The Devout Journey to Eternity

A brief look into the life of Pope John Paul II

For the common people, he was "our pope", and they addressed him "people's pope". To the world, he was a "champion of freedom and human rights". Many leaders rated him as the "beacon of hope". As he travelled from country to country pulling massive crowds wherever he went, we all loved to call him "the pilgrim Pope".

He was all of these. And much more, although he is no more in this world. He is Karol Wojtyla, our Pope John Paul II.

After a papacy spanning 26 years and five months, Pope John Paul II, the 264th successor of St Peter, passed away on April 2, 2005. His papacy was the third longest in history, and began on October 16, 1978.

Here is a brief look into his extraordinary life:

Pope John Paul II was born Karol Jozef Wojtyla (pronounced "Voy-tee-wah") in a devoutly Catholic family on May 18, 1920 at Wadowice in Poland. From childhood, Karol was interested in outdoor games and sports. He also excelled in arts and poetry.

When the German army invaded Poland during World War II in the early 1940's, Karol worked in a quarry and also in a chemical plant. He simultaneously joined an underground seminary in Krakow and continued priestly studies leading to his ordination as priest in 1946.

In 1958, Karol Wojtyla became the auxiliary bishop of Krakow. He became Krakow's archbishop in 1964. In 1967, the Vatican appointed him as Cardinal.

On October 16, 1978, Karol Wojtyla became Pope John Paul II, the only Pope most of us closely knew until a couple of months ago. As he made his first papal appearance at the Vatican window on October 16, 1978, he said to the cheering crowd: "I was afraid to accept this nomination. But I did it in the spirit of obedience to our Lord and in the total confidence in his mother, the holy Madonna."

Pope John Paul II became a charismatic leader of the Catholic Church, and travelled to more than 120 countries of the world. He visited India twice - in 1986 and in 1999. The pope drew massive audience of different faiths at each of his public meetings.

Even the horrible assassination attempt on May 13, 1981 did not restrain him from leading the Catholic Church and championing the cause of the poor and the oppressed. The seriously wounded Pope survived the attack, and even visited his would-be killer in prison to forgive him.

No other religiious leader tried to reach out to the world and other faiths as much as Pope John Paul II did. He was a champion of human rights, and condemned bloodshed and atrocities anywhere in the world. These and his energetic performance made him one of the world's most respected and powerful leaders. The Time Magazine chose him as the Man of the Year in 1994.

More people have likely physically seen Pope John Paul II than anybody else in the world. Some of the open-air Masses celebrated by the pope drew crowds numbering one-and-half million.

The pope helped the Catholic Church successfully resist the demand for revolutionary changes devised by dissidents.

Even as his health deteriorated, Pope John Paul II reached out to the people. He never failed to appear at the Vatican window to offer the angelus blessing to the pilgrims at the St Peter's Square.

On Easter Sunday, March 27, 2005, the pope appeared at his Vatican window and blessed tens of thousands of pilgrims at the St Peter's Square. The pope wished peace to the world and prayed for Africa and the Middle East, as the Vatican Secretary of State read out the pope's Easter message "Urbi et Orbi" (Latin for "To the City and the World") on Easter Day, the highpoint of the Catholic Church's religious calendar.

Soon, the pope's health deteriorated. Millions of faithful around the world fell to their knees in prayer for their dearest leader. People of Krakow held vigils for the pope who was their local bishop. As he edged near death, the Pope took the suffering as coming from God, setting an example to the whole world.

Pope John Paul II passed away on April 2, 2005 in his private apartment at the Vatican at 9:37 pm local time (1:07 am IST on April 3).

John Paul II was the third-longest serving pope in history, behind St Peter who served for 32 years and Pope Pius IX who was pope for 31 years and seven months.

Pope John Paul II is no more, but the legacy of this extraordinary pope goes on.

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