way (2004), and Memory and Identity (2005).

He wrote and issued 14 encyclical letters during his papacy:

He officially proclaimed 482 saints; more than the total number of people declared saints in the last 500 years. He also beatified 1,338 people in his papacy.

He was the first pope to gain the most popularity among the youth of the world.
Pope John Paul II, the third longest-serving pontiff in history, has died at the age of 84 0N 2ND April 2005. Pope John Paul II was declared a Servant of God on June 28, 2005.  John Paul II was proclaimed  as "Venerable" by Pope Benedict XVI on 19 December 2009. Pope Benedict XVI, in an official St. Peter’s Square in the Vatican, beatified Pope John Paul II on  1 May 2011.





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