How Pope Paul Died 2. The Private Life of the Pope

In the culture of the twentieth century, the popularity of Pope John Paul II is somewhat akin to the popularity of Hollywood movie stars. He carried out a number of spectacular and outwardly liberal actions, but even his famous refutation of the existence of a physical hell, made exactly nine years ago, on July 28, 1999, did not change anything in Catholic doctrine.

Karol Wojtyla, the future Pope John Paul II, was born on May 18, 1920 in the town of Wadowice in southern Poland in the family of a retired military man. According to the memoirs of the pontiff, the family was very pious and friendly. It was the parents - Karol and Emilia - who brought up sincere religiosity in the boy. But no one seriously thought that he would become a priest.

At the age of eight Karol lost his mother. Then the older brother died, and a little later, in 1941, the father. Since then, Karol had attacks of fear of loneliness. He sought salvation in prayer and reading. It was then that he developed an interest in the theatre. Already from school productions, it was obvious that the boy had a dramatic talent. Everything was decided by World War II.

Word resistance

Later, the pontiff recalled that it was the sight of the victims of the Nazi regime that made him seriously consider taking the priesthood for the first time. He admired the selflessness of the holy fathers, who helped the underground and provided the Nazi regime with "resistance with a word." In 1942, Karol finally made up his mind and became a student of underground courses at the Krakow Theological Seminary. At the same time, he played in the illegal Theater of Delight, where they staged the revolutionary Mayakovsky and the patriot Adam Mickiewicz (Adam Mickiewicz, 1798-1855). Both for courses and for performances, the punishment would be the same for him - execution.

On November 1, 1946, Karol was ordained a priest and sent to Rome to continue his theological education. Returning to his homeland, the young priest taught ethics and moral theology at the Jagiellonian University. In 1956 he completed his doctorate and became a professor at the University of Lublin.

At the university, Karol Wojtyla was considered a polyglot and a connoisseur of languages. But, despite his solid rank and authority, St. father was always distinguished by openness and liberalism. He gladly collected student circles, went on hikes, theaters and avant-garde exhibitions with his students. The news that he was ordained a bishop (July 4, 1958) found Karol on a canoe trip.

On June 28, 1967, Wojtyla became a cardinal. In August 1978, he participated in the conclave that elected Pope John Paul I (John Paul I, 1912-1978). However, he only lived for a month. In October a new conclave was called.

Initially, no one considered the figure of the Pole as a serious contender for the papal tiara. The struggle was between the archbishops of Genoa and Florence. But none of them could get the necessary two-thirds of the votes. The meeting came to a standstill. Then they began to look for a compromise figure, which turned out to be Karol Wojtyla. Some believed that a pope from a country on the other side of the Iron Curtain would be able to do away with the "separation complex" characteristic of Eastern European Catholic bishops. Other cardinal Poles attracted the fact that he was not a protege of the Vatican. They saw him as a figure capable of changing the traditional methods of governing the Church. After the election, Karol Wojtyla took the name of his predecessor and became John Paul II. He was the 264th vicar of St. Peter, the first non-Italian pope in the last 455 years and the only Slavic pope.

dad in sneakers

During the twenty-seven years of his pontificate (1978-2005), John Paul II completely changed the idea of ​​the Roman Pontiffs. Such openness and simplicity on the part of the vicar of St. The world did not expect Peter. The pontiff did not hesitate to run in sneakers through the gardens of the Vatican, went skiing and discussed his gastronomic preferences with correspondents. His photographs often appeared in newspapers: here is dad at a football match, here at Formula 1, but he meets Pele ...

But most importantly, John Paul II was able to prove that in modern world the Catholic Church has not become obsolete, and religion has not ceased to be relevant. In his pontificate, many achievements of scientific and technological progress were recognized. The Church admitted its guilt in the prosecution of Galileo (1992) and the long-term rejection of the theory of Copernicus (1993). She even agreed with evolutionary teaching Darwin (1997) and mastered the Internet, choosing it as the patron saint of Isidore of Seville (1998).

On March 12, 2000, on the first Sunday of Great Lent, at the traditional Sunday mass in St. Peter's Cathedral, John Paul II publicly repented of the sins of the Catholic Church. He asked for forgiveness for the persecution of the Jews, the split of the church, the Inquisition, the wars of religion, the crusades, contempt for the poor and the weak. No religion has known such repentance.

John Paul II was also the first pontiff who dared to touch (in literally) to other faiths. On May 29, 1982, the Catholic world was shaken. The Pope met with the head of the Anglican Church, Archbishop of Canterbury Robert Runsey! And even performed a joint worship service! With a Protestant!

On August 19, 1985, the pontiff, at the invitation of Hassan II, King of Morocco, spoke at the stadium in Casablanca in front of an audience of 89,000 young Muslims. In his speech, he reflected on the tragic misunderstanding and enmity between the adherents of two great religions.

During a visit to India (January 31-February 10, 1986), he proclaimed Mahatma Gandhi equal to the teachers of the church and was present at the ritual of opening the "third eye".

And on April 13, 1986, the pope stepped on the threshold of the Roman synagogue. And his phrase, addressed to the Chief Rabbi of Rome, Elio Toaff, became a hit: "You are our beloved brothers, and, one might say, our elder brothers."

The word "hit" in relation to John Paul II can be used without quotes. In 1998, Papa released the CD "Abba Pater", which is still wildly popular. There St. father reads prayers and sacred texts to the accompaniment of Negro rhythms and Celtic flutes. On September 27, 1999, dad attended a rock star concert in Bologna. In an interview, he said that the composition of Bob Dylan "Blowing in the Wind" seemed especially successful to him. According to St. father, she is close to everyone who is looking for himself.

John Paul II was loved. At his funeral (2005), many held up signs saying "Santo Subito!" ("Canonize immediately!"). This speaks volumes. However, as well as the fact that at the Miss Italy 2004 contest, he was recognized as "the most inimitable man of our time."

Both liberal and conservative opponents of John Paul II argued that his behavior discredited the status of the Roman Pontiff. From pontiff he became a "pope star". As the Polish newspaper “Nie” (“No”) wrote, “even the funeral of John Paul II acquired the character of an ecumenical tourlet, with songs accompanied by a guitar and obligatory photographing at the body of the deceased.” But, in fact, the pontiff behaved like a modern sane person who understood that the world had changed, and there was nothing wrong with answering his challenge in his own language. And he did it very well: dad was talented - witty and skillful in improvisation.

However, public success was far from in the first place for the pope. He was never interested in what they write about him in the newspapers on this topic. There were questions that worried him much more, and which he could not resolve. And from year to year, despite all the new waves of people's love, the pontiff became more and more sad, and he felt his loneliness more and more piercingly. But more on that later.

third way

The political views of John Paul II could be called Christian capitalism: market economy plus Christian ethics. He did not question the right of a person to private property, but he was convinced that the owner of it should feel his responsibility to society. First of all, guided by the Christian principle of love for one's neighbor, he must ensure a fair and decent material standard of living for those who are the direct producer. The Pope understood that a person who is constantly in need does not have enough strength to take care of his spirit. In this regard, John Paul II even allowed the expropriation of property if the public interest required it. In addition, he recognized the right of the people to revolt against the injustice of social order. It was these views that prompted his visit to Cuba in January 1998 to protest the US economic sanctions on Liberty Island. There, John Paul II not only met with the "red commander", but also held a mass on Revolution Square in Havana in front of a million people.

But the pope was not a socialist, because he did not recognize Marxist forced collectivism and totalitarian methods of government. John Paul II accepted the most Active participation to overthrow the communist regime in Poland. Already his first visit to his homeland on June 2–10, 1979, turned out to be a biting blow to communist ideology. During a mass held by the pope in Warsaw's Victory Square, a crowd of 300,000 chanted "We need God!". As an adviser to US President Jimmy Carter said on national security Zbigniew Kazimierz Brzeziński: “Until now, the dominant feeling has been the inevitability of the existing [socialist] system. After the departure of the pope, the absence of this inevitability became dominant. The Holy Father became the spiritual leader of the Polish anti-communists. During the strike at the shipyards of Gdansk (August 14-31, 1980), portraits of John Paul hung over all the entrances to the docks, and Lech Walesa, when signing an agreement with the government on the creation of independent trade unions, used a large souvenir pen with a photograph of the pontiff. It is likely that the Soviet secret services were behind the assassination attempt on John Paul II on May 13, 1981.

John Paul II visited Poland three more times. He was always aware of all the events taking place in his homeland. So, when on August 24, 1989, one of the leaders of the already free Poland became the prime minister democratic movement"Solidarity" - Tadeusz Mazowiecki, the pontiff could congratulate himself.

However, his joy was short-lived. Free Poland did not become a country of Christian capitalism. On the one hand, the church in Poland enjoyed great prestige. On the other hand, the population was not corrupted by the values ​​of the mass consumer society. However, as soon as Poland gained independence, the church immediately lost the charisma of a fighter against totalitarianism and left the political scene. Poles quickly became infected with consumerism and felt a passion for pleasure and entertainment. Everyone is tired of talking about Christian values. On June 1-9, 1991, the pontiff came to his homeland for the fourth time on a pastoral visit. He was shocked by the changes that had taken place. The Pope tried to remind his compatriots about the true values, but in response he received a sincere misunderstanding. “It seems,” one of the Solidarity activists said in an interview, “dad has lost touch with the country. He talks about things from which we are already sick ... Instead of trying to understand and teach us what to do, he points his finger and says: “Everything that comes from the West leads to decay. Be it liberalism, capitalism, or pornography.”

For John Paul II, this was a strong blow. He felt betrayed. It seemed that his dream was so close to realization, but nothing happened. The burden of this loss did not fall from the soul of the pontiff until the end of his days.

One on one with the world

Speaking of John Paul II, Catholics, especially Catholic youth, often lament that, although the pope was a “darling,” he turned out to be very conservative in relation to church norms and did not change those that are long outdated and serve as an annoying obstacle in modern life. . But dad was relentless.

Without conviction in the inviolability of the principles of the Church, the pontiff would have turned into a typical alternative priest of the era sexual revolution: with a guitar on his back, a joint in his teeth and a book on meditation under his arm. But the pope understood perfectly well: the Church should be open and understandable, but should not become part of pop culture.

The struggle to rehabilitate the unpopular institutions of the Catholic Church in the eyes of modern Catholics was the main work of John Paul II. 1990s He did not surrender a single dogma, but he did not win the fight, although he did not lose. Nevertheless, the situation oppressed him for the remaining fifteen years of his life.

The institutions for which the pope fought were of two kinds: dogmatic and ethical. As for the theological dogmas (the main principles of the faith, approved by special Councils), against which both the laity and the priests grumbled, the principle of the infallibility of the pope was in the first place. The second dogma concerned the nature of the Mother of God. In Catholicism, it is believed that since the birth of the Virgin Mary, there was no original sin on her. Therefore, she did not die, but ascended to heaven in a body, like Christ. Many Catholics considered these dogmas not to fit into the modern picture of the world.

As for the pope's statement about the absence of a physical hell, this may seem like a radical solution only at first glance. The thesis of physical hell has never been a dogma. It refers to the rank of "theological opinion", which can change, in accordance with common sense- in general, the question for the church is far from being a matter of principle. But, for example, the Pope did not reject Purgatory, although Holy Scripture confirms its existence so indirectly that all other Christian Churches refuse to believe in it. But the existence of Purgatory is a dogma, and the Pope did not touch him.

However, all these high matters worried the flock not so much as the problems of abortion, homosexuality, contraception, artificial insemination, divorce, the right of women to receive the priesthood and the right of priests to marry - all this worried the flock much more. In newspapers and on TV, interviews with representatives of women's Catholic organizations appeared every now and then, complaining about the difficulties of the procedure for church divorce. They absolutely sincerely did not understand why not make life easier for themselves. It was this sincerity that oppressed the pontiff the most.

Many priests also spoke in favor of divorce and even came up with a new rank of service for this. There were passionate supporters of the ordination of women - many saw discrimination in the refusal of the Catholic Church to recognize their right to them. Among them was, for example, Cardinal Martini of Milan. Dad tried to explain that the main purpose of a woman is motherhood. But he was not heard.

Against the ban on contraception, the pope's opponents were even more resolute. They pointed out, quite rightly, that contraceptives reduce the risk of contracting AIDS and the birth rate, and therefore poverty, in underdeveloped countries. There is nothing to talk about abortions.

In 1993, the BBC channel made the program "Sex and the Holy City". The creators of the program interviewed a young girl from Nicaragua who became pregnant after being raped, but was never able to obtain the right to an abortion in this Catholic country. Journalists also talked about abortion with two teenage sisters who were raped by their own father. In the Philippines, they found a nine-year-old mother who was afraid to use condoms because the Church forbade it. Etc. The effect produced by the transmission was like a grenade explosion. And the pontiff felt complete impotence. All he could do was to threaten liberal priests with excommunication. But there were too many. And from the consciousness of this, waves of fear of loneliness increasingly rolled over him.

On February 6, 2002, another blow fell upon the pope. The Boston Globe newspaper published an article about the pedophilic tendencies of the Boston Catholic priest John Johan. A loud scandal erupted. The number of priests convicted of pedophilia or homosexuality was in the dozens. However, the pope did not question the establishment of celibacy, i.e. forbidding priests to marry. And this despite the strong intra-church opposition, led by Cardinal Hume. But John Paul II understood perfectly well that if you yield in one thing, everything else will crumble.

And yet, they loved him. At his funeral, which took place on April 8, 2005, 4 million pilgrims gathered, another 2 billion watched the ceremony on TV. Immediately after the death of the pontiff, rumors began to spread about the miracles that took place at his tomb. Everything goes to the fact that John Paul II will soon be canonized. Therefore, one can only sympathize with that pope who someday decides to radically revise church institutions. He would have to somehow explain why they were so firmly defended by Saint Karol Wojtyla.

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In family former officer Austrian army. Before reaching the age of 20, Karol Wojtyla was left an orphan.

Pope

Like his predecessor, John Paul II tried to simplify his position, depriving her of many of the royal attributes. In particular, speaking about himself, he used the pronoun "I" instead of "we", as is customary among royalty. The pope abandoned the coronation ceremony, holding a simple inauguration instead. He did not wear the papal tiara and always sought to emphasize the role that is indicated in the title of the pope, Servus Servorum Dei (slave of the servants of God).

In the city of John Paul II, for the first time, he met with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the USSR A.A. Gromyko. This was an unprecedented development given the lack of diplomatic relations between the Soviet Union and the Vatican. On December 1, the Pope met with the Soviet leader M.S. Gorbachev, and already on March 15, diplomatic relations were established between the USSR and the Vatican.

On January 25, the Pope's visit to Mexico began. This was the first of the pontiff's 104 foreign trips. In the summer, John Paul II visited his native Poland. His election as the head of the Roman Catholic Church was a spiritual impetus to the struggle of the Poles against the communist regime and to the emergence of the Solidarity movement. Later, the pope visited his homeland seven more times, but never gave himself a reason to accuse himself of inciting the opposition to a coup.

May 13, in the Roman square of St. Peter's assassination attempt on John Paul II was made by a member of the Turkish far-right group "Gray Wolves" Mehmet Ali Agca. Agca wounded John Paul II in the chest and arm and was captured. Dad visited the imprisoned Agca, who was sentenced to life imprisonment. What exactly they talked about is still a mystery, but dad told reporters that he forgave Agca. In the city of Agdzha, he testified that the assassination attempt was organized by the Bulgarian and Soviet special services. Three Bulgarians and three Turks were arrested, allegedly involved in the assassination, but for lack of evidence were released. Later, at the request of the pope, Agca was pardoned by the Italian authorities and transferred to the Turkish justice authorities. In Agca, he said that some Vatican cardinals were involved in the assassination attempt. On March 2, excerpts from the report of the commission of the Italian Parliament, which was investigating the circumstances of the assassination attempt on John Paul II, were published. The head of the commission, Senator Paolo Gutsanti, told reporters about the involvement of the USSR leadership in the elimination of John Paul II. The report is based on information published by the former chief archival department KGB of the USSR Vasily Mitrokhin, who fled to the UK in 1992.

ecumenical activity

John Paul II actively made contacts with representatives of other confessions. The English Queen Elizabeth II (she is also the head of the Anglican Church) paid a state visit to the Vatican. It was a historic visit, given that for many centuries British monarchs and Roman pontiffs were implacable enemies. Elizabeth II was the first of the British monarchs to visit the Vatican on a state visit and even invited the Pope to the UK for a pastoral visit to 4 million British Catholics.

In the city, the Pope met with the Archbishop of Canterbury and held a joint service.

In August, at the invitation of King Hassan II, the Pope spoke in Morocco to an audience of fifty thousand young Muslims. He spoke of the misunderstanding and enmity that had previously existed in relations between Christians and Muslims, and called for the establishment of "peace and unity between people and nations that make up a single community on Earth."

In April, for the first time in the history of the Catholic Church, the Pope crossed the threshold of the synagogue, where, sitting next to the Chief Rabbi of Rome, he uttered the phrase that became one of his most quoted statements: "You are our beloved brothers and, one might say, our elder brothers."

In October, the first interreligious meeting took place in Assisi, when 47 delegations from various Christian denominations, as well as representatives of 13 other religions, responded to the invitation of the pontiff to discuss the problems of interfaith relations.

On May 6, in Damascus, John Paul II was the first of the pontiffs to visit the mosque.

On May 7, John Paul II visited an Orthodox country, Romania, for the first time. In the city, the pope made an official visit to Greece, for the first time since 1054, when the Western Church broke away from the Eastern.

Repentance for mistakes

John Paul II, among his predecessors, is distinguished only by repentance for the mistakes committed by some Catholics in the course of history. Even during the Second Vatican Council in, and in January, he decided to open the archives of the Inquisition.

On March 12, during the traditional Sunday mass in St. Peter's Basilica, John Paul II publicly repented of the sins of the Catholic Church. He asked for forgiveness and admitted the guilt of the church for eight sins: the persecution of the Jews, the split of the church and religious wars, crusades and war-justifying theological tenets, contempt for minorities and the poor, the justification of slavery.

John Paul II acknowledged the accusations against the Catholic Church - in particular, in silence during the events of World War II and the Holocaust, when Catholic priests and bishops limited themselves to saving Jews and other people persecuted by the Nazis.

Illness and death

In the mid-1990s, John Paul II's health began to deteriorate. In 1997, he had a tumor removed from his intestines. On April 29, he slipped in the bathroom and broke his hip. Since that time, he began to suffer from Parkinson's disease. Despite his bodily infirmity, he continued to travel abroad.

In February, my father was hospitalized with acute laryngotracheitis and underwent a tracheotomy. But, even after being discharged from the hospital, he was unable to take part in the services during Passion Week and was unable to utter a word during the traditional address to the faithful after the Easter Mass.

Immediately after the death of the pope, Catholics around the world began to call on the Vatican to declare him a saint. Benedict XVI began the process of his beatification, defying the rule that at least five years must elapse from the date of a person's death.

10 interesting facts about the life of John Paul II

Editorial response

October 16, 1978 John Paul II became the first pope of non-Italian origin in the last 455 years ( Adrian VI, who became pope in 1523, was a Dutchman by birth), one of the youngest pontiffs in the history of the church and the first pope of Slavic origin. His pontificate was the third longest after St. Peter and Blessed Pius IX.

The Pope Who Didn't Wear a Tiara

Immediately after being elected head of the Roman Catholic Church, John Paul II demonstrated that he was not going to be like his predecessors: he refused the coronation ceremony, did not wear the papal tiara, and always emphasized the role indicated in the title of the pope as Servus Servorum Dei (“slave of slaves God's"). Speaking about himself, John Paul II used the pronoun "I" instead of "we", as is customary among the reigning persons, including the previous chapters of the Vatican.

First Pole in history to become Pope

Karol Jozef Wojtyla was born on May 18, 1920 in the Polish city of Wadowice near Krakow. He was the youngest of three children in the family of lieutenant Karol Wojtyla and teacher Emilia Kachorovskaya. When Karol was 8 years old, his mother died, four years later his older brother died. In 1938, Wojtyła moved to Krakow with his father and entered the Jagiellonian University, where he studied philosophy and various languages. He performed in theater groups, attended classes in rhetoric and wrote poetry. During this time, his talent for languages ​​flourished: he was fluent in 12 languages.

During the German occupation, he left his studies and worked in a quarry, and then for chemical plant to avoid deportation to work in Germany. In 1941 his father dies; “At the age of 20, I had already lost everyone I loved,” John Paul II himself would later say about this. After the death of his father, he began to seriously think about the life of a church minister. In October 1942, he knocked on the door of the Bishop's Palace in Krakow and asked to be taken to study as a priest. Karol remained in the underground seminary until the end of the war, and on November 1, 1946, Wojtyla was ordained a priest and was transferred to Rome to continue his theological education. In 1948 he returned to Poland, and in 1953 he defended his dissertation at the theological faculty of the Jagiellonian University, after which he began teaching.

Visit to the Carmelite Church of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Krakow - early June 1967, shortly before his appointment as a cardinal. Photo: commons.wikimedia.org

In 1958, Father Wojtyła was ordained a bishop and in 1962-1964. took part in all four sessions of the Second Vatican Council, showing himself to be one of its active participants. Thanks to this work, in January 1964 he was elevated to the rank of archbishop, metropolitan of Krakow. In 1967, Pope Paul VI elevated him to the rank of cardinal priest. In August 1978, Karol Wojtyla participated in the conclave that elected Pope John Paul I, but the elected pope died after only 33 days. In October, another conclave took place, at which Wojtyla was elected pope and, upon accession to the throne, took the name of his predecessor, becoming John Paul II.

Conservative, anti-communist, peacemaker

John Paul II is considered one of the most influential leaders of the 20th century. He showed himself to be an implacable fighter against communist ideas. When in 1989 in the Vatican the Pope held a meeting with the leader of the USSR Mikhail Gorbachev for the first time, the biographer of John Paul II George Waagel described it as follows: "Gorbachev's visit to the Vatican was an act of capitulation of atheistic humanism as an alternative to the development of mankind." Being a staunch conservative, John Paul II strongly condemned the “liberation theology” popular among Catholics in Latin America and, in particular, excommunicated the priest Ernesto Cardenal, who became part of the socialist Sandinista government of Nicaragua.

John Paul II was a vocal opponent of abortion and contraception. In 1994, the Vatican thwarted a UN resolution supporting family planning. The pontiff also strongly opposed homosexual marriages and euthanasia, opposed the ordination of women to the priesthood, and supported celibacy. At the same time, he proved the ability of the Catholic Church to develop along with scientific and technological progress, recognized the theory of evolution with reservations, and even appointed Saint Isidore of Seville as the patron saint of the Internet.

The pontiff has been repeatedly accused of excessive politicization of the Vatican, pointing to his excessive peacekeeping activities. In 1982, during the Falklands War, he visited both Britain and Argentina, calling for peace. In 1991, the Pope condemned the Gulf War, and in 2003, the invasion of Iraq.

The Pope Reaching out to Other Churches

John Paul II became the first pope to seek reconciliation with other religions. The symbol of this was the World Day of Prayer for Peace, held in Assisi (Italy) on October 27, 1986, where 47 delegations from various Christian denominations, as well as representatives of 13 other religions, held a common prayer.

For the first time since the separation of the Anglican Church, John Paul II met with the Archbishop of Canterbury and held a joint service. In 2001, for the first time since the split christian church to Catholic and Orthodox in 1054 he visited Orthodox Greece.

In August 1985, the Pope addressed an audience of 50,000 young Muslims in Morocco calling for peace and unity among peoples and nations. In April 1986, the Pope visited a synagogue for the first time in history, where he delivered what has become one of his most quoted sayings: "You are our beloved brothers and, one might say, our elder brothers." In 2000, John Paul II visited Jerusalem and touched the Western Wall, and also visited the Yad Vashem memorial. On May 6, 2001, John Paul II prayed for peace in Damascus and entered the Umayyad Mosque.

Repentance for the crimes of the Crusades and the Inquisition

As vicar of the Holy See, John Paul II repented to many who suffered at the hands of the Roman Catholic Church, including for the crimes of the times crusades and the inquisition. Never in the history of mankind has any religion or denomination brought such repentance. The Pope issued an apology for over 100 crimes, including:

John Paul II also publicly apologized for church schisms and religious wars, contempt for Jews, forced evangelization of America, discrimination based on gender and nationality, manifestations of social and economic injustice.

On November 20, 2001, the pontiff apologized for cases of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church, for the "stolen generations" of Aboriginal children in Australia, and for the behavior of Catholic missionaries during colonial times in China.

Apostolic visits

The pontiff was remembered by many as the most actively traveling pope. He made over 200 pastoral trips, including 104 trips abroad, covering a distance of 1,167,000 km - more than three times the distance from the Earth to the Moon. During these visits, he visited 1022 cities in 130 countries on all continents and spent a total of more than 822 days outside the Vatican.

Most often he visited Poland, the USA and France, as well as Spain and Mexico. These trips were designed to strengthen the position of Catholicism and establish links between Catholics and other religions, primarily Islam and Judaism. A visit to Russia remained an unfulfilled dream of John Paul II.

Attack on St. Peter's Square

The life of John Paul II was threatened more than once. On May 13, 1981, he was seriously wounded in an assassination attempt in St. Peter's Square. Mehmet Ali Agca, a member of the Turkish far-right group Gray Wolves, who ended up in Italy after escaping from a Turkish prison, wounded the pontiff in the stomach and was arrested on the spot. Two years later, the pope visited Ali Agca, who was in prison, saying that he "spoke to him as to a brother whom I have forgiven and who has my full confidence."

The most scandalous version of this assassination was the involvement of the KGB of the USSR through the special services of Bulgaria. In 1984, Agca testified, according to which the Italian prosecutor's office brought charges against three Bulgarian citizens and three Turkish citizens. Subsequently, everyone except Agdzhi was acquitted due to lack of evidence, and members of the commission of inquiry later stated that the leaders of the USSR were the initiators of the elimination of John Paul II. This opinion was based on information former boss the archive department of the KGB of the USSR Vasily Mitrokhin, who fled to the UK in 1992. However, the special commission was soon dissolved. She was accused of slander, and the report of fraud, designed to denigrate the socialist Romano Prodi, Berlusconi's rival in the upcoming elections. In 2005, Ali Agca gave new testimony and stated that some Vatican cardinals were involved in the assassination attempt.

Until his death, John Paul II maintained contacts with the Agca family. Met his mother and brother. Agca himself repented of the crime and repeatedly asked for forgiveness from the pontiff, and after the death of the pope called him his spiritual teacher. Ali Agci's prison term expired in January 2010. After his release from prison, he expressed a desire to move to Poland, the homeland of the pope, also because of his conversion to Catholicism.

The body of John Paul II in St. Peter's Basilica. Photo: commons.wikimedia.org

Blessed and Saints

After the death of John Paul II, many said that the pope was worthy to be numbered among the blessed and saints. In the Latin tradition, established for this necessary requirements: writings must comply with the teachings of the Church, the virtues shown must be exceptional, and the facts of the miracle must be documented or evidenced by witnesses. On May 1, 2011, Pope Benedict XVI beatified John Paul II. John Paul II is said to have cured French nun Marie Simon-Pierre of Parkinson's disease. And this year, the Congregation for the Causes of Saints of the Holy See issued a statement that the second miracle necessary for the canonization, with the assistance of the pontiff, occurred on May 1, 2011. The Vatican has not yet commented on the nature of the miraculous phenomenon, but it is assumed that a miracle happened in Costa Rica with a sick woman who was healed of a serious brain disease thanks to the prayers of the late John Paul II.

The procedure for the canonization of the Pope will take place on April 27, 2014. The current head of the Roman Catholic Church, Pope Francis, signed a corresponding document about this. In the history of Catholicism, this is the fastest sainthood: only 8 years have passed since his death.

It can be said without exaggeration that the atmosphere of anticipation from that day on embraced the whole world. A man from a communist country became a Pontiff, and his words - they, moreover, cannot be censored! - heard the inhabitants of all continents.
The words shook the world. The call "do not be afraid!" sounded like a challenge, they contained a stronger potential than military parades on Red Square. The broadcast from St. Peter's Cathedral was watched by a billion viewers! Even then, every witness of the inauguration - no matter who and where he was from and no matter what he believed - had no doubt that the world would no longer be the same.
From the vantage point of past years, the significance of the papal call is more clearly seen. It was “do not be afraid” that became the famous “brand name” of the pontificate of John Paul II today. And this is because, over time, the world became more and more convinced that such an unusual and “atypical Pope” achieved so much, so impressed the world. Obviously, he himself was not afraid ...

In a document published five months after his election to the Throne of St. Peter, John Paul II sets out to the world the main ideas he intends to serve as Pontiff. The encyclical is an assessment of the spiritual state of the modern world, seen through the eyes of the "young". And he makes a sad diagnosis. The Pope speaks of the 20th century as a century in which "people have prepared for people many delusions and sufferings." He makes it clear that this process has not been decisively stalled and expresses the hope that the creation of the UN will serve to the benefit of the definition and establishment of objective and inviolable human rights.
This theme - one of the foundations of the first Encyclical - became a vivid characteristic of the entire pontificate. Holy Father often referred to as the "Pope of Human Rights". It also contains many other important points that were developed in the subsequent years of the pontificate: the call to “have no more”, but “be more”; concern about the prevailing social injustice in the world; an indication of the gap between the progress of civilization and the development of morality and ethics.

"Redemptor hominis" is the quintessence of Christian humanism. As the Pope himself admitted, "he brought this theme with him to Rome." This is a colorful and beautiful presentation. No wonder: the author relatively recently (and with great regret) left literary activity, although, as subsequent events showed, and not forever. The Pope writes: “Deep amazement at the value and dignity of man is called the Gospel, that is, the Good News. It is also called Christianity."

Reluctantly, the authorities agreed to "let" the Pole Pope into his homeland. It was like a dream. The Poles felt that they were no longer disenfranchised witnesses of history, but also participants in it. The pilgrimage aroused enthusiasm among millions of Poles and touched the Pope himself, who was well aware that fellow countrymen see him as a harbinger of freedom. During the visit, John Paul II recalls the rich Christian heritage of Poland and that without Christianity there is no Poland and its culture.
In Gniezno, the Slav Pope recalled the right of the historical contribution to Europe of the countries of the eastern part of the continent; on the territory of the former Auschwitz concentration camp, he reflected on the evil of the 20th century and totalitarianism.
The Pope's pilgrimage in 1979 was not only a reminder to the communist authorities of the political freedom of the people. It is also, and perhaps above all, a great call to the conscience of one and all, not to say "no" to Christ and to remain faithful to the riches of Christianity.

Society expected this event with understandable interest. A pope from the East, a son of a country where official culture has been defined by party functionaries for decades, arrives at headquarters world organization responsible for the preservation and development of the cultural wealth of mankind. What will be shared with the world by someone who, through his work, is in a special way connected with the world of culture? What will the former actor, poet and playwright, outstanding thinker and friend of cultural figures say?
The papal speech is a "deep and wide appreciation" for all the cultural traditions of mankind; it is an expression of admiration for "the creative richness of the human spirit, tireless work, the purpose of which is to preserve and strengthen the identity of man." Expressing confidence in the connection of religion - especially Christianity - with culture, as eloquently evidenced by the example of Europe, he reverently recalls the legacy of "other sources of religious, humanistic and ethical inspiration." The subsequent years of the pontificate will be characterized by an open and full recognition of all cultures.

The popemobile moves freely past sectors filled with pilgrims from all over the world. Dad managed to return the child to the parents, whom he hugged a moment before. Loud, dry crackling. The sound is repeated. Pigeons take off from the square. Pope's Secretary Fr. Stanisław Dziwisz was completely numb. He does not immediately understand what happened. He looks at the Pontiff: “He staggered, but no blood or wounds are visible. I asked him: "Where?" “In the stomach,” he replied. I also asked, “Does it hurt a lot?” - "Yes…""

Assassination attempt. An unexpected event. Not a document, not an undertaking, not a meeting or a pilgrimage - and yet one of major events Pontificate, surrounded mysterious circumstances. Starting with the fact that John Paul II survived. The bullet passed by a few millimeters the organs, the damage of which is incompatible with life. She did, according to Andre Frossard, “a completely improbable path in the body.”
Miracle? For the Pope, the assassination attempt became a new proof of the patronage of the Mother of God, to whom he devoted his ministry, and it was not by chance that he inscribed the words “Totus Tuus” - “Entirely Yours” on his coat of arms. He was not afraid of death: "... at the hour when I fell on St. Peter's Square, I knew for sure that I would survive." To the astonished Frossard, he confessed: "... one hand shot, the other directed the bullet." The assassination attempt took place on May 13, the anniversary of the first apparition of the Virgin Mary in Fatima in 1917.

While still in the hospital, he asked for a description of the Third Fatima Mystery. In the documents, he will read about a suffering man in a white robe... Thanks to the assassination attempt, he became even closer to millions of sick, suffering, persecuted people. From this moment on, meetings with them acquire special expressiveness. Since then he has become one of them.

The Pope arrives in Portugal on the first anniversary of the assassination. As he said in a sermon, May 13th is "mysteriously related to the date of the first apparition at Fatima" in 1917. "These dates meet each other so that I must admit that I have been called here miraculously." The Pope thanks Mary for saving his life.
He does the same during the evening vigil in front of the Basilica of Our Lady of Fatima, confessing that when he came to his senses after the assassination attempt, he was mentally transported to the sanctuary in Fatima to thank the Mother of God for the healing.

In everything that happened to him, he saw Her special intercession. Divine Providence does not know what a simple coincidence is, the Holy Father continued, and therefore he accepted the assassination attempt as a call to reread the message given 65 years ago to the three shepherdesses.
Seeing the sad spiritual state of the world, he insists that "the gospel call to repentance and conversion, which the Mother reminded of, still remains relevant."
With pain, he stressed that “too many people and societies, many Christians went against the message of the Blessed Virgin in Fatima. Sin has won the right to exist, and the denial of God has spread in the worldview and plans of man!” Therefore, thanks for his healing, John Paul II, following in the footsteps of Pope Pius XII, dedicated the fate of the world to Mary.

What seemed impossible has happened. Fifty thousand young Muslims gathered in the stadium listen to the Pope, who arrived in Morocco at the invitation of King Hassan II.
Not a single Pontifex dared to take such a step, to, according to Luigi Accatoli, "Gospel excitement." But was the Pope really taking risks? It's just that he thus implemented the teachings of the Second Vatican Council, which respectfully speaks of other religions. 20 years after the end of the Council, its active participant, now the Pontifex, actively brings ideas to life.
“We, Christians and Muslims, have completely misunderstood each other and have sometimes acted against each other in the past. In a world that yearns for unity and peace, and at the same time is experiencing thousands of conflicts, should not believers maintain friendship and unity between people and peoples who on earth form a single community?

The meeting in Casablanca expressively showed the world that John Paul II is a disinterested and, perhaps, the only universally recognized "voice of conscience" of the world. Events recent years clearly showed that his concern for the reconciliation of Christians and Muslims and the development of dialogue was prophetic.

For the first time in history, a Pope crossed the threshold of a synagogue. In itself, this fact could become historical. However, this was only the beginning. John Paul II called the Jews brothers four times. He utters a phrase that, along with the famous "do not be afraid!", will become the most quoted saying of Pope Wojtyla: "You are our beloved brothers and, one might say, our elder brothers." The Pontiff and the Chief Rabbi of Rome are sitting next to each other, talking, reading psalms…

With a visit to the synagogue, John Paul II introduced a new, fraternal tone into the painful relationship, full of mutual hostility and accusations.
The Holy Father repeatedly visited the territory of the Nazi concentration camp in Auschwitz - it is located on the territory of the Krakow Archdiocese. Visiting this place as the Successor of St. Peter, he reminded: “The people who received the commandment “do not kill” from God-Yahweh experienced the burden of murder in a special way” ...
The visit to the Roman synagogue turned out to be not an artistic gesture, but an overture to the great cause of reconciliation between Catholics and Jews, culminating in an important visit of the Pontiff to Jerusalem for both sides.

47 delegations from various Christian denominations, as well as representatives of 13 religions, responded to the invitation of John Paul II to Assisi. It is no secret that not everyone in the Vatican was captivated by the idea of ​​the Pope, which seemed to jeopardize the authority of the Church and her status in the world.
The world was surprised by the humility of the Pope, standing shoulder to shoulder with Jews, Hindus, Muslims and exotically dressed representatives of other religions, praying in their presence for peace and reflecting with them on the common responsibility for the fate of mankind.
The Pope's call had a huge response. On September 11, 2001, the world became convinced of the enormous potential for hatred directed in the name of religion! Therefore, in January 2002 the city of St. Francis again witnessed the meeting of the Pontiff with representatives of various religions.

An unforgettable sign of the liberation of Europe from communism. Everything that happened looked like a beautiful dream, but it was reality. Hundreds of thousands of young people from countries where atheism and anti-church politics dominated until recently came to the Polish sanctuary. The youth hurried to meet with the Pope, who brought closer the onset of freedom, thanks to which the meeting at Yasnaya Gora became possible.
And more "miracles": among a million participants VI world day youth were 100 thousand boys and girls from the USSR, which in four months will go down in history. A special, free train runs from the border to Czestochowa; The USSR authorities agreed that those who do not have a foreign passport could cross the cordon using letters issued in parishes. Pilgrims arrived from Russia, Ukraine, the Baltic countries. Czestochowa received Hungarians, Romanians, Bulgarians and citizens of other states of "victorious socialism".

The Pope took advantage of the unprecedented meeting to remind the youth that the roots of European unity are both in the West and in the East: "The Church in Europe can finally breathe freely with two lungs."

Is a thick theological book a worldwide bestseller? Yes! Catechism Catholic Church to date published in 50 languages; its circulation has long exceeded 10 million copies; in the first year after publication alone, 3 million were sold. Publishing houses - and not only religious ones! – competed with each other for the publishing rights. Not only Catholics became interested in the Catechism, but the entire Christian world - it was received with great attention by the Orthodox Churches.
Thus, the ardent desire of the Pope himself was fulfilled, who called the Catechism "one of the most significant events in the recent history of the Church" and "the ripe and true fruit" of the Second Vatican Council.
This work was edited by a commission convened by the Pontiff for about 10 years, and bishops from all over the world expressed their proposals. Thus, the quintessence of the Catholic doctrine was obtained, stated in a simple, understandable language.

For John Paul II, the anniversary of the 2000th anniversary of Christianity was to be the preparation for a "new spring of Christian life." This short document offers a list of challenges facing the Church in our time. For John Paul II, the most important of these was the embodiment of the spirit of the Second Vatican Council. Therefore, he invites the Church to make a test of conscience and reflect: to what extent "the great gift of the Spirit offered to the Church" was received by believers.
The meaning of the Apostolic Epistle is based on reading from the perspective of the Gospel the "signs of the times" introduced in the 20th century. The Pope also writes about specific historical events, viewing them through the prism of the Gospel, trying to discover their significance in the perspective of the mission of Christ.
The Pope expounds in it innovative ideas that inspired not only Catholics, such as: the purification of memory and repentance for the crimes of the children of the Church, the ecumenism of the martyrs, which testifies more eloquently than divisions.

The largest forum in the history of mankind. It is believed that from 5 to 7 million people participated in the Mass, which John Paul II celebrated in the capital of the Philippines! The crowd was so dense that the Pope could not get to the altar by car - the situation was saved by a helicopter. It was the first World Youth Day to be held on the Asian continent, the most densely populated, and yet Catholics are an absolute minority.
The participation in Mass with the Pope of a delegation of Catholic youth from communist China was unprecedented. Although she represented the so-called. The “Patriotic Church”, which is not in communion with the Holy See, this very fact was considered a sign of a “thaw” and changes in relations with Beijing.

The dying John XXIII whispered the words of Christ's prayer: "Ut unum sint" - "Let all be one." It is said that this circumstance a huge impact on John Paul II and that is why the Encyclical on the unity of Christians has such an eloquent title. This document convincingly testifies to the enormous, fundamental importance that John Paul II ascribes to the ecumenical movement. This is not an internal affair of the Church, as some would like to believe, and not the subject of abstract hermeneutic discussions.
The Pope calls the dialogue a test of conscience, emphasizing that the unity of Christians is possible, its condition is a humble recognition that we have sinned against unity and must repent of this. In addition - and this is why the Encyclical is considered an important milestone in the history of Christianity - John Paul II simply and humbly addresses Christians of other faiths with a proposal to jointly discuss the nature of the supreme power of the Pontiff. His call has not yet received such a courageous answer, but the grain was thrown ...

This is a great call for a "true civilization of freedom" and an encouragement to the world to make sure that "an age of coercion gives way to an age of negotiation." Addressing representatives of about 200 states, the Pope called on the peoples of the world to respect human rights and condemn violence and manifestations of nationalism and intolerance. He focused on the moral dimension of the universal problem of freedom and emphasized that the turning point events that took place in Central and Eastern Europe in 1989 stemmed from a deep conviction in the inestimable importance and dignity of man.

“Each culture seeks to comprehend the mystery of the world and the life of a single person. The heart of every culture is an approach to the greatest of all mysteries, the mystery of God,” he said.
Recalling the events in the Balkans and Central Africa, the Pope lamented that the world had not yet learned to live in conditions of cultural and racial differentiation. Recalling the existence of the universal nature of man and the natural moral law, John Paul II called on the world to discuss the future. In the face of a clear UN crisis, the Pontifex wished this organization to become a moral center and a true "family of peoples" capable of resolving specific problems.

"Gift and Mystery"
November 1996

This book describes in a very simple manner the vocations of Karol Wojtyła, as well as the basics of the life of a priest, as seen by a person elected to the Throne of St. Peter. For John Paul II, the life of a priest is a gift received with unfailing gratitude and a mystery that can never be completely unraveled.
Great names appear on the pages of the book: Cardinal Sapieha, Jan Tyranovsky, John Maria Vianney, brother Albert Khmelevsky. Those to whom Karol Wojtyla owed the choice of the priestly path. Here are the impressions caused in the young priest by the meeting with the West, and the reflection on the hope that the Council awakened in the young bishop of Cracow.

But the most valuable is the vision of the Church and the mission of the priest in the modern world. “The Gift and the Mystery” is a book that, against the backdrop of the authority of the shepherd, often discussed today, restores his high dignity in the eyes of the whole world. This is the work of the world's most famous Catholic priest, universally respected by people of all races, cultures, statuses and worldviews.

Pope in the city symbolizing the tragedy of the 20th century: World War I began here, World War II raged here, and here on the slope of the century locals in the midst of destruction and death, they experienced the burden of long years of enmity and fear. From the city where we collided different cultures, religions and peoples, John Paul II issued an appeal: no to war!
In the words of the Pontiff one can hear the regret that the religious declarations of the inhabitants of Bosnia and Herzegovina did not protect them from a cruel war. John Paul II among the ruins, in an atmosphere of hatred and under the threat of assassination, said that enmity and hatred "can find means in religious values ​​not only for sobering and moderation, but also for reflection, meaning constructive cooperation."
The threat hung over John Paul II himself, however, despite the proposals of the UN peacekeeping forces, he overcomes a considerable distance by car separating the airport from the cathedral.
The Pope's visit to Sarajevo acquired a symbolic meaning also in the sense that his spiritual message can be applied to other conflicts that darkened the dramatic age. Hearing the call of John Paul II addressed to the inhabitants of Bosnia and Herzegovina: “You have an Advocate with the Father. His name is: Jesus Christ is just!”, it was hard not to remember Rwanda, the Middle East.

This event fell into the annals of history long before it happened. The news that a man who was apparently involved in the fall of communism in Eastern Europe is being sent to the “den of the communist dinosaur” electrified the world. Many have asked themselves if the Pope will loudly demand justice for the people, freedom for political prisoners, rights for the Catholic Church.
The Holy Father did not hesitate: he handed over to Fidel Castro a list of 302 names of political prisoners,
repeatedly, bluntly, in the presence of the Comandante, he reminded of the people's rights to development, wishing them freedom and reconciliation.

The culmination of the visit was a Mass at the Revolution Square in Havana, where about a million Cubans gathered under the gaze of a huge portrait of Che Guevara, a friend of Fidel's revolutionary youth, who was watching. Has anything changed? The authorities released several prisoners, allowed Christmas to be celebrated, agreed to allow new missionaries to enter the island, and in general, the attitude towards the Church became more liberal.

For the first time in the history of the Church, the Successor of St. Peter arrived in a country where the majority of the population professes Orthodoxy. This happened after several unsuccessful attempts to organize a meeting with Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia, whose inflexible position cooled relations between the Orthodox world and the Catholic Church.
However, the hierarchy of the Romanian Orthodox Church agreed to the Pope's visit. John Paul II himself was still eager to make this trip, for whom the unity of Christians and the fulfillment of the will of Christ “let them all be one” from the very beginning of the Pontificate became one of the priorities.
The atmosphere in which the Pope's visit took place exceeded the expectations of all optimists. The Pontiff and Orthodox hierarchs were hospitably received. “This is an unforgettable visit. I have crossed the threshold of hope here,” the Pope said at the end of his address to Patriarch Theoktist. The meeting participants thanked John Paul II with a standing ovation.

For Christians of various rites who yearn for unity, this visit was a harbinger of hope. He showed that, despite the difficulties in the ecumenical dialogue led by pundits, "simple" believers - although history and human error have divided their churches - are essentially close to each other. Three hundred thousand participants in the Mass unanimously chanted the word "unitate" (unity), and among them were both Catholics of various rites and Orthodox - this is eloquent proof that despite the formal division, many Christians ardently yearn for unity.

This trip was characterized by several important circumstances: a pilgrimage to the origins of Christianity, to the places where its Founder lived and died; meeting with Jews and their tragic history overshadowed by the Holocaust; bleeding wound of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
The Pope visited Bethlehem, located on the territory of the Palestinian Authority, and the Basilica of the Holy Sepulcher, where he kissed the stone slab on which the body of Christ rested 2,000 years ago. In concelebration with 12 cardinals, he celebrated Mass in the Zion Room, where, according to ancient tradition The Savior ate the Last Supper with the apostles.
At an inter-religious meeting in Jerusalem, the holy city for Jews, Christians and Muslims, expressing hope for improved relations between religions, the Pope assured everyone of his prayer for peace in the Middle East. Peace, he emphasized, would be the fruit of the joint efforts of all peoples living in the Holy Land.

During his visit to the Yad Vashem Memorial Institute, the Holy Father honored the memory of 6 million Jews who died during World War II and repented for the sins of the children of the Church committed against the Jews, condemning anti-Semitism and racial hatred. The Prime Minister of Israel noted that the Pope, who in his youth witnessed the tragedy of the occupation, after being elected to the Throne of St. Peter, did more to reconcile Jews and Christians than anyone before him.

It is no secret that the Pope's idea of ​​public repentance for the sins committed by Catholics in the past caused little joy in the Roman Curia. For John Paul II, in turn, it was obvious that "the joy of any Jubilee lies, first of all, in the remission of sins, in the joy of conversion." Fears that this event could undermine the image of the Church turned out to be exaggerated. The world accepted with gratitude and surprise the courageous test of conscience performed by the Pope.

The very course of the liturgy in St. Peter's Basilica was exciting. The heads of the most important departments of the Holy See uttered the words of a prayer in which they listed the sins of the children of the Church and asked for forgiveness for them: sins against the truth, against the unity of the Church, against the Jews, against love, peace, the rights of peoples, the dignity of cultures and religions, women and the human race.
In the sermon, the Pope asked everyone for the forgiveness of the sins of the children of the Church, assuring that the Church, for its part, forgives the offenses caused to it by others. Unusual photographs went around the world: John Paul II approaches the Cross, kisses the feet of the Crucified and looks up to the sky.

“This photograph is worth a good hundred history books and should take its rightful place in the annals next to the picture Berlin Wall, which collapsed in 1989, and a portrait of Boris Yeltsin standing on a tank in the center of Moscow in 1991." This is how the Avenire newspaper reacted to a photograph published the day before in Osservatore Romano depicting the Holy Father surrounded by bishops and Apostolic administrators who came to Rome from the former Soviet republics as part of the “ad limina”.
A little more than two decades ago, in the vast Soviet empire, the only priest of the Holy Ecumenical Church could officially serve. In the Papal Yearbooks, year after year, episcopal sees were listed that existed before 1917, widowed in the hard times of repression. Behind last decade many of them again appointed bishops.

Heads of Catholic structures of eight republics participated in the Mass with the Holy Father along with Russian bishops former USSR: Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, as well as Mongolia.
During the sermon, the Pope urged the audience to "strengthen the unity of the Church."
After Mass, everyone was invited to the library, where Archbishop Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz greeted the guests on behalf of the bishops and prelates of the Holy Father. Then each of the Russian bishops was invited to a personal audience, which lasted about 15 minutes. The content of these conversations is not customary to disclose.

When everyone had another opportunity to be with the Pope, the Russian bishops invited him to Russia, which was done in such a way - by a national delegation - for the first time.

The solemn accomplishment of the "Act of dedication of the world to the Divine Mercy" caused a resonance in the world. It has been universally recognized that the unimpressive diagnosis given to the modern world by an outstanding witness of the faith deserves attention.
It was noted that in a sermon delivered in the sanctuary in Łagiewniki, John Paul II expressed the key message of his pontificate. A world permeated with the "mystery of wickedness" demands mercy, "so that the radiance of truth will put an end to all injustice in the world."

The Pope stressed that along with the new development prospects on the threshold of the new millennium, "new, hitherto unseen threats" are also evident. He also pointed to interference in the secret of human life (through genetic manipulations), arbitrary determination of the beginning or end of life, and the denial of the moral foundations of the family in the modern world.
The Pope did not seek to intimidate, but simply cited as an example that saint (Faustina Kowalska) who taught us all to cry out: “Jesus, I trust in You.” This is the source of hope for the modern world.

On the 24th anniversary of the election to the Throne of St. Peter, the Holy Father, during a general audience, announced the signing of the new Apostolic Letter "Rosarium Virginis Mariae". In addition, the period from October 2002 to October 2003, the Pope declared the Year of the Rosary and established another part of the Mother of God prayer - "bright mysteries".

“Christ, the Redeemer of man, is the center of our faith. Mary does not overshadow Him, nor does she overshadow His works of salvation. Taken to heaven in body and soul, Holy Virgin She was the first to taste the fruits of the Passion and the Resurrection of Her Son, and She reliably leads us to Christ, the final goal of our journey and our entire existence,” he noted. “Inviting the faithful to contemplate the Face of Christ without ceasing, I wanted Mary, His Mother, to be the Mentor in this for all.”

In order to make the synthesis of the Gospel, recalled in the Rosary, more perfect, the Pontifex proposed to add five more mysteries to those that we already contemplate. They are based on the events of the Savior's earthly ministry: His Baptism in the Jordan, the miracle in Cana of Galilee, the preaching of the Kingdom of God and repentance, the Tabor Transfiguration and the Last Supper, which already introduces the theme of His Passion.

Once again, Pope Wojtyła returns to poetry, which, as it seemed, he finally abandoned after his election to the Throne of St. Peter. The news was sensational, because a few years ago the pontiff's entourage claimed that the composition of poetry is a turned page in the life of the Holy Father. However... "And here he remained true to himself," Cardinal Frantisek Macharsky commented on this fact at the presentation of the poem in the house of the Krakow archbishops. The birth of this work was shrouded in extraordinary mystery. There were leaks in the press, the time of publication was delayed all the time, and finally the essay saw the light, published in a dizzying circulation: 300,000 copies! And the circulation was sold out almost instantly.

The Pope's meditations are reflections on the Bible, on the history of creation, on the place of man in the world; there are many personal experiences. The outstanding character of this initiative is emphasized by several circumstances. The Primate of the Catholic Church and, at the same time, an outstanding humanist and philosopher, considered it possible to turn to the language of poetry, thereby noting that neither a sermon nor an Encyclical would serve in this case. the best remedy conveying his thoughts. Besides most of"Triptych" is inspired by the frescoes of Michelangelo in the Sistine Chapel - the famous "Last Judgment".

Pope John Paul II reposed in the Lord on April 2, 2005, at the age of 85.

The life of Karol Wojtyla, whom the world knows under the name of John Paul 2, was filled with both tragic and joyful events. He became the first with Slavic roots. A huge era is associated with his name. In his post, Pope John Paul 2 showed himself as a tireless fighter against the political and social oppression of people. Many of his public performance supporting human rights and freedoms have turned it into a symbol of the fight against authoritarianism.

Childhood

Karol Jozef Wojtyla, the future great John Paul 2, was born in a small town near Krakow in a military family. His father, lieutenant Polish army, was fluent in German and systematically taught the language to his son. The mother of the future pontiff is a teacher, she, according to some sources, was Ukrainian. It is precisely the fact that the ancestors of John Paul 2 were of Slavic blood, apparently, that explains the fact that the Pope understood and respected everything related to the Russian language and culture. When the boy was eight years old, he lost his mother, and at the age of twelve his elder brother also died. As a child, the boy was fond of the theater. He dreamed of growing up and becoming an artist, and at the age of 14 he even wrote a play called The Spirit King.

Youth

In John Paul II, whose biography any Christian can envy, he graduated from a classical college and received the sacrament of chrismation. As historians testify, Karol studied quite successfully. Having completed his secondary education on the eve of World War II, he continued his studies at the Krakow Jagiellonian University at the Faculty of Polonist Studies.

In four years, he managed to pass philology, literature, Church Slavonic writing and even the basics of the Russian language. As a student, Karol Wojtyla enrolled in a theater group. During the years of the occupation, the professors of this one of the most famous universities in Europe were sent to concentration camps, and classes officially stopped. But the future pontiff continued his studies, attending classes underground. And so that he would not be driven to Germany, and he could support his father, whose pension was cut by the invaders, the young man went to work in a quarry near Krakow, and then moved to a chemical plant.

Education

In 1942, Karol enrolled in the general education courses of the theological seminary, which operated underground in Krakow. In 1944, Archbishop Stefan Sapieha, for security reasons, transferred Wojtyla and several other "illegal" seminarians to the diocesan administration, where they worked in the archbishop's palace until the end of the war. Thirteen languages ​​fluently spoken by John Paul II, biographies of saints, one hundred philosophical and theological and philosophical works, as well as fourteen encyclicals and five books written by him, made him one of the most enlightened pontiffs.

Church ministry

On November 1, 1946, Wojtyla was ordained a priest. Just a couple of days later, he headed to Rome to continue his theological education. In 1948 he completed his doctoral thesis on the writings of the Reformed Carmelites, the sixteenth-century Spanish mystic St. John of the Cross. After that, Karol returned to his homeland, where he was appointed assistant rector in the parish of the village of Negovich in southern Poland.

In 1953, the future pontiff defended another dissertation on the possibility of substantiating Christian ethics on the basis of Scheler's ethical system. Since October of the same year, he begins to teach moral theology, but soon the Polish communist government closed the faculty. Then Wojtyla was offered to head the Department of Ethics at the Catholic University in Ljubljana.

In 1958, Pope Pius XII appointed him as auxiliary bishop in the Archbishopric of Krakow. In September of the same year, he was ordained. The rite was performed by Lvov Archbishop Bazyak. And after the death of the latter in 1962, Wojtyla was elected capitular vicar.

From 1962 to 1964, the biography of John Paul 2 is closely connected with the Second Vatican Council. He took part in all sessions convened by the then pontiff. In 1967, the future Pope was elevated to cardinal-priests. After the death of Paul VI in 1978, Karol Wojtyla voted in the conclave, as a result of which Pope John Paul I was elected. However, the latter died just thirty-three days later. In October 1978, a new conclave was held. The participants split into two camps. Some defended the archbishop of Genoa, Giuseppe Siri, who was famous for his conservative views, while others defended Giovanni Benelli, who was known as a liberal. Without reaching a common agreement, in the end the conclave chose a compromise candidate, which became Karol Wojtyla. Upon accession to the papacy, he took the name of his predecessor.

Traits

Pope John Paul 2, whose biography has always been associated with the church, became pope at the age of fifty-eight. Like his predecessor, he sought to simplify the position of pontiff, in particular, deprived her of some of the royal attributes. For example, he began to speak of himself as the Pope, using the pronoun "I", refused to be crowned, instead of which he simply carried out enthronement. He never wore a tiara and considered himself a servant of God.

Eight times John Paul 2 visited his homeland. He played huge role that the change of power in Poland in the late 1980s took place without a single shot being fired. After his conversation with General Jaruzelski, the latter peacefully handed over the leadership of the country to Walesa, who had already received papal blessing for democratic reforms.

assassination attempt

On May 13, 1981, the life of John Paul II almost ended. It was on this day in the square of St. Peter in the Vatican, he was assassinated. The perpetrator was a member of the Turkish far-right extremists Mehmet Agca. The terrorist seriously wounded the pontiff in the stomach. He was arrested immediately at the scene of the crime. Two years later, dad came to Agca in prison, where he was serving a life sentence. The victim and the perpetrator talked about something for a long time, but John Paul 2 did not want to talk about the topic of their conversation, although he said that he had forgiven him.

Prophecies

Subsequently, he came to the conclusion that the hand of the Mother of God took the bullet away from him. And the reason for this was the famous Fatima predictions of the Virgin Mary, which John recognized. Paul 2 was so interested in the prophecy of the Mother of God, in particular, the last one, that he devoted many years to studying it. In fact, there were three predictions: the first of them related to two world wars, the second in allegorical form concerned the revolution in Russia.

As for the third prophecy of the Virgin Mary, for a long time it was the subject of hypotheses and incredible conjectures, which is not surprising: the Vatican kept it a deep secret for a long time. It was even said by the highest Catholic clergy that it would forever remain a secret. And only Pope John Paul 2 decided to reveal to the people the riddle of the latter. He always had the courage of actions. On the thirteenth of May, on the day of his eighty-third birthday, he declared that he saw no point in the need to keep the secret of the predictions of the Virgin Mary. The Vatican Secretary of State told in general terms what the nun Lucia wrote down, to whom the Virgin Mary appeared in her childhood. The report said that the Virgin Mary predicted the martyrdom that the popes of Rome would follow in the twentieth century, even the assassination attempt on John Paul II by the Turkish terrorist Ali Agca.

Pontificate years

In 1982, he met with Yasser Arafat. A year later, John Paul II visited the Lutheran church in Rome. He became the first pope to take such a step. In December 1989, for the first time in the history of the Vatican, the pontiff received a Soviet leader. It was Mikhail Gorbachev.

Hard work, numerous trips around the world undermine the health of the head of the Vatican. In July 1992, the pontiff announced his upcoming hospitalization. John Paul II was diagnosed with a tumor in the intestines, which had to be removed. The operation went well, and soon the pontiff returned to his normal life.

A year later, he ensured that diplomatic relations were established between the Vatican and Israel. In April 1994, the pontiff slipped and fell. It turned out that he had a broken femoral neck. Independent experts claim that it was then that John Paul 2 developed Parkinson's disease.

But even this serious illness does not stop the pontiff in his peacekeeping activities. In 1995, he asks for forgiveness for the evil that Catholics have inflicted on believers of other faiths in the past. A year and a half later, the Cuban leader Castro comes to the pontiff. In 1997, the Pope came to Sarajevo, where he spoke about the tragedy in his speech. civil war in this country as a challenge for Europe. During this visit, there were minefields on the way of his cortege more than once.

In the same year, the pontiff comes to Bologna for a rock concert, where he appears as a listener. A few months later, John Paul 2, whose biography is full of peacekeeping activities, undertakes a pastoral visit to the territory of communist Cuba. In Havana, at a meeting with Castro, he condemns the economic sanctions against this country and gives the leader a list of three hundred political prisoners. This historic visit culminates in a mass celebrated by the pontiff in Revolution Square in the Cuban capital, where over a million Human. After the departure of the pope, the authorities released more than half of the prisoners.

In the year 2000, the pontiff comes to Israel, where in Jerusalem at the Wailing Wall he prays for a long time. In 2002, John Paul II visited a mosque in Damascus. He becomes the first pope to take such a step.

Peacekeeping activities

Condemning any wars and actively criticizing them, in 1982, during the crisis associated with the pontiff, he visits Great Britain and Argentina, calling on these countries to conclude peace. In 1991, the Pope denounces the conflict in the Persian Gulf. When the war broke out in Iraq in 2003, John Paul II sent a cardinal from the Vatican on a peacekeeping mission to Baghdad. In addition, he blessed another legate to speak with the then US President Bush. During the meeting, his envoy conveyed to the head of the American state the sharp and rather negative attitude of the pontiff towards the invasion of Iraq.

Apostolic visits

John Paul 2 visited about one hundred and thirty countries during his foreign trips. Most of all he came to Poland - eight times. The pontiff made six visits to the USA and France. In Spain and Mexico, he was five times. All his trips had one goal: they were aimed at helping to strengthen the positions of Catholicism around the world, as well as establishing ties with other religions, and primarily with Islam and Judaism. Everywhere the pontiff spoke out against violence, defending the rights of the people and denying dictatorial regimes.

In general, during his tenure at the head of the Vatican, the pope traveled more than a million kilometers. His unfulfilled dream remained a trip to our country. During the years of communism, his visit to the USSR was impossible. After the fall of the Iron Curtain, though the visit became politically possible, the Russian Orthodox Church opposed the arrival of the pontiff.

demise

John Paul 2 died at the age of 85. Thousands of people spent the night from Saturday to Sunday April 2, 2005 in front of the Vatican, carrying in their memory the deeds, words and image of this amazing man. Candles were lit and silence reigned, despite the huge number of mourners.

The funeral

Farewell to John Paul II has become one of the most massive ceremonies in the modern history of mankind. Three hundred thousand people attended the funeral liturgy, four million pilgrims saw the pope off eternal life. More than a billion believers of all faiths prayed for the repose of the soul of the deceased, and the number of viewers who watched the ceremony on TV is impossible to count. In memory of his countryman in Poland, a commemorative coin "John Paul 2" was issued.