Pope St. John Paul II Research Paper

Karol Józef Wojtyła, famously known as Pope John Paul II, was the Bishop of Rome and the pope of the Roman Catholic Church from October 1978 until his death on April 2005. As a pope, John Paul II was the first non-Italian pope in more than four centuries and the first Polish pope of the Roman Catholic Church. His papacy lasted for 27 years, which is to this day the second longest in history (Blakemore, 2017). He was also one of the most polarizing figures during the late twentieth century. Meanwhile, Pope John Paul II was more than just a pope because he had a different style of papal leadership, diplomacy, and a high charisma unlike his previous predecessors such as Pope Pius XII and Pope Paul VI (Scott, summer of 2000). Pope John Paul II transformed his influence as a pope to a worldwide office and used it to preach more than a billion of people across the globe. According to Scheller, Schaffer, Kurlantzick, Kulman, and Stille (2005), the pope was “a trained actor and philosopher who understood the power of word and symbol and wielded both with precision, whether in meetings with heads of state or before teeming crowds of the faithful (first paragraph).” John Paul II also believed that the church can have a much bigger impact by having world communications from different countries and he delivered the gospel by travelling around different parts of the world. The late pope was also well-known for inventing the World Youth Day, which is bringing about real transformation

Pope John XXIII played a vital role in shaping Christianity as we know it today. He contributed socially, politically and liturgically and was a major influence in the establishment of ecumenism and interfaith dialogue between other churches and religions. He advocated Christian unity, social justice, human rights and the promotion of world peace, and his openness to all people led to him obtaining the name “Good Pope John”.

Born circa 1020 in Sovana, Tuscany, Pope Gregory VII is one of the great reforming popes, and is best known for his part in the Investiture Controversy, which was his dispute with with Henry IV that reinforced the primacy of papal authority. He excommunicated Henry three times because Henry was getting out of hand and the political struggles between the Catholic Church and his empire. Although, Gregory was also despised during his reign by some for his expansive use of papal powers, this caused his memory to be remembered on numerous occasions in later generations, both good and bad, which was often reflected in writings of the Catholic Church. Gregory was accused of necromancy, torture, attempted assassinations, unjust excommunication,

Pope Paul VI pushed to bring back together the cardinals and reconvene Vatican II. By doing this, he changed our church. Our liturgy would be different if he hadn’t reconvened Vatican II. By understanding his history, maybe we can come to understand his motives to Change the Church. Our future pope was born in Brescia, Lombardy on September 27, 1897 under the name Giovanni Battista Montini. He was born to a prominent newspaper editor. He had very bad health as a child, so the priests allowed him to attend the seminary as a day student. He was ordained into the priesthood on May 29, 1920. He was then transferred to a catholic university in rome, springboarding his rise through the church.

Pope St. Gregory VII had his vision on how the Church was supposed to be structured and what needed to change. He firmly planted his beliefs because he could see that the Church did not live up to its standards. He became a leader when the Church needed him the most. He did not conform to the current state of the Church and encountered incessant obstacles with a relentless determination overcome them. As pope, St. Gregory VII valiantly confronted the challenges, social issues, and corruption of the Church to cleanse its noticeable defects.

Throughout the history of the Christian Church we often times hear of many indivdiuals who made several if not many significant contributions to the church. Names such as Dominic, Catherine of Siena, John Wycliffe, Martin Luther, and John Calvin are to name only a few. I want to tell you a story about an individual who made many contributions the Christian Church, and to this day his contributions and legacy yet remain. His name is Pope Gregory I, also known as St. Gregory or Gregory the Great.

Pope- A man who is a head of the Roman Catholic Church and The Bishop of Rome.

After he became a priest, Pope John Paul II went to Rome to study and get his master’s degree. He spent the next several years teaching. In 1958, he was appointed Bishop and assistant to the Archbishop in Karkow and returned to Poland. In 1962, the Archbishop of Karkow died, and Pope John XX appointed Bishop Wojtyla as the Bishop of Karkow, but because Poland was “under the oppression of another inhuman ideology, atheistic communism” he could not officially return to Poland as Bishop of Krakow for 2 more years. Even though he was constantly threatened by the Soviets, he would not accept people being forced to be atheists, so instead he spread the word of God throughout Poland. He opened 11 new parishes and he publicly led a Catholic

The biggest contribution of John XXIII to the Roman Catholic Church was his action of summoning the first ecumenical cycle in nearly a century. Under three months into becoming pope, John XXIII shocked the world when he declared the creation of the Second Vatican Council (or Vatican II) in January 1959. The council consisted of 2,000 to 2,500 bishops “and thousands of observers, auditors, sisters, laymen, and laywomen.” Between 1962 and 1965, The council produced 16 documents that are considered the foundation “for the church as we know it

Karol J. Wojtyla, also known as Pope John Paul II, was born in Wadowice Poland, on May 18, 1920. He was the second of two sons, and his mother died when he was nine. His older brother also died when he was twelve. This left just Karol and his father living in the house as a family. He made his First Holy Communion at the age of nine, but wasn't confirmed until he was eighteen. When he graduated from Marcin Wadowita high school, he then enrolled in Kracow's Jagiellonian University in 1938, which was a school for drama. When the Nazis entered Poland during World War II, the university was closed down, and Karol was forced go to work in the quarry to avoid being deported to Germany. Then, in 1942, he became aware of his calling to be a priest. So he

The world leader I chose was Pope Francis the First, the first Jesuit pope. Pope Francis is 78 years old and making impacts on billions of people's lives. He has worked with over hundreds of charities to help them grow and stay open. Pope Francis has given over one million dollars to charities. Even check his twitter, he has over fifteen million followers on Twitter alone. Each day he posts a quote from the bible. Because of Pope Francis, many believe in the next thirty-five years people will allow priest marriage, and stop hating on same-sex marriage. He also wants to allow women deacons. Pope Francis says “We shall not restrict women from loving Jesus, there is enough for everyone.”

Pope John Paul the Second It was recently this year that the Catholic world had lost its leader,

Saint Pope John Paul II, born on May 18, 1920, shifted events and people’s ideas of certain things.

Pope John XXIII was a revolutionist and who, despite his short journey as Pope, made significant contributions to the entire Christian denomination. Focusing on what unites rather than divides, he is recognised as a major reformer of the 20th century. Pope John XXIII strived to work in the areas of ecumenical, doctrinal, social and moral aspects and as a result his contributions have shaped Christianity and his ongoing legacy impacts on the lives of Christian adherents on a global scale.

Saint Vincent de Paul was born of a peasant family in the infamous city of Gascony, France on September 27, 1581. He lived in his family’s farm house along with his family of three brothers and two sisters. He was considered exceptionally gifted and showed great intelligence for reading and writing, even in his early age. By selling the family’s oxen, St. Vincent’s parent were able to send him to school at age 15. His father believed that if his son was well-educated, he would be able to financially support his own family in the future. He graduated from the University of Toulouse in France, which is still in service today. And at the age of 20, in the year 1600, he was ordained a priest.