John Paul II As Pope
Life and Galleries

Election as Pope, Gallery
John Paul II Gallery
Pope Shot!...Gallery
His Trips...Gallery
John Paul II and Religions, Gallery
 

October 16, 1878:
        Cardinal Karol Jósef Wojtyła is elected 264^th Pope at approximately 5:15 p.m. He is the 263^rd Successor of Peter... He succeeds John Paul I, and takes the name of John Paul II.

    His first words from the balcony of the Vatican: "I am the servant of the servants"...
        - For the first time in history, John Paul II spoke in his presentation as the elected Pope.
        -  First non-Italian pope since Adrian VI (Dutch, 1522-1523)
        - Youngest (age 58 at election) since Pius IX (aged 54 at election in 1846)
        -  He will become the third longest-serving pope if he surpasses Pope Leo XIII's reign of 25 years and four months a century ago. The first pope, St. Peter, served as leader of the Catholic Church for at least 34 years and is considered the longest-serving pontiff.

Visits to the Parishes of Rome:
    Visit to the Shrine of the Blessed Virgin Mary at Mentorella, Rome on Oct.29, 1978:... it is the first visit to a Roman church outside the Vatican... and as Bishop of Rome he has visited,up to 2003, 301 of the 334 parishes of Rome, some of them several times.
    John Paul II has always shown a very special devotion to Virgin Mary, the Mother of Jesus, in Chestochova, Guadalupe, Fatima, Lourdes... only veneration... never adoration!... adoration is only to God in the Catholic Church.

Trips within Italy:
    Visit to Assisi to venerate the tomb of St. Francis, patron of Italy, and to the Basilica of Santa Maria sopra Minerva to venerate the tomb of St. Catherine, patroness of Italy, on Nov.5, 1978: .. it is the first visit outside of Rome, and as today, 2003, he has made 143 trips within Italy, to some dioceses several times.

Meetings with Head of State, Prime Ministers:
    In 1979, John Paul II receives in audience the Soviet Foreign Minister, Andrei Gromyko... and up to 2003, he had 700 audiences and meetings held with Heads of State, 231 audiences and meetings with Prime Ministers... plus the hundreds he met in his trips.
    In 1989, the Pontiff arranges the first meeting ever between a Pope and a Kremlin chief. He meets with Mikhail Gorbachev in the Vatican. They announce the Vatican and Moscow will establish diplomatic ties.
    He addreses the U.N. in his trip to America on Sept.29, 1979... later he will address the UNESCO in Paris (June 2, 1980).

Trips Outside Italy:
    Pastoral Visit to Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic), Mexico and the Bahamas (25 January-1 February 1979)... it is the first trip outside Italy.
    His second Pastoral Visit was to Poland (2-10 June 1979)... nine cathartic days, setting off sparks that help establish Solidarity, the first independent labor movement in the Soviet bloc...the beginning of the end of Communism.
        -  As of today, 2003, he has made 102 foreign trips,visited 129 different countries, some of them several times.
        - Over 1 million kilometers traveled outside Italy
        - 500 days spent traveling... one of his dreams, a trip to Russia, has not been fulfilled...yet!.
        - Over 3,000 speeches made on travels
        - 3 million people, Manila 1995 - largest public crowd ever for one person  Trips of John Paul II

Writings:
    First Encyclical Letter: Redemptor hominis, "Jesus Christ the Redeemer of Man, March 15, 1979. 
    - His principal documents include 14 encyclicals , 15 apostolic exhortations , 11 apostolic constitutions and 42 apostolic letters.
    - Three books :
        - "Crossing the Threshold of Hope" (October 1994);
        - "Gift and Mystery: On the 50th Anniversary of My Priestly Ordination" (November 1996).
        - "Roman Tryptych - Meditations", a book of poems (March 2003).
    - Catechism of the Catholic Church  Given 11 October 1992 by John Paul II.
    - Over 3,000 speeches in his foreign trips - Thousands of daily homilies and speeches at the Vatican, Roman trips and Italy trips. Encyclicals and Writings of John Paul II   

Orthodox, Christians, and all Religions:
    In his Pastoral Visit to Turkey (28-30 November 1979), he had a meeting with the Orthodox Patriarch Demetrius I in Constantinople. They meet again in 1987 signing a joint declaration.
    During all his pontificate he has tried to create bridges of friendship and understanding with Orthodox, with all Christian Denominations... and, in fact, with all religions:   
    Letter for the 500th anniversary of the birth of  Martin Luther, Nov.5, 1983,
    He became the first Pope to visit a synagogue and the first to visit the memorial at Auschwitz to victims of the Holocaust. In ending the Catholic-Jewish estrangement, he called Jews "our elder brothers."
    The Pope officiates over the establishment of diplomatic relations between Israel and the Vatican. At Jerusalem, he signs an agreement on some basic principles regulating relations between the Holy See and Israel. Dec.30, 1993.
    Respectfully removing his shoes, John Paul becomes the first pope to enter a Mosque when he tours a 1,300-year-old Islamic house of worship in Damascus, Syria... and in 2000 he meets the top political leaders of Israel, Jordan and the Palestinian authority.
    On Sept.15, 1982, John Paul II receives Palestine Liberation Organization leader Yasser Arafat at the Vatican, provoking criticism from Israel and Jewish groups.
    In 1986, John Paul II becomes the first pope to visit a Jewish synagogue. During his visit, he publicly condemns the persecution afflicted on Jews in the past.   
    He has met with Buddhist and Hindu leaders...with atheists and Communists, Gorbachev, Fidel Castro...
    He has always shown very special respect for all cultures, mainly the African and Indian ones... John Paul II and Religions, Gallery             

    On Good Friday, John Paul hears confessions of the faithful for the first time in St. Peter's Basilica, April 4, 1980.

The Pope Shot!, Gallery and Information - 1981:
    The Pope Shot!: On May 13, at 5:19 p.m. a young Turk Mehmet Alì Agca shoots the Pope in the abdomen and hand while he circles St. Peter's Square... Severely, wounded, the Pope was operated on for 6 hours at Gemelli hospital, and he was hospitalized for 22 days.
    On May 17, John Paul II recites the Angelus at Gemelli hospital: "Pray for the brother who shot me, whom I have sincerely forgiven".          
    On June 20, the Pope is hospitalized for an infection linked to his shooting injuries. He undergoes surgery on Aug. 5, and is discharged nine days later   
    On July 15, 1992, John Paul II undergoes surgery to remove a benign intestinal tumor. He is released from Gemelli Polyclinic 11 days later.
    On No.11, 1993, while in the Hall of Benediction, the Pope dislocates his right shoulder during a fall at the end of the audience. He undergoes operation and spends one day at the hospital. His shoulder is immobilized for one month.
    On April 29, 1994, following an accidental fall, which caused a fracture of the right femur, John Paul II recovers at Gemelli Polyclinic after undergoing hip replacement surgery. He is released 28 days later.
    On Oct.6, 1996, the Pope enters the hospital for surgery to remove an inflamed appendix. His scheduled operation takes place on the morning of Oct. 8. He is released a week later
    Parkinson's disease: On Jan.3, 2001, after months of speculation, one of the pope's physicians confirms that the pontiff is suffering from Parkinson's disease. John Paul's left hand visibly trembles and he has a slow, stooped gait – all symptoms of Parkinson's.

    On May 31, John Paul II creates a Council of Cardinals to study the organizational and economic problems of the Holy See... On June 3, he returns to the Vatican after 22 days of recovery at Gemelli Hospital.  

Canonizations:
    His first Canonization was of Fr. Maximilian Kolbe on Oct 10, 1982. Present at the canonization ceremony was Mr. Franciszek Gajownizek , the man for whom Fr. Maximilian offered his life in the concentration camp at Auschwitz.
    ... He made more Saints than any of his predecessors over the past 500 years combined — a total of 476 so far — plus 1,315 Blesseds proclaimed... among them, Sister Faustina, Father Escriva, Padre Pio, Mother Teresa of Calcutta, Juan Diego of Guadalupe, Francesco and Giacinta Marto of Fatima... Canonizations

Special Events: 
    Opening of the Holy Year of the Redemption 1983 (25 March 1983- 22 April 1984).
    On the vigil of Pentecost: Solemn opening of the Marian Year (7 June-15 August 1987).
    The Great Jubilee of the Year 2000 : Opening of the Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica on Dec.24, 1999. Millennium-Great Jubilee 2000
    Proclaims the "Year of Rosary" on Oct.16, 2002.    Year of the Rosary, 2002-2003   

   Pastoral visit to Paris for the 12th Youth Day (21-24 August 1997)  The Pope and the Youth

    The Pope in the Internet: Following the signing of the document in the Vatican, the Pope sent the text of the Exhortation by e-mail to all the dioceses in Oceania.on Nov.22, 2001.

    The Pope makes a special pilgrimage to Bethlehem, the Sea of Galilee, Jerusalem, the Jordan River and Nazareth. He visits top political leaders of Israel, Jordan and the Palestinian authority. March 20-26, 2000

    He makes an apostolic visit to Fatima, Portugal, where it is announced that part of the secret of Fatima involved a prophecy of the 1981 attempt on the pontiff's life. May 12-13, 2000. Fatima: Third Secret Revealed

    The pope beatifies 123 Blesseds, among which, 120 were martyrs in China. The act triggers a critical response from China, which denounces the pope's mass canonization, claiming the foreign missionaries and their followers "committed notorious crimes in China." Oct 1, 2000.

Sex Abuse:
    In a two-paragraph conclusion to his lengthy annual pre-Easter message to priests, the pope refers to the "grave scandal" of priests implicated in sex abuse cases. After summoning the 12 American cardinals to the Vatican for a special meeting, the pontiff declares to them that there is no place in the Roman Catholic Church for priests who abuse children. March 21, April 23, 2002.

On church doctrine:
    John Paul has toed a conservative line: abortion, contraception and euthanasia are all banned in the church under John Paul II. He ruled out letting priests marry or allowing women to be ordained, and recently endorsed a worldwide campaign to keep same-sex unions from receiving legal recognition.
    In the 1995 encyclical Evangelium Vitae, The Gospel of Life, he reasserted the church's condemnation of abortion, euthanasia, and capital punishment, calling them all part of the "Culture of Death" that pervades the modern world.
    His stands on capital punishment, world debt forgiveness, and poverty issues are considered liberal, showing that 'conservative' and 'liberal' labels do not ride easily on religious leaders.

Cardinals: Up to 2003 he elected new 201 Cardinals, the most of any Pope... and coiled the Bishops' Synods...Pope John Paul II names a record 37 cardinals on  Jan. 21, 2001

    25th Anniversary celebrations of John Paul II as Pope in 2003  25th Anniversary Gallery.   

    To some, John Paul is a revolutionary. He takes strong stands on human rights, criticizes dictators, seeks reconciliation with the Jewish world, opens dialogue with other faiths, and tries to bring unity among Christians of the world.
    Many argue his support for the Solidarity movement in his native Poland helped bring down communism in Europe.
    He has also turned his eye toward the growing gap between the rich and poor, criticizing the excesses of capitalism and the empty materialism of the West.
    John Paul II, the Pilgrim Pope, has dramatically redefined the papacy, transforming it from a Vatican CEO's job to a global office of moral teaching and personal evangelism. 

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Events in the Pontificate of His Holiness Pope John Paul II

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