This Week in Christian History: Pope John Paul II, 'Godspell,' Fatima

By Michael Gryboski, Mainline Church Editor Sunday, May 13, 2018

Pope John Paul II Born - May 18, 1920

Pope John Paul II gestures to the crowd at New York's Shea Stadium after his arrival Oct. 3, 1979. (AP Photo/File)

This week marks the anniversary of the birth of Karol Jozef Wojtyla, who later became head of the Roman Catholic Church and took the name Pope John Paul II.

A native of a small town near Krakow, Poland, by 1941 John Paul's entire immediate family had passed away for various reasons. During the Nazi occupation, he worked in a stone quarry after the university where he was studying philosophy was closed down.

Ordained a priest in 1946 and appointed as a bishop in 1958, John Paul was elected pope in 1978 after seven rounds of voting by the College of Cardinals.

"A conservative pontiff, John Paul II's papacy was marked by his firm and unwavering opposition to communism and war, as well as abortion, contraception, capital punishment, and homosexual sex," noted history.com.

"Pope John Paul II is remembered for his successful efforts to end communism, as well as for building bridges with peoples of other faiths, and issuing the Catholic Church's first apology for its actions during World War II."