Pope John Paul 2 - the Great Pope

The most recognised man in the world, His Holiness Pope John Paul II was born in Wadowice, Poland on the 18th May, 1920.

When he was born he was given the name Karol Jozef Wojtyla, Karol after his father and Jozef after the father of Jesus Christ. He was referred to affectionately as Lolek.

By the age of 21 the Pope had experienced great loss with the deaths of all the immediate members of his family.

His mother died when he was only 8 years old, his elder brother, a doctor, when he was 12 and his father when he was just 21. His father had dreamed of seeing his son enter the priesthood, but unfortunately he did not live to see him become a priest.

As a schoolboy the Pope was an excellent student and an enthusiastic athlete - he skied, hiked, kayaked and swam.

The Pope's family were strict Catholics, but he had Christian friends and Jewish friends - in a time when many behaved in a racist manner towards Jewish people.

After graduating from high school the Pope attended the university in Krakow. While at university studying Literature and Philosophy, he also joined a theatre company.

In 1939 Nazi Germany invaded Poland. The Nazis closed libraries, and universities - including the one where the Pope studied. They shot people for going to the theatre and even for speaking the Polish language. They even shot priests who opposed them. The Pope also saw his Jewish friends and neighbours being herded into the ghetto. During this time the Pope worked in a quarry and a chemical factory while he studied Theology in secret.

"Any day I could have been picked up on the street, at the factory or at the stone quarry and sent to a concentration camp. Sometimes I asked myself: 'So many people at my age were losing their lives, why not me?'".

When the Seminary in Krakow re-opened after the war the Pope continued his studies and he was ordained on the 1st November, 1946. Learning was important to the Pope and over the next few years he obtained a number of degrees.

As a young priest in Poland the Pope defied the Communist authorities. Privately he advised and encouraged political activists. He developed a Catholic newspaper that conveyed views that opposed those of the communist government. He founded secret clubs for Catholic intellectuals and ran an underground seminary for future priests from neighbouring Czechoslovakia.

In 1958 the Pope was made auxiliary Bishop of Krakow. In 1964 he became the Archbishop of Krakow. During this time he participated in the second Vatican Council making contributions to the documents that were the result of this Council.

On October 16th 1978 at the relatively young age of 58, Karol Wojtyla was elected Pope. He took the name John Paul, after his predecessor who had died suddenly after only 33 days in office. He was an unexpected choice. He was the first non-Italian Pope in over 450 years, and he came from a Communist country.

He said 'I was afraid to receive this nomination. But I did it in the spirit of obedience to Our Lord and in the total confidence in His mother, the most holy Madonna'. The Pope saw himself as the 'Servant of the Servants of God' and did away with much of the pomp and ceremony the office had previously held.

In his 26 years as Pope he travelled widely visiting the Catholic Church's faithful followers all over the world - he visited many countries that had never had a Pope visit. His visits always attracted large crowds. In 1995 while in the Philippines he said mass for a crowd of over 4 million.

One of his earliest visits was to his homeland - Poland. His visit caused embarrassment for the Communist authorities