Meet John Paul II (eBook)

The People's Pope

Janel Rodriguez (Autor)

eBook Download: EPUB

2023 | 1. Auflage
176 Seiten
Servant (Verlag)
978-1-63582-486-5 (ISBN)

'Do not be afraid. Open wide the doors for Christ. To his saving power open the boundaries of states, economic and political systems, the vast fields of culture, civilization and development. Do not be afraid!' -Pope John Paul II, from Chapter Four. By the time Pope John Paul II first spoke the words that became a hallmark of his papacy-'Do not be afraid!'-he had long since learned the secret to fearlessness: absolute trust in God. He had every reason to fear, or at least to be depressed. While still a young man, he endured the death of his entire family, the daily horrors of World War II in his native Poland, and the ensuing communist regime when the Soviet Union absorbed Poland after the war. As The People's Pope makes clear, the gospel truths that sustained this hero of the faith are available to you, too. The book invites you to consider the facts of this man's life-his impact on the world, his papacy that changed the face of the Catholic Church, his courage in handling crushing adversity and to see there the hand of God. As you meet John Paul II, you will discover that although his influence was universal, his message was personal: Open wide the doors of your heart to Christ. You will find there, as he did, the strength to live confidently for God.

"e;Do not be afraid. Open wide the doors for Christ. To his saving power open the boundaries of states, economic and political systems, the vast fields of culture, civilization and development. Do not be afraid!"e; Pope John Paul II, from Chapter Four. By the time Pope John Paul II first spoke the words that became a hallmark of his papacy"e;Do not be afraid!"e;he had long since learned the secret to fearlessness: absolute trust in God. He had every reason to fear, or at least to be depressed. While still a young man, he endured the death of his entire family, the daily horrors of World War II in his native Poland, and the ensuing communist regime when the Soviet Union absorbed Poland after the war. As The People's Pope makes clear, the gospel truths that sustained this hero of the faith are available to you, too. The book invites you to consider the facts of this man's life-his impact on the world, his papacy that changed the face of the Catholic Church, his courage in handling crushing adversity and to see there the hand of God. As you meet John Paul II, you will discover that although his influence was universal, his message was personal: Open wide the doors of your heart to Christ. You will find there, as he did, the strength to live confidently for God.

The Good Son

It was the morning of September 1, 1939, and the sky above Poland’s Wawel Cathedral buzzed menacingly with the sound of approaching Nazi aircraft. Although it was First Friday, a day for the adoration of the Eucharist in the Roman Catholic Church, Father Kazimierz Figlewicz found himself all alone on the compound. His fellow priests, clerics and staff left in fear. As the sun rose that morning, a surprise Nazi air strike released bombs all over Poland in an explosive wake-up call.

Father Figlewicz couldn’t blame the church staff for fleeing in anticipation of the next air raid. But as he made his way to the church, he wondered how he was going to celebrate Mass without another person present. When he stepped inside the sanctuary, however, he saw that he would not be alone. Waiting for him was nineteen-year-old university student Karol Wojtyla.

As the Mass proceeded, fresh attacks began, and pandemonium erupted all around the two men. Explosions thundered and sirens wailed in a terrible herald that World War II had officially begun. Still the Mass continued. When the sacrifice was completed, Karol excused himself, telling the priest, “I’ve got to go, my father’s at home alone.”1

After checking on his father and finding him unharmed, Karol then stopped by the home of his friends the Kydryńskis. Finding that they too were safe, he helped them move some of their possessions to what they hoped would be a more secure location. Suddenly they were again under attack.

Although the entire house shuddered with each explosion, Karol stopped what he was doing and calmly leaned against a wall as if to support its foundation. Juliusz Kydryński marveled at his friend’s serenity.2 He did not know that he was looking at the perfect portrait of the man who would become John Paul II, a pope who was concerned for his father and his “Father’s house,” who was a servant of his fellow man, who was a champion of the suffering and who was an unshakable pillar of strength even when the surrounding world floundered in confusion and chaos.

The Domestic Church

Poland was a country that had suffered oppression for centuries and would continue to suffer after World War II, when the Communists would take over. But the early days of Karol’s life in Poland were simple and peaceful.

Although descended from tailors and farmers, his father, Karol Wojtyla, Sr., was forced to embrace a different vocation when he was drafted into the army. He developed his military career and became an officer in the 56th Infantry Regiment of the Austro-Hungarian Army. He married Emilia Kaczorowska in 1904, and the couple moved to Wadowice in Galicia, where Karol was stationed. He eventually worked his way up to the position of first lieutenant in the 12th Infantry Regiment there.

A busy industrial town that had long housed Poland’s troops, Wadowice also boasted a healthy and active cultural life. Poets, scholars and talented theater people lived side by side with the town’s tradesmen, lawyers and businessmen.

Roman Catholicism was part of Poland’s identity as a nation, and being devout was the norm. In Wadowice, the farmer, the philosopher, the peasant and the artist were all serious about their faith. This attitude of understanding and respect created unity among the rich and the poor, the educated and the uneducated. And this attitude extended beyond the Catholic community to a large Jewish population.

In this favorable environment Karol and Emilia Wojtyla began building a family. Their first son, Edmund, was born in 1906. Nicknamed “Mundek,” he possessed a number of the same gifts his younger brother would display: athleticism, intelligence, sensitivity toward the suffering of others and an attitude of selfless giving.

Their second child, a daughter named Olga, died while still an infant. There are no official records of the exact dates of her birth and death, but her loss was undoubtedly a painful event for the family.

The third and last child was named after his father. Karol Józef Wojtyla was born on May 18, 1920. Legend has it that his mother asked the midwife to throw open the windows of the room so that the first sound the baby heard would be that of the choir of St. Mary’s Church, which was directly across the square.3 Whether this is true or not, the Wojtylas certainly were a religious family. Karol was baptized in the Roman Catholic Church at St. Mary’s on June 20, 1920.4

Emilia’s pride was typical of a loving mother. As she proudly pushed the baby carriage down the street, she would tell people that Karol would grow up to be “a great man some day.”5 She was not the first mother to say such things about her child. But her prophecy would prove true.

The Wojtylas’ life was a simple one. Karol, Sr., regularly reported for duty at his station in town, Emilia contributed what she could to the family earnings by taking in sewing, teenaged Edmund studied medicine at Jagiellonian University and little Karol—nicknamed “Lolek”—would play with his friends, such as Regina “Ginka” Beer, the daughter of the Wojytlas’ neighbors.

Karol began attending Marcin Wadowita School when he was six years old. The small school occupied the top two floors of the Wadowice district court building, a stone’s throw from the Wojtyla home. His grades were always good, and in some subjects, such as religion and singing, they were “very good.”6

Karol’s athleticism showed itself early. He loved to play soccer with his friends, including his schoolmate Boguslaw Banas, whose parents ran the neighborhood dairy and café. The boys kicked and scrambled in the apartment courtyard under the protective gaze of Emilia and other mothers, who sat together nearby.7 Lolek was often goalie, a defensive position that, depending on whom you asked, he played well or not so well.

Soccer was not the boys’ only pastime. Boguslaw remembers an occasional game of “Mass,” a typical interest for young Polish Catholics of the time. While Boguslaw and his brother attended as servers, Lolek would preside over an altar table upon which stood “a holy picture and two candles.” He wore “a worsted cape,” made by his mother’s loving hands, “over…a kind of alb.”8

A Sad Parting

Emilia’s health had always been delicate. In 1927 she was ill enough that her husband decided to retire from the army to care for her. Reduced to living on his small pension, meeting expenses became a struggle for the Wojtylas.

On April 13, 1929, Karol was called home from school and given sad news. Emilia had died at the age of forty-five. The official cause of death was heart and kidney failure. Lolek was not yet nine years old.

Edmund, who had been at university for a year, came home for the funeral, then quickly went back to school to resume his studies. Lolek, on the other hand, made a pilgrimage with his father to the nearby town of Kalwaria Zebrzydowska, in Kraków, and stopped at its shrine dedicated to the Virgin Mary. There Lolek knelt before her image, in which she held the baby Jesus, and prayed that her Son would have mercy on the soul of his late mother.

Lolek received his First Communion a month later. That day he also received a scapular from the Carmelite friars in Wadowice, and this he wore for the rest of his life. He would later feel a special connection to that religious order and even try to join it before discovering that God had other plans for him.

Young Lolek and his father slowly and stoically adjusted to their new life together. Their tragic loss drew them closer together, both emotionally and literally. They moved their beds into the same room and avoided the parlor, which they identified with Emilia. Lolek’s father soon took over the cooking duties, making breakfast and dinner on a daily basis. Lunch was shared at the Banas family’s café.9

Day by day the relationship between father and son deepened, as did Lolek’s admiration for his father, whom he considered “a deeply religious man.” Lolek saw his mother’s death intensify the spiritual life of his father to such a degree that he became a man “of constant prayer.” Lolek would awaken in the middle of the night and discern in the dark the figure of his father kneeling in prayer. His father’s example, Pope John Paul II would realize upon reflection later, was his “first seminary.”10

There were also moments of great fun. The elder Karol encouraged his son’s love of soccer, even allowing him to kick a ball around the parlor. With its rolled-up rugs and shrouded furniture, the room they had all but abandoned after Emilia’s death became an ideal indoor playing field on rainy days. Even the lieutenant joined the game, vigorously trying to kick the ball past Lolek, who played goalie as usual.11

Faithful Friends

The attitude of understanding and respect among “Wawros” (as people from Wadowice were called) extended to the Jewish population. Numbering around two thousand, the Jews made up about a quarter of the population. The Wojtylas were friends with a number of Jewish families, and they rented their apartment,...

Erscheint lt. Verlag	24.1.2023
Sprache	englisch
Themenwelt	Literatur ► Biografien / Erfahrungsberichte
ISBN-10	1-63582-486-9 / 1635824869
ISBN-13	978-1-63582-486-5 / 9781635824865

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