The Pope is passing

Pope John Paul II  

"A Man of Peace"

Born Karol Wojtyla on May 18, 1920, in Wadowice, Poland. In 1938, he began studying philosophy and literature at the university in Krakow which the Nazis closed when they invaded in 1939. To escape death or deportation, Wojtyla worked in a quarry and later took an office job. After deciding to become a priest, Wojtyla studied secretly in the evenings with the Krakow cardinal. Wojtyla was ordained in 1946 and became Poland's youngest bishop at 38, was promoted to Archbishop of Krakow in 1964 and made cardinal three years later by Pope Paul VI. On October 16, 1978, Wojtyla was elected the first non-Italian Pope in 455 years. He was the 264th successor of St. Peter and, at 58, the youngest Pope for more than a century.