A long tradition changed after 455 years with the entrance of Pope John Paul II. Pope John Paul II was the first non-Italian pope in 455 years, and also the first from a Slavic country.
Pope John Paul II was born in 1920 in Wadowice, Poland- he was named Karol Józef Wojtyla. After the death of his mother in the 9th age, he grew quite close to his father and acknowledges him for his strong Christian faith. He later lost his only brother and father.
Pope John Paul II was an interesting man who accomplished many good things in his lifetime. These top 10 facts about Pope John Paul II will reveal some of them.
1. One of the Most Traveled World Leaders in History
During his pontificate, the Pope visited more than 129 countries. One of them hadn’t been visited by any other Pope before him. The countries include Poland, France, Mexico, Spain, Brazil, Portugal, Nigeria, Tanzania, Uganda, South Africa, Germany and Australia, just to mention but a few.
The Pope met presidents and leaders, and sometimes addressed the large crowds gathered for a glimpse of him. His trips were catered for by the host countries, not by the Vatican.
2. The First-ever Pope to Visit a Mosque
When he visited the Middle East for the second time in 2001, Pope John Paul II entered the Omayyad Mosque in the center of Damascus. This was a meaningful gesture towards Islam. He called Christians and Muslims to forgiveness to each other and peaceful coexistence.
Omayyad Mosque was a Roman Temple turned Church and then Mosque when it was taken over by Islamic believers.
3. The Pope Featured in a Comic Book
Marvel added a new hero to their collection in 1983- Pope John Paul II. The Pope had his own comic book telling of his early life through to the assassination attempt in 1981. Millions of copies have been sold worldwide, and copies still sold on Amazon today.
4. The Pope was a Playwright and Actor
Pope John Paul II wore many hats prior to his appointment as Pope and even after. Fascinating is his interest in, and love for acting. In his younger years the Pope was an accomplished actor, playwright, poet and attempted theater.
He had a stint at Rhapsodic Theatre (Theatre of the Word) for a year in 1941. This side of the Pope as also visible at the Vatican when his 1999 CD and video, Abba Pater was published- Pope John Paul II recites and sings his poems on the CD.
Poet, dramatist, actor, priest, archbishop, cardinal, philosopher, and university professor are all titles that once belonged to Pope John Paul II.
5. He had a Close Shave with Nazi Soldiers
Pope John Paul the II would have had his life take a totally different trajectory had he been captured by Nazi soldiers during the Polish uprising in 1944. The soldiers swept through houses, including the Pope’s. He hid behind a door- right under their noses and they left when they didn’t find him. The Pope escaped to his Archbishop’s house, staying there until the war’s end.
6. Pope John Paul II Almost Died in his 20’s
The Pope got confirmation of his calling when he had another close shave with death at the hands of the Nazi’s albeit unintentionally. Pope John Paul II was walking home from work when he was hit by a Nazi truck. The truck did stop and had him taken to the hospital- he was badly injured and unconscious.
The Pope spent two weeks in the hospital making an unlikely full recovery.
7. He Out-canonized and Out-beatified all Popes before him Combined
Pope John Paul II worked overtime in beatification and canonization. He Beatified and canonized more people than his predecessors combined! He did this as a universal call to holiness- wanting ordinary persons to live holy lives aspiring to canonization
Beatification in the Catholic Church is the Pope’s declaration that a deceased person is in a state of bliss having entered heaven. Beatification honors a dead person for their holiness.
Beatification is a pre-requisite to Canonization, which is the declaration that a person is a Saint and can then intercede on behalf of persons praying in their name.
8. The Pope was an Advocate for Human Rights
One of the things Pope John Paul II is remembered for is his advocacy for human rights- often he spoke about suffering in the world, and shared his opposition to capital punishment. The Pope also used his influence on political change. He is responsible for the fall of Communism in Poland.
9. Pope John Paul II Survived a Shooting
While the Pope had followers and fans, he also had critics and made some unintentional enemies. A Turkish terrorist Mehmet Ali Agca, shot at him from only a few yards away, when the Pope was greeting visitors from his Popemobile in St. Peter’s Square. This happened less than three years into his tenure, in 1981.
Fortunately, surgery by Italian doctors saw him survive.
The Pope requested that the shooter is pardoned and the Italian officials did this in 2000. Agca at first claimed to have acted alone but later claimed he did so on orders from Soviet and Bulgarian Secret service.
This shooting incident would not be the only one. A man lunged at the Pope with a 16-inch dagger – this can be said to have been an attack from the Pope’s own camp as the assailant was an archconservative Spanish priest retaliating the liberalizing reforms of the Second Vatican Council (1962-65).
Al Qaeda also had ‘plans’ for the Pope- when the Pope visited the Philippines to celebrate World Youth Day, a fire broke out in an apartment and the authorities found incriminating material of a planned attack against the Pope, including bomb-making material courtesy of Al Qaeda.
10. Pope John Paul II had the Third-longest Tenure
Pope St Peter reigned for 37 years while Pope Pius IX served for 31 years. Pope John Paul II reigned for 26 years, making his tenure the third-longest. He died at age 84 in his Vatican residence. His health failed in his later years- he is confirmed to have suffered from Parkinson’s disease.
One of the largest Christian gatherings in history was the Pope’s funeral on April 8 2005. An estimated 2-5 million people were in Rome in time to pay their respects, including the highest authorities of many countries.
The Pope is remembered for his successful efforts to end communism, attempting to bring peoples of different faiths together as well as issuing the Catholic Church’s first apology for its actions during World War II and other injustices.
This Times Magazine 1994 Man of The Year was one of the few of his kind to be referred to as “The Great”. Only three other Popes in history had the honor of being referred to in this manner. The Pope was beatified and Canonized sooner than the church’s required waiting period.