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John Paul II Essays

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JOHN PAUL II

JOHN PAUL II was the first non-Italian pope since 1523, whose energetic, active approach to his office, unprecedented world travel, and firm religious conservatism have enhanced the importance of the papacy in both the Roman Catholic church and the non-Catholic world. The pope is also the head of the independent state of Vatican City.

Born Karol Wojty³a on May 18, 1920, in Wadowice, Poland, he studied poetry and drama at the University of Kraków. During World War II he worked in a stone quarry and in a chemical factory while preparing for the priesthood. Ordained in 1946, he earned a doctorate in theology at Rome's Angelicum Institute in 1948. Until he became auxiliary bishop of Kraków in 1958, he was a university …show more content…

Despite recurrent health problems in the 1990s, John Paul maintained an active schedule. In September 1993 he traveled to the Baltic republics, the first papal visit to countries of the former Soviet Union. His journey to Lebanon in May 1997, to give his support to the Christian minority and to heal religious divisions there, was followed by a visit to Brazil in October. On a five-day visit to Cuba in January 1998, he denounced U.S. trade sanctions against that country and pressed Fidel Castro's government to release political prisoners and ease restrictions on religious and political rights. He also pressed Nigeria on human rights issues during a three-day visit two months later; while there, John Paul beatified a Nigerian priest. Emphasizing a central theme of John Paul's papacy, that of Jewish-Christian reconciliation, the Vatican issued a statement in mid-March apologizing to Jews for the Church's failure to take decisive action against Nazi Germany; the document received a mixed reception from Jewish groups, in part because it defended the actions of Pope Pius XII during the Holocaust. Concerned with the mission of Roman Catholicism in the Americas and the problem of increased Protestant proselytism in Latin America, the pope visited Saint Louis, Mo., and Mexico City in January 1999. In June of that year, in the spirit of strengthening ties with the Orthodox church, the pope

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