Karol Wojtyla, the greatest of all Poles, lived 85 years.
This may seem long, yet for us it is too short a time.

He lived his life without wasting one single minute of it. He filled it with thoughts, words and actions. It is hard to write the biography of a man whose actions could be divided among so many people.

Karol Wojtyla was a great man from Malopolska Region, the Peter of our times, and a moral authority for people of various religions, cultures and generations.


All this began in Wadowice on 18 May 1920. Karol Wojtyla was born to a burgher family. He soon lost his mother, Emilia, and then his elder brother, Edmund, a talented physician who in 1932 was infected with scarlet fever by his patient. The religious atmosphere of his family home had an immense influence on young Karol. Soon, his outstanding personality and exclusive talents began to show. He was a good student, sportsman, and actor in an amateur theatre group. After graduating from secondary school in 1938, Wojtyla, a dedicated reader, moved to Kraków together with his father to study Polish literature at the Jagiellonian University. The outbreak of World War II interrupted his education only for a while, as he recommenced his studies already in 1942, this time choosing theology. For Wojtyla, the years of war were filled with work in a quarry and chemical factory, studies, theatre, and also a personal tragedy - the loss of his father, the last member of his immediate family. After graduating from university on 1 November 1946, Wojtyla was ordained by Archbishop Adam Sapieha. He left for Rome to study theology and, in 1948 commenced his work as a priest in the Niegowic parish near Bochnia. That same year, he received his PhD at the Faculty of Theology of the Jagiellonian University; five years later he became doctor habilitatus, and in 1957 Wojtyla was awarded the title of a docent.

His successes in academic life and his duties as a priest were often supplemented by meetings with youth and friends outside of the church. Karol Wojtyla was able to share his wisdom while skiing, kayaking, or walking across the whole of Poland. Owing to his unconventional behaviour and great openness, he conquered hearts and attracted increasingly more people.

In 1958, Wojtyla became auxiliary bishop of Kraków and, in 1964 - archbishop. He issued many publications, including: Love and Responsibility, A Person and an Act, the dramas: Our God's Brother, The Jeweller's Shop, and poems. He published under the name of Andrzej Jawien.

In 1967, Wojtyla was nominated as cardinal. He published such articles in Rocznik Filozoficzny as: "Problem teorii moralnosci" [The problem of the theory of morality] and "W nurcie zagadnien posoborowych" [Concerning Post-Council Issues]. He published in Osservatore Romano and Tygodnik Powszechny. In December 1969, Wojtyla published the book entitled "A Person and an Act" and, in 1972, "Foundations of Renewal of the Second Vatican Council".

Following the death of Pope John Paul I, in September 1978, for the first time in 456 years the elected Pope was not Italian, but a Pole. Karol Wojtyla was elected Pope on 16 October 1978, and adopted the name of John Paul II. During the inauguration of his pontificate, he called out: "Do not fear! Open the door to Christ!"

The Pope - the Pilgrim