Pope John Paul II was born Karol Józef Wojtyla in 1920 in interwar Poland otherwise known as the second Polish republic. The second republic was reportedly the 6th largest country in Europe. A 1921 census estimated the population to be 27.2 million. According to officialdom, by 1939, just prior to the second world war the population was estimated at 35.1 million. Almost a third of the population were said to be made up of ethnic groups, mainly eastern Slavs and Eastern European Jews. The second republic reportedly emerged after nearly a century of partitions between the Austrian, Prussian and Russian powers.
According to reports John Paul’s father was Karol Józef Wojtyla senior. He was a captain in the Polish army. He died suddenly, possibly of a heart attack, in 1949. His mother Emelia, who had ill health, died when he was 8 years old. A sister had died in infancy, which left an older brother, said to have been a physician.
John Paul moved to Kraków with his father. He became an actor and was also studying languages which he excelled in. He is known to have been able to communicate in 12 languages. Germany invaded Poland in 1939 and closed the Jagiellonian University where he was studying. During believed to be compulsory military training he refused to fire a weapon. During the war years he reportedly worked in a limestone quarry. He liked writing and wrote prose. He wrote a piece about working as a labourer in the quarry. Later he is believed to have worked in a chemical factory.
When his father died, Karol was the only surviving member of the family. At the age of twenty he said he had lost all the people he loved. According to one biographer he stayed with friends and would sometimes lie prostrate on the floor. In 1942 he asked to join the priesthood. The seminary was running but secretly. He lived through Nazi brutality and in 1944 reportedly escaped being picked up by the gestapo when nearly 8,000 men and boys were rounded up to prevent a planned uprising. He was ordained in 1946 in the Chapel of Kraków. He was to ascend to the highest post in the church.
He returned to Poland in the summer of 1948 after studying in Rome. Poland was controlled by an as described provisional communist government, said to be formed while the original Polish government were in exile. Communist authorities reportedly abolished the faculty of theology at the University of Kraków where John Paul studied theology, and taught philosophy.
John Paul become the first polish pope at age 58. He is said to have travelled to 129 countries where he attracted immense crowds and media attention. In 1982 he visited the uk where he met Elizabeth II. During the meeting, part of which was televised, Elizabeth wanted to discuss a concept of doing one’s duty. John Paul did not respond verbally, closing off the conversation. Hours later, according to one biographer, Charles reportedly burst in on him while he was resting. What happened next is largely unknown. Seemingly John Paul tried to be polite. No further details forthcoming.
John Paul was said to have played a role in the failure of communism, primarily in Poland. The cia reportedly accused Russia of a 1981 assassination attempt in St. Peter’s Square. His would be assassin was believed to be Mehmet Ali Ağca, a thought to be Turkish extremist who had been convicted of killing journalist and human rights activist Abdi İpekçi in 1979. He had reportedly escaped from prison.
John Paul is believed to have apologised in the name of all who have suffered at the hands of the catholic church throughout the years. Namely, the church’s role in the burning at the stake of many members of the Jewish community who didn’t want to join the christian church, and for the church’s treatment of as called heretics, or those who taught their own theological equations.
John Paul’s physical health declined and in 2001 he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. From February 2005 he was reportedly plagued with various infections. Before his death reportedly the following April, he is said to have asked that every body be invited to his funeral, and everybody was, including Robert Mugabe who was being held responsible for a crisis of hunger and crime in Zimbabwe at the time. In 2003 Zimbabwe had left the commonwealth, resulting in a reported credit freeze said to be sponsored by various u.s. senators. The lack of resources ultimately resulted in a breakdown of law and order. Mugabe reportedly shook hands with Prince Charles of the uk at the funeral, but no change for good. Pope John Paul is remembered for being a people person and for his smile. He was made a saint reportedly in 2014. Some say saints are ordained when a deceased person is sorely missed, having given especially of themselves.