Essay Example on Pope John Paul II is one of the most well known Popes

Pope John Paul II is one of the most well known Popes and man in history He did a lot of things in history He became one of the most respected men Pope John Paul II was a just a man from Poland He served as Pope for 25 years and 5 months He was born on May 18 1920 and died on April 2 2005 He surpassed all the obstacles he faced before becoming Pope This is what makes him a great leader that impacted history Though his early life was marked by great loss When his mother died at age nine and then his brother when he was twelve He was able to pass this on by doing activities such as skiing and swimming This caused Wojtyla interest in theater and poetry When he graduated from high school he and his father moved to Krakow Wojtyla would study literature and philosophy at Jagiellonian University In addition during this time The Nazi had taken control They had closed down colleges including where Wojtyla attended There 3 646 Polish priests were imprisoned in concentration camps of which 2 647 were killed and 1 117 nuns were imprisoned of whom 238 were executed Wojtyla continued to work for a job as a stonecutter in a quarry 

The Nazi not only closed down places but participation in any Catholic youth group was forbidden and punishment was horrible He became active in the anti Nazi resistance By doing that he joined UNIA which would help the Jews escape the Holocaust Even after conditions he continued to follow his Faith He joined a religious discussion group Wojtyla spoke to Archbishop Adam Stefan Sapieha of Krakow about his desire for the priesthood which led the archbishop who s name was Sapieha to accept him as a student in the secret seminar he ran After the war was over about one quarter of the entire Polish population had been wiped out Hitler was dead and the Nazis were no more This led to Wojtyla returning to study at the reopened Jagiellonian University there he finished his theology studies In 1946 Sapieha ordained Wojtyla a priest in the chapel Wojtyla had then gone to the eternal city of Rome for postgraduate studies Near where he stayed was Belgian college Before becoming pope Wojtyla had more difficulties in his way After he passed the exams for his seminar teaching certificate he left Rome He went back to his home When he returned the Polish Catholic Church was undergoing major changes such as Cardinal August Hlond the primate of Poland died in 1948 This eventually led to Pope Pius XII named Bishop Stefan Wyszynski to replace Hlond and as archbishop of Gniezno and Warsaw After returning to Poland he also earns a doctorate in Sacred Theology from Jagiellonian University in 1948 Bishop Czesław Kaczmarek of Kielce s arrest would change history 

They weren't able to do that when the pope first visited Poland in 1979 There he was greeted not by a crowd of people but by people of all ages This would begin the end of communism He had warned communist authorities He warned Communist authorities that the papacy would watch them closely and he reminded them of what they should do He encouraged other leading church authorities such as the Czech Cardinal Frantisek Tomasek to go against Communism After visiting Poland Poles began to organize Solidarity That was the first mass anti communist political movement This was because he was able to convince someone to start it He would continue to have visits with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev to end hostilities between Rome and Moscow John Paul II s influenced Gorbachev to call on the IT industry and on U S leaders to develop partnerships with other nations including Russia Pope John Paul II accomplished many goals but this by far is his best one He convinced others to join Solidarity On his trips he visited many leaders and where he encouraged Church authorities One of his most famous visits is with a man named Gorbachev His influence