With the death of Pope John Paul II (April 2, 2005), the longest pontificate in the history of the past century ended. The late pope was the first Slav at the head of Roman Catholicism, who made pastoral visits to many countries of the world (Russia is a notable exception). He canonized the largest number of saints in the history of the Catholic Church, including priests and believers who were persecuted by totalitarian and authoritarian regimes (among them, in particular, the exarch of Russian Catholics Leonid Fedorov). Hundreds of books were written about the pope during his lifetime, and immediately after the announcement of the death of John Paul II, the Secretary of State of the Vatican, Angelo Sodano, called him “the great pope” - this epithet is usually used in relation to the pontiffs recognized as saints or blessed.

However, all these positive aspects of the pontificate of John Paul II are combined with a number of problems in modern Catholicism. The new millennium has presented the church with a difficult choice: either to adapt to new public moods, or to act as the guardian of tradition. This choice can be compared with the era of the Reformation, when one part of Western theologians insisted on going towards Protestantism, and the other, on the contrary, on an “asymmetric” response to their challenge, involving a bet on everything positive and viable that was in the history of the Catholic Church. . As a result, the latter, who became the ideologists of the counter-reformation, won.

So, in order to try to determine the significance of the pontificate of John Paul II, it is necessary, first of all, to follow the social, political, internal and external church events that have taken place in the Vatican over the past quarter of a century.

Today the situation is as follows. The Second Vatican Council (1962–1965) launched reforms aimed at modernizing the church: the worship procedure was simplified, and the mass itself was translated into national languages; the rights of bishops were expanded (and at the same time, the prerogatives of the Vatican were somewhat reduced); dialogue is sanctioned with non-Catholic churches, as well as between believers and non-believers. The Church distanced itself from the apology of capitalism, demonstrating its freedom from any political, social or economic system. A certain continuation of this trend can be considered Catholic criticism of many manifestations of globalization, as well as a negative attitude towards unilateral military actions, for example, the war in Iraq.

However, a lot of problems have not been solved and still continue to be debatable. Many clerics and parishioners are pushing for further reforms, but even among modernizers there is no consensus on how deep they should be.

It is believed that during the pontificate of John Paul II, reformist tendencies in Catholicism did not receive support in the Vatican. But still, some actions of the late pope, such as demonstrative visits to the synagogue and the Lutheran church, as well as repentance for the sins of Catholicism (03/12/2000), committed over many centuries, including against the Jews, cannot but be called innovative. In a prayer left in the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem, John Paul II asked God for forgiveness for the wrongs against the Jewish people and expressed a desire to establish brotherly relations with them. The desire to “reconcile” with the Godless people is very extraordinary for the “head” of the Christian church and on the part of believers it can be considered in different ways, for example, in St. Peter’s Square, where the text of “public repentance” was read, it was met with stormy applause and applause. But if we discard the husks of recent widespread accusations of anti-Semitism and globalization, “reconciliation with the Jews” cannot be called anything but the apostasy of Catholics.

It should be noted that during the long 25-year pontificate, John Paul II tried in every possible way to raise the authority of the Vatican as a state, and at the same time the Catholic Church as an influential structure. For this reason, he established contacts with many state leaders.

For example, on January 24, 1979, Pope John Paul II received Andrei Gromyko at his request. The visit of the Soviet Foreign Minister to the Vatican was an unprecedented event. There were no diplomatic relations between the USSR and the Vatican at that time, the anti-communism of the pope was well known, as was the obvious hostility with which the Soviet authorities treated Catholicism.

In 1980, Queen Elizabeth II paid a state visit to the Vatican. The visit was historic, given that for many centuries British monarchs and Roman pontiffs were implacable enemies. Over time, the parties more or less calmed down, diplomatic relations were even established between the United Kingdom and the Vatican. But the visit of the ruling British monarch, and concurrently the head of the Anglican Church, to the Vatican was out of the question. Elizabeth II became the first British monarch to make a state visit to the Vatican. She also became the first monarch to invite the pope to Britain, however, with the stipulation that the trip should not be considered a visit to the country, but a pastoral visit to four million British Catholics.

In 1982, Pope John Paul II met with Yasser Arafat in Rome. The audience in the papal library was immediately criticized by Israel as a sign that the Catholic Church has nothing against the activities of Palestinian terrorists and as indirect evidence of anti-Semitic sentiments prevailing in the church.

In 1996, during a trip to Europe, the leader of the Cuban revolution, Fidel Castro, unexpectedly stopped by the Vatican, where he had a private meeting with John Paul II. For a long time, the church and the communist authorities of Cuba were at enmity. The Vatican has repeatedly accused Havana of violating the rights of believers. The meeting, according to observers, could mean that old opponents have found a compromise. And so it happened. Two years later, John Paul II arrived in Havana on a pastoral visit and met again with Fidel Castro. Already officially and publicly. At a meeting at the Revolutionary Palace in Havana, the pope condemned the economic sanctions against Cuba.

On March 11, 1999, the first meeting of the head of the Roman Catholic Church with the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran Mohammad Khatami took place in Rome. It was at the same time that Iran was trying to get out of international isolation.

In total, the late pontiff met with 426 heads of state, 187 prime ministers and 190 foreign ministers, and received credentials from 642 ambassadors.

During the reign of Pope John Paul II, as noted above, many new saints were glorified, in addition, by the decision of the pontiff, the “rehabilitation” of the medieval scholar Galileo Galilei and the beatification of Pius IX, which was carried out by Cardinal Paul Poupard in an interview with the Russian Catholic newspaper “Light of the Gospel” (No. 38. 22.10.2000), was substantiated as follows: "A person is canonized for Christian virtues, and not for the style of management."

One gets the impression that the Vatican under John Paul II sought to become as close as possible to the world and modernity, while wanting to make minimal compromises. Before John Paul II, not a single Pope of Rome was present at a rock concert (09/27/1997), at the stadium where a football match was held (10/29/2000). Before him, there were no CDs with songs that he himself wrote and sang. The late pontiff thus becomes, as it were, a symbol or rather an "advertisement" of the deliberate openness of the Catholic Church to the world. But such openness, in the end, entails the appearance of a significant number of demands directed to the Vatican by the public and the world, and the Vatican, accepting the rules of the game, is obliged to reckon with these demands. And therefore, with a deeper consideration of the current state of the Holy See, it becomes clear that behind the bright wrapper of general well-being, in Catholicism, there are many internal church problems imposed on the church by neophytes who do not want to give up for the sake of "high matters" from the usual comfortable way of life.

So, for example, liberals raise a number of issues that they would like to make, at least, debatable. Among them, the possible abolition of celibacy plays a significant role. There are no dogmatic prohibitions here, but celibacy corresponds to the centuries-old tradition of Catholic canon law. The discussion about celibacy has received a new impetus due to the recent accusations of European Catholic priests, and especially North American hierarchs, of crimes related to the seduction of minors.

Another problem is divorce. Canon law makes this procedure extremely difficult, which causes discontent among many believers. In many countries with a significant Catholic population, referendums have been held to legalize civil divorce, which has led many Catholics to resort to this method of ending family relations, ignoring the position of the clergy. In addition, after a civil divorce, they often enter into a second marriage, which is not recognized by the church, which creates considerable difficulties in communicating with confessors (this is one of the reasons for the decrease in parishioner activity).

The next problem is contraception. If the denial of abortion is practically the consensus of Roman Catholicism, then contraceptives are not so simple. Many Catholics from developing countries insist on a softening approach to this issue, arguing that without contraception, a significant part of large families is doomed to live in poverty.

Another “new age theme” is sexual minorities. The Vatican maintains a tradition of a sharply negative attitude towards them, their representatives are forbidden to be allowed to take communion. At the same time, global trends are directly opposite - some politicians, for whom such information used to mean the end of their careers, no longer hide their sexual orientation. To an even greater extent, this applies to public opinion leaders from the cultural and media elite.

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Proponents of reform draw attention to the decline in the authority of the church both among the flock and in international ruling circles. Thus, during the discussion of the draft European constitution, the Vatican failed to lobby for the inclusion of a provision on the Christian roots of European civilization in it.

As for the internal doctrinal state of Catholicism, the policy of John Paul II can be regarded as more conservative than liberal, as evidenced by the events that took place at the beginning of his pontificate, associated with the left-wing radical "liberation theology", which became widespread in Latin America. Then the general of the Jesuit order was replaced, since reformist tendencies were widespread within the order. The writings of individual liberal theologians were criticized, and the most famous of them, Hans Küng, was dismissed from the Catholic University.

Along with criticism of Latin American reformist tendencies, the influence of Opus Dei, a conservative Catholic organization founded in 1928 by the Spanish priest José Maria Escrivá de Balaguer, who was canonized by John Paul II, rose sharply. Opus Dei was also accused of links with Francoism (however, the Opusdeists contributed to the modernization of Spain and its gradual move away from harsh dictatorship and self-isolation), and too harsh repentant discipline, up to self-flagellation. However, this organization attracted the attention of the Vatican in connection with an attempt to synthesize spiritual and secular life and the “sanctification” of any work associated with this (excluding, of course, criminal activity). This approach attracted to the organization many successful lay people from among the "pillars of society" - businessmen, politicians, intellectuals. This approach is combined with an emphasis on the need for the wide participation of members of the organization in charitable projects.

The "Opusdeist" component of church politics is a sign that the Vatican was intent on operating within a traditionalist paradigm. Increasing the authority of the church should be carried out without radicalism, which, from the point of view of the late pope and his inner circle, could lead to a serious aggravation of intra-church conflicts (the liturgical reform of the Second Vatican Council led to the exit from subordination to the pope of a group of believers headed by two bishops).

Relations between Roman Catholicism and the Russian Orthodox Church in the second half of the 20th century deserve special attention, the volume of this work does not allow us to note all the stages of their development, but in brief we can say the following.

At the Second Vatican Council, in commemoration of the emerging fraternal relations between the Vatican and the Moscow Patriarchate, the term "Sister Church" was adopted. But quite recently, the current Pope Benedict XVI, back when he was the prefect of the Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, emphasized that the term Sister Church is incorrect, and the question is not only in terminology, but also in the essence of the matter. According to him, "when it comes to the "Church", it means the only, holy, universal, apostolic Catholic Church." Only other Catholic churches can be called her "sisters," the cardinal said, adding that he opposes "primitive ecumenism." “The expression “sister Church” is not applicable to the relationship between Catholics, Orthodox and Protestants. One can only speak of the Catholic Church as such and certain doctrines in the East.”

From the ecclesiastical and political point of view, it should be noted that during the time of the pontificate of John Paul II, attempts were repeatedly made to bring the pope to the canonical territory of the Russian Orthodox Church - Russia and Ukraine. Until now, the question of Vatican support for the aggressive actions of the Uniates in the western regions of Ukraine remains open.

In addition, the behavior of the Albanian Catholics during the NATO aggression in the Balkans is suggestive. When the Serbian Orthodox, oppressed by Muslims, did not feel any help from their "fellow Christians", although Orthodox churches were constantly surrounded by NATO tanks parked around them, rows of barbed wire, sandbag checkpoints and soldiers armed to the teeth, who demanded documents from those coming to temple. And 60 thousand Catholics felt, as before, quite freely and even attended the events of local Muslims.

Each major historical personality takes its descendants as a kind of hostage. And in this sense, John Paul II was a great personality, convenient for posterity. In whatever direction the further development of the Catholic Church goes, it will always be possible to say that this is a continuation of the course of the “great pope”.

Will the Catholics go for greater liberalization - it will be possible to say that they continued the line of John Paul II for openness to the world. The conservative course of protecting traditional Christian values ​​from the sometimes corrupting winds of time will also find its justification in the late Pope. Will the Vatican try to expand its influence to the east, to Russia - it is John Paul II who can be called the initiator of this policy. But the opposite position on the search for points of contact with the Russian Orthodox Church, in a sense, can also be justified in the name of the pope.

So far, it is only clear that John Paul II left his successors freedom in all but one thing. From now on, they will have to act under the gunpoint of television cameras and in the presence of huge crowds of people. In order not to lose the authority of the Catholic Church, the late pope was forced to introduce into his activities elements, so to speak, of representation or, as they say now, “elements of the show”. And in this sense, in order to make any radical changes in the course of its further development, the current church will have to choose between the always deceptive "love of the crowd" and the conscious adherence to Christ's precepts.

For the first time in the history of the Roman Catholic Church, a Slav became a pope. With the exception of six German popes, the head of the Holy See was the cardinals of the Romance countries. The 58-year-old Pole was said to have been elected through a coalition of German-speaking cardinals. His candidacy was proposed to the conclave by Cardinal Franz Koenig of Vienna. It is said that he played a decisive role in the unusual choice.

Wojtyla was known as a provincial and did not have a specific program. It was also known that the circle of his personal interests was very wide. Karol Wojtyla wrote poems and plays, was fond of skiing and swimming. The cardinals did not expect anything definite, and even more so no cardinal changes from him. Perhaps that is why John Paul II managed to get the required number of votes. It soon became apparent how erroneous were the ideas of the cardinals about the provincial archbishop.

Dad's private life

At half past five in the morning, when the guards of the Vatican yawn at their posts, and the inhabitants of Rome inspect their last dreams, a table lamp is lit in a small cell on the third floor of the Apostolic Palace. And so every morning. For 22 years. It is difficult for rare guests who have been in this cell to believe that the vicar of God on earth spends the nights here - the atmosphere of his cell and the luxury of other halls of the Vatican palaces are so contrasting. A hard bed, a small rug, two armchairs, a table, and a few antique icons on the whitewashed walls.

The house in the small Polish town of Wadovichi, in one of whose apartments the Wojtyla family once lived, has now been turned into a museum. Six families happily agreed to move from here to another place so that on the first floor there was a bookstore with the writings of the pope, and on the second floor - his personal belongings: the canoe paddle of young Karol, his skis and the three cassocks of the pontiff. About 180,000 visitors visit the yellow stone house every year.

The pontiff himself admits that he has the saddest memories associated with the house in Vadovichi. Karol tried to hide from loneliness by playing in the school theater. He was going to become an actor, or at least a playwright, until the meeting, which is now commonly called a divine blessing, took place. In 1938, the troupe was to perform before Archbishop Adam Sapieha. Wojtyla was entrusted with a welcoming speech. After the performance, the archbishop approached the young man and asked what he was going to do in the future. "Philology or acting," replied Karol. "It's a pity. It's a pity that you don't want to give your talents to the church," said Adam Sapieha.

John Paul II claims that this conversation was the turning point in his life. Months later, he felt an irresistible desire to become a monk and came to the archbishop. He refused the young man three times. Only years later, in 1946, Archbishop Adam ordained Karol.

Thus began his journey to the Vatican.

The pontiff still maintains relations with the friends of his youth. Several times a year he has lunch with classmate Jerzy Kluter, who, just as then, calls him by his school nickname - Lolik. Now, of course, it is impossible for two old men to play football or go skiing.

Best of the day

"He still remains a mystery to me," Jerzy Kluger admits.

Dad's friends say that he is very painfully worried that his health does not allow him, as before, to go swimming and hiking in the Alps. Previously, bodyguards could barely keep up with their ward.

His choice of books to read is eclectic: books on philosophy, history or sociology, the writings of Dostoyevsky and Rilke. The pontiff is fluent in eight languages, so he reads books in the original.

In the evening at 11:00 p.m., the pope descends before the altar in his private chapel. The half hour he spends before the crucifixion is the only time during the day when John Paul II can be left alone. After that, he goes to bed to obey the schedule drawn up by his personal secretaries in the morning.

Infallible Pope

The years of the papacy of John Paul II became the brightest in the almost two thousand years of the history of the Vatican. The Roman Catholic Church is methodically shaken by scandals, but even they cannot shake the influence of the pope. It is unlikely that anyone will doubt that the return of the Vatican to a leading role in world politics was due to someone other than the pope. John Paul II became the catalyst for the collapse of the socialist camp. At home - in Poland - the pope is considered the spiritual leader of Solidarity. During the years of opposition to the official authorities, Catholic priests, at the request of Solidarity members, transported seditious papers under their cassocks, and the pontiff only welcomed this. The Pope blessed the collapse of Yugoslavia, made an unthinkable number of foreign visits for the head of the church, and achieved representation of the Vatican in the UN. Thanks to the Pope, the Catholic Church revised its attitude towards the Inquisition, the teachings of Darwin, rehabilitated Giordano Bruno, Jan Hus and Galileo Galilei. Martin Luther is said to be next in line.

In internal church affairs, John Paul II remains a conservative. The Pope is against abortion and the abolition of the vow of celibacy for priests, female clergy, same-sex marriages and, of course, the abolition of the dogma of infallibility of the head of the Holy See. This is perhaps the only thing that his opponents can blame the pope for. There is an opinion that in the concept of the cardinals, the "liberal pope", whom they are so looking forward to, is a person who is loyal above all to their own affairs. In other words, able to turn a blind eye to the scams of cardinals, bishops and priests. "Svobodny" - first of all in questions of an estimation of their financial activity.

The pontiff finds it increasingly difficult to manage his subordinates. Even people close to the pope say that his main trouble as a "manager" is that John Paul II is ready to engage in administrative work only in case of emergency. "The pontiff accepts a person in order to solve a problem," says one of his secretaries. "But he forgets about him, and even about the problem, as soon as the visitor closes the door behind him."

At the same time, the Pope's assistants never cease to be amazed at how quickly he gets to the heart of the matter during the annual discussion of financial statements. “But I was a priest and did the bookkeeping myself,” the pontiff explains in such cases.

Not so long ago, the head of the German Congregation of Bishops, Karl Lehmann, in an interview with the German radio station Deutschlandfunk for the first time publicly called on the pope to resign. Referring to the health and advanced age of the pontiff, he advised the pope to confess that he could not lead the church.

The idea of ​​the pope's voluntary resignation, following Karl Lehmann, was supported by other members of the conclave. The headlines of the Italian newspapers were filled with the words "conspiracy of the cardinals." The next day, thousands of people gathered in St. Peter's Square in the Vatican. Those gathered came to ask John Paul II to stay. Only the pope himself could calm the crowd - only after he went out onto the balcony and promised that "he would remain the head of the church for exactly as long as the Lord God wanted." An hour later, Leman was dismissed.

But even after that, the gossip about the successor to the papal throne during the living pope did not stop. There has already been a precedent in history: Pope Celestine V retired due to "health." True, John Paul II always reminds that it was for this that Dante Alighieri placed Pope Celestine V in the first circle of hell.

On May 18, John Paul II turns 80 years old. In 1992, he had a malignant tumor removed. Although the Vatican still stubbornly denies rumors about the pope's progressing Parkinson's disease and several heart attacks, the pontiff himself does not hide the fact that his health leaves much to be desired. However, there can be no question of any early retirement, the secretary of John Paul II invariably emphasizes. “Do you know how the pontiff has been answering questions about health lately?” the secretary of journalists asks.

Karol Jozef Wojtyla was born in Wadowice, in southern Poland, on May 18, 1920. He was the youngest of three children of Karol Wojtyla and Emilia Kaczorowska. In 1978, the 264th pope, John Paul II, became the first non-Italian pope on the Holy See to be elected in the last 455 years, one of the youngest pontiffs in history, and the first pope of Slavic origin.

2. 1932: Karol Wojtyla at the age of twelve (left in the second row) with classmates from the parish school in Wadowice, before moving to Krakow.

3. The photo was taken in the 1930s. Karl Wojtyla with a candle after receiving First Communion in Krakow.

4. July 1939: Nineteen-year-old Karol Wojtyla, second from right. According to biographers, two months before the outbreak of World War II in Europe, Wojtyla attended a military training camp in Western Ukraine, which was then part of the eastern regions of Poland.

5. Young priest Karol Wojtyla. Photo taken in Poland in 1948.

6. June 26, 1967 Karol Wojtyla receives a cardinal's hat. Three years earlier he had become Archbishop of Krakow.

7. October 16, 1978: Pope John Paul II, former Polish Cardinal Karol Wojtyla, on the day he was elected head of the Catholic Church in the Vatican. In 1958, Karol Wojtyla became bishop of Krakow, in 1963 he was appointed archbishop, and then became pope under the name of John Paul II.

8. October 22, 1978 Pope John Paul II kisses a priest during his ordination in front of St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican. Cardinal Karol Wojtyla of Poland became the first non-Italian pope since Adrian VI, who was from Holland and ascended the papacy in 1542. The new pope chose the name "John Paul" in honor of his predecessor, who died after only 33 days as pope.

9. June 7, 1979 Pope John Paul II visits the former Auschwitz-Birkenau Nazi camp in Auschwitz on his first trip to Poland.

10. June 21, 1980: American President Jimmy Carter and Pope John Paul II during a meeting in the Pontiff's Library in the Vatican.

11. May 13, 1981. A hand with a pistol aimed at the pontiff in St. Peter's Square during the meeting of the Pope with the faithful. Then several bullets hit the pontiff, wounding him in the stomach and damaging the intestines.

12. May 13, 1981. The Pope and his bodyguards after the assassination attempt by Mehmet Ali Agca in St. Peter's Square in Rome.

13. May 19, 1981. Pope John Paul II at the Policlinico Gemelli hospital in Rome after the assassination attempt on May 13.

14. May 28, 1982. Pope John Paul II and Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace.

15 May 30, 1982: Pope John Paul II addresses Polish repatriates at Crystal Palace, London. This was the first visit of a Pope to the UK.

16. December 27, 1963. Pope John Paul II and Mehmet Ali Agca, the Turkish assassin who assassinated him, in the Rebibbia Prison in Rome. They talked alone for 20 minutes. After that, the Pope said: “What we talked about will remain our secret. I spoke to him as to a brother whom I have forgiven and who has my full confidence."

17 April 1985 Audience of the Prince and Princess of Wales with Pope John Paul II in the Vatican. Princess Diana, according to the protocol, in a black veil.

18. February 2, 1986. Pope John Paul II and the Dalai Lama. The Pope is holding a book by the Dalai Lama, which he presented to the Pope during his ten-day visit to India.

19 November 30, 1986 Pope John Paul II and a kangaroo in Adelaide's Victoria Park during a trip to Australia.

20. June 8, 1991. Polish President Lech Walesa kisses the hand of Pope John Paul II at the Royal Castle in Warsaw, holding the first copy of the Polish constitution.

21. August 12, 1993. US President Bill Clinton points to crowds of people cheering Pope John Paul II during his visit to Denver, Colorado.

22. January 15, 1995. Pope John Paul II's helicopter flies over crowds at Manila's Luneta Park, where more than two million people have gathered for outdoor worship during the Tenth World Youth Congress.

24. June 18, 1998. South African President Nelson Mandela speaks with Pope John Paul II during a meeting at the Vatican.

25. January 25, 1998. Pope John Paul II greets Cuban leader Fidel Castro during a Mass at Revolution Square in Havana.

29 April 9, 2004. Pope John Paul II receives Holy Communion from Cardinal Joseph Alois Ratzinger, later Pope Benedict XVI, in the Vatican.

30. June 4, 2003. US President George W. Bush meets with Pope John Paul II in the Vatican.

31. February 23, 2003. Pope John Paul II greets pilgrims from his library during a televised address to the crowd in Vatican Square for a traditional general audience. The pontiff, who was recovering from a hospitalization three weeks earlier with breathing problems, addressed the faithful via video because the Vatican had traditionally banned him from a library window.

32. April 4, 2005. The body of Pope John Paul II, who died two days earlier, is on display at St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican for a farewell.

33. April 6, 2005. Those who came to say goodbye to the late Pope John Paul II pass by his coffin, exhibited in St. Peter's Basilica.

Biography

Saint John Paul II - Pope of Rome, Primate of the Roman Catholic Church from October 16, 1978 to April 2, 2005, playwright, poet, teacher. Beatified on 1 May 2011 by Pope Benedict XVI. Canonized on April 27, 2014 by Pope Francis and his retired Pope Benedict.

In 1978, the 264th pope, John Paul II, became the first non-Italian pope to be elected in 455 years (Adrian VI, who became pope in 1523, was Dutch by birth), one of the youngest pontiffs in history, and the first pope of Slavic origin. . However, there is a version that John Paul II was the second Slavic pontiff: perhaps the first pope of Slavic origin was Sixtus V, his father Srecko Peric was from Montenegro.

In terms of the duration of his pontificate, he is second only to the Apostle Peter and Pope Pius IX (1846-1878). John Paul II was succeeded by the German Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, who took the name Benedict XVI.

Childhood

Karol Jozef Wojtyla was born on May 18, 1920 in the city of Wadowice near Krakow in the family of Lieutenant of the Polish Army K. Wojtyla, who was fluent in German and systematically taught German to his youngest son, and teacher Emilia Kachorowska, a Roman Catholic born in Krakow, by origin from the Kholm region, According to a number of Russian or Ukrainian sources, perhaps that is why the future Pope loved and respected Orthodoxy and believed that Christianity should breathe with two lungs - Western and Eastern. When Karol was 8 years old, his mother died, and at 12 he lost his older brother Edmund.

In his youth, he was fond of theater and dreamed of becoming a professional actor: when his friends asked if he wanted to become a priest, he invariably answered “Non sum dignus” (from Latin “I am not worthy”). At the age of 14, he tried himself in a school drama club, and in his youth he wrote the play "King-Spirit". He headed the school Marian society. At the same age, he made his first pilgrimage to the main shrine of Poland in the city of Czestochowa. In 1938, Karol received the sacrament of chrismation and received his secondary education.

Youth

Karol studied extremely successfully. After graduating from the classical lyceum in 1938, on the eve of World War II, he entered the Faculty of Polonism at the Jagiellonian University in Krakow, where he studied philology, literature and philosophy of the peoples of Poland. He wrote poetry: in 1939 he compiled a collection called "The Psalter of the Renaissance" (which included various poems, including one dedicated to the mother, as well as the poetic drama "David"). In his lyrics, Wojtyla describes his reverence for the Lord and the possible depths of happiness and sorrow. In addition to engaging in literary activities, he managed to take an introductory course in the Russian language and a course in Church Slavonic writing. Then he became a member of "Studio 39" - a theater group.

I met the beginning of the Second World War in Krakow, where I prayed in the Wawel Cathedral, when the first bombs fell on the city. On September 2, together with his father, he left Krakow and went to the east of the country, where, according to the general opinion, the Polish army was gathering forces for a counterattack, but after meeting with the Soviet troops, they had to return.

During the German occupation, when most of the professors of the university were sent to a concentration camp and classes officially stopped, he attended classes at the “underground university”, and in order to avoid deportation to Germany and support himself and his father, since the occupiers did not pay his father the pension for which they had previously lived, worked in the quarry of the Solvay company near Krakow, then moved to the chemical plant of the same company. He urged the Polish workers not to transfer their hatred of the occupiers to the uninvolved Volksdeutsche, Rusyns and Gorals from among the workers themselves.

From the late autumn of 1939 until the middle of 1940, he wrote many poems and several plays on biblical subjects, and also began translating Sophocles' Oedipus Rex into Polish. At this time, Karol was still sure that he would connect his future with the theater or science, but his fate was radically influenced by the meeting with Jan Tyranovsky, the owner of the tailoring workshop.

Tyranovsky was the head of the illegal religious society "Life-Giving Rosary": members of the circle met for prayer communication and reflection on the "Sacraments of the Rosary", the number of which was 15 (corresponding to the fifteen main events in the life of Jesus Christ and the Virgin Mary). Accordingly, Tyranovsky was looking for 15 young people who would be ready to devote themselves to the love of God and the service of others. The organization of such a community at that time was extremely dangerous, and its members were threatened with sending to the camp and death. Once a week, Karol and other young adepts gathered at Tyranovsky's, where he read books on the history of religion and the writings of Catholic mystics with his pupils. The future pope spoke extremely highly of Tyranovsky and believed that it was thanks to him that he discovered the world of true spirituality.

At the same time, he became one of the initiators of the underground Rhapsody Theater, whose performances were reduced to the mere pronunciation of the text. The theater staged plays about social and political injustice, about the struggle of the oppressed: Karol and other members of the troupe believed that their undertaking could support Polish culture during the occupation and preserve the spirit of the nation.

On February 18, 1941, Karol Wojtyla Sr. died. The death of his father was a turning point in Karol's life. Subsequently, he recalled: “By the age of twenty, I had lost everyone I loved. God was clearly preparing me for my path. My father was the person who explained the mysteries of God to me and helped me to comprehend them.” After this moment, Karol finally decided that he would not be an actor or a teacher - he would be a priest.

In 1942, Karol Wojtyla enrolled in the general education courses of the underground Krakow Theological Seminary, turning to Cardinal Sapieha for this, who later became another of his mentor: for Wojtyla, this meant the beginning of an even more stressful and risky life, as he continued to work in a career and participate in theater troupe. In the spring of 1943, Karol finally made a difficult decision by meeting with his theater mentor Mieczysław Kotliarchyk and telling him that he was leaving the theater and was about to take the priesthood. After graduating from the seminary, he initially thought about entering a Carmelite monastery and living the quiet life of a monk.

In 1944, the Archbishop of Krakow, Cardinal Stefan Sapieha, for security reasons, transferred Wojtyla, along with other "illegal" seminarians, to work in the diocesan administration in the archbishop's palace, where Karol remained until the end of the war.

In March 1945, after the liberation of Krakow by Soviet troops, classes resumed at the Jagiellonian University. Wojtyla (like Sapieha) was extremely cautious about the new regime: back in 1941, in one of his letters, he wrote that “communism is a demagogic utopia, and Poland and the Polish communists have nothing in common except language.”

Even in his youth, Karol became a polyglot and spoke quite fluently in thirteen languages ​​- in his native Polish, and in addition to Slovak, Russian, Esperanto, Ukrainian, Belarusian, Italian, French, Spanish, Portuguese, German and English, and also knew Latin.

Church ministry

On November 1, 1946, Karol Wojtyla was ordained a priest and a few days later went to Rome to continue his theological education.

In the summer of 1947 he made a trip to Western Europe, during which he endured not only pleasant, but also disturbing impressions. Many years after that, he wrote: “I saw from different angles and began to better understand what Western Europe is - Europe after the war, Europe of magnificent Gothic cathedrals, which, however, was overwhelmed by a wave of secularization. I realized the seriousness of the challenge thrown to the church and the need to confront the formidable danger with new forms of pastoral activity, open to wider participation of the laity.

In June 1948, at the Pontifical International Athenaeum "Angelicum", he defended his doctoral thesis on the works of the Spanish mystic of the 16th century, the reformer of the Carmelite order, St. John of the Cross. Then he returned to Poland, where in July 1948 he was appointed assistant rector of the parish in the village of Niegovich, in the south of the country in the commune of Gdow, where he served under Kazimierz Buzaly, whom Sapieha deeply respected. In the village, the newly-made priest immediately won great respect: so once the local representatives of the secret police decided to dissolve the parish branch of the Catholic Youth Association and intensively searched for scammers among the parishioners, but no one agreed to betray Father Wojtyla. Karol taught parishioners not to openly oppose the authorities: he believed that in such difficult times it is better to behave loyally and humbly.

In December 1948, the Academic Senate of the Jagiellonian University in Krakow recognized the diploma received by Wojtyla in Rome as valid and awarded him a doctorate.

In August 1949 he was appointed assistant priest in the parish of St. Florian in Krakow, but in September 1951 he was temporarily relieved of his post in order to prepare for the exam for the title of university teacher.

In 1953, Wojtyła defended his dissertation at the theological faculty of the Jagiellonian University in Krakow on the possibility of substantiating Christian ethics based on the ethical system of the German philosopher Max Scheler. After defending his dissertation in October 1953, he began teaching ethics and moral theology at the university, but soon the communist government of Poland closed the theological faculty, and they were forced to transfer their studies to the Krakow Theological Seminary. Then he was offered to teach at the Catholic University of Lublin, where at the end of 1956 he headed the department of ethics.

On July 4, 1958, by appointment of Pope Pius XII, Father Wojtyła became auxiliary bishop of the Archbishopric of Cracow and titular bishop of Ombi. On September 28, 1958, the ordination to the bishop took place, which was performed by Archbishop Eugeniusz Bazyak of Lviv in co-service with the titular Bishop of Daulia Franciszek Jop and the titular Bishop of Vaga Boleslav Komink. On July 16, 1962, after the death of Archbishop Eugeniusz Bazyak, he was elected capitular vicar of the Krakow Archbishopric.

Between 1962 and 1964 he took part in all four sessions of the Second Vatican Council convened by Pope John XXIII, being one of the youngest participants. He played an important role in the preparation of the pastoral constitution "Gaudium et spes" and the declaration of religious freedom "Dignitatis Humanae". Thanks to this work, in January 1964 he was elevated to the rank of archbishop, metropolitan of Krakow.

On June 26, 1967, Pope Paul VI elevated him to the cardinal priesthood with the title of the church pro hac vice of San Cesareo in Palatio.

As a cardinal, he tried in every possible way to oppose the communist regime in Poland. During the events in Gdansk, people took to the streets after a sharp increase in the prices of goods, and police officers and troops were put forward to suppress the riots, as a result of which several people died. Wojtyła condemned acts of violence by the authorities and demanded "the right to bread, the right to freedom ... genuine justice ... and an end to intimidation." The cardinal also continued his long-standing litigation with state power: for example, he filed petitions for the construction of new churches, advocated the abolition of military service for seminary students, and defended the right to give children a Catholic upbringing and education. All these activities were partially successful.

In 1973-1975, Paul VI invited Wojtyla to Rome 11 times for private conversations, which indicates that a rather close relationship developed between them. In March 1976, Wojtyla reads his sermons in Italian to other cardinals (and not in Latin: knowledge of Italian increased the chances of being elected pontiff). After this, the new Polish cardinal began to be noticed more often: for example, in the same year, The New York Times included him in the list of the ten most likely successors to Paul VI.

In August 1978, after the death of Paul VI, Karol Wojtyla participated in the conclave that elected Pope John Paul I, but he died just 33 days after the election - on September 28, 1978.

In October of the same year, another conclave was held. The participants in the conclave were split into supporters of two Italian contenders - Giuseppe Siri - the archbishop of Genoa, known for his conservative views, and the more liberal Giovanni Benelli - the archbishop of Florence. Ultimately, Wojtyła emerged as a compromise candidate and was elected pope. Upon accession to the throne, Wojtyla took the name of his predecessor and became John Paul II.

Pope John Paul II

1970s

John Paul II became pope on October 16, 1978, at the age of 58.

Like his predecessor, John Paul II tried to simplify his position, depriving her of many royal attributes. In particular, speaking about himself, he used the pronoun I instead of we, as is customary among royalty. The pope abandoned the coronation ceremony, instead holding a simple enthronement. He did not wear the papal tiara and always sought to emphasize the role that is indicated in the title of the pope, Servus Servorum Dei (from Latin - "slave of God's servants").

1979

January 24 - Pope John Paul II received the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the USSR Andrei Gromyko at his request, which was an unprecedented event, since there were no diplomatic relations between the USSR and the Vatican at that time, and everyone knew the pope's attitude towards the communist ideology and the obvious hostility of the Soviet power to Catholicism.

January 25 - The Pope's pastoral trip to Mexico begins - the first of the pontiff's 104 trips abroad.
March 4 - The first papal encyclical Redemptor Hominis (Jesus Christ, the Redeemer) is published.

March 6 - Pope John Paul II made a will, which he constantly reread, and which, with the exception of a few additions, remained unchanged.

June 2 - Wojtyła came to his native Poland for the first time as head of the Roman Catholic Church. For the Poles, who were under the rule of an atheistic pro-Soviet regime, the election of their compatriot as pope was a spiritual impetus to the struggle and the emergence of the Solidarity movement. “Without him, communism would not have ended, or at least it would have happened much later and with more bloodshed,” the British newspaper Financial Times reported the words of the former Solidarity leader Lech Walesa. During the entire period of the pontificate, John Paul II visited his homeland eight times. Perhaps the most important was the visit in 1983, when the country was still reeling from the shock caused by the imposition of martial law in December 1981. The communist authorities feared that the pope's visit would be used by the opposition. But the Pope did not give rise to accusations either then or on his next visit in 1987. With opposition leader Lech Walesa, he met exclusively in private. In Soviet times, the Polish leadership agreed to the arrival of the pope with the obligatory consideration of the reaction of the USSR. The then leader of Poland, General Wojciech Jaruzelski, agreeing to the pope's visit, wanted to show that he was first of all a Pole and a patriot, and only then a communist. Later, the pope played a big role in the fact that in the late 1980s the change of power in Poland took place without firing a shot. As a result of his dialogue with General Wojciech Jaruzelski, he peacefully transferred power to Lech Walesa, who received papal blessing for democratic reforms.

June 28 - The first consistory of the pontificate was held, during which the pope handed over red cardinal caps to 14 new "princes of the church".

In 1980, the Vatican was visited on a state visit by the English Queen Elizabeth II (she is also the head of the Anglican Church). It was a historic visit, given that for many centuries the British monarchs and Roman pontiffs were implacable enemies. Elizabeth II was the first of the British monarchs to visit the Vatican on a state visit and even invited the Pope to the UK for a pastoral visit to 4 million British Catholics.

assassination attempt

On May 13, 1981, the reign of John Paul II almost ended as a result of an assassination attempt on the Vatican's St. Peter. Subsequently, John Paul II came to the conclusion that the hand of the Mother of God herself took the bullet away from him.

The attack was carried out by a member of the Turkish far-right group "Gray Wolves" Mehmet Ali Agca. He ended up in Italy after escaping from a Turkish prison, where he served time for murder and bank robbery. Agca seriously wounded John Paul II in the stomach and was arrested on the spot.

In 1983, the Pope visited the imprisoned Ali Agca, who was sentenced to life imprisonment. They talked about something, left alone, but the topic of their conversation is still unknown. After this meeting, John Paul II said: “What we talked about will remain our secret. I spoke to him as to a brother whom I have forgiven and who has my full confidence."

In 1984, Ali Agca testified that the Bulgarian special services were involved in the assassination attempt, after which charges were brought against three Bulgarian citizens and three Turkish citizens, including Bulgarian citizen Sergei Antonov, who was declared the coordinator of the assassination attempt. The version about the involvement of the KGB in this has become widespread. However, all of the accused, except Agdzhi, were acquitted due to lack of evidence.

At the request of John Paul II, Agca was pardoned by the Italian authorities and handed over to Turkish justice.
In 2005, Ali Agja stated that some Vatican cardinals were involved in the assassination attempt.

The head of the special commission of the Italian parliament, Senator Paolo Gutsanti, a member of the Forward Italy party (led by Berlusconi), told reporters: "The commission believes that, without a doubt, the leaders of the USSR were the initiators of the removal of John Paul II." The report is based on information published by Vasily Mitrokhin, former head of the USSR KGB archival department, who fled to the UK in 1992. This report, however, was never considered official in Italy, the special commission itself was dissolved and subsequently accused of slander, and the report of fraud designed to denigrate the socialist Romano Prodi, Berlusconi's rival in the upcoming elections.

1980s

In 1982, Pope John Paul II met with Yasser Arafat.
On December 11, 1983, John Paul II became the first pontiff to visit a Lutheran church (in Rome).
1985

On February 27, during a visit to Portugal, another assassination attempt was made on the pope. The attempt was made by a young priest, a supporter of the ultra-conservative and reactionary Cardinal Lefebvre.

1986
On April 13, for the first time since apostolic times, the pope visited the synagogue (in Rome) and greeted the Jews, whom he called "big brothers".
On October 27, the Italian city of Assisi hosted the World Day of Prayer for Peace with the participation of representatives of various religions from around the world.
From April 1 to April 12, 1987, the Pope traveled to Chile and met with Pinochet.

On December 1, 1989, for the first time, the pope received a Soviet leader in the Vatican - Mikhail Gorbachev became him. The biographer of John Paul II, George Weigel, assessed this event as follows: "Gorbachev's visit to the Vatican was an act of capitulation of atheistic humanism as an alternative to the development of mankind." The meeting became a turning point in diplomatic contacts between the USSR and the Vatican and in the process of reviving the Catholic Church in the USSR. On March 15, 1990, official relations were established between the Vatican and the USSR, having diplomatic status. Already in April 1991, an official document was signed on the restoration of the structures of the Catholic Church in Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan. And in August 1991, by special order of Mikhail Gorbachev, the Iron Curtain was raised, and more than 100 thousand young men and women from the USSR without visas, on internal Soviet passports, went to meet with the Pope in Poland.

1990s

On July 12, 1992, the pontiff announced his forthcoming hospitalization due to the need to remove a tumor in the intestines.
On December 30, 1993, diplomatic relations were established between the Vatican and Israel.

On April 29, 1994, the pontiff slipped while getting out of the shower and broke his hip. According to independent experts, from the same year he began to suffer from Parkinson's disease.

In May 1995, when John Paul II turned 75, he asked his closest adviser, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, whether he should resign his post, as he attributed the canon law of the Catholic Church to the bishops and cardinals who have reached this age. As a result of the historical and theological research, it was concluded that an elderly Pope is preferable for the Church than a “retired Pope”.

On May 21, 1995, the Pope asked for forgiveness for the evil done by Catholics in the past to representatives of other faiths.
On November 19, 1996, the pontiff received Cuban leader Fidel Castro at the Vatican.
1997

On April 12, John Paul II traveled to Sarajevo (Bosnia and Herzegovina), where he spoke about the civil war in this former Yugoslav republic as a tragedy and a challenge for all of Europe. Mines were found along the path of the papal cortege.

On August 24, the Pope took part in the World Catholic Youth Day in Paris, which was attended by over a million young men and women.
On September 27, the pontiff attended a concert of rock stars in Bologna as a listener.

On January 21, 1998, the Pope began a pastoral trip to communist Cuba. At a meeting with Fidel Castro at the Palace of the Revolution (Spanish) Russian. in Havana, the Pope condemned economic sanctions against Cuba. At the same time, the Pope gave Fidel Castro a list of 302 names of Cuban political prisoners. The historic visit culminated in a mass at the Revolution Square in Havana, where about a million Cubans gathered. After this visit, the Cuban authorities released several prisoners, allowed Christmas to be celebrated, agreed to allow new missionaries to enter the island, and in general, the attitude towards the church became more liberal.

1999

On March 11, the Pope met with Iranian President Mohammad Khatami for the first time in Rome. This visit helped Iran emerge from international isolation.

On May 7, the papal trip to Romania began. John Paul II became the first Pope to visit an Orthodox country.

On June 13, the Pope visited Warsaw and during the visit conducted a beatification of 108 blessed Polish martyrs - ministers of the church who died during the Second World War.

2000s

year 2000
In 2000, the Pope was awarded the United States' highest honor, the Congressional Gold Medal.
On March 12, the pontiff performed the rite Mea Culpa - repentance for the sins of the sons of the church.
On March 20, the papal visit to Israel began, during which he prayed at the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem.
On May 13, the Roman high priest revealed the "third secret" of the Mother of God of Fatima, connected with the prediction of an attempt on his life in 1981.
year 2001
On May 4, in Athens, the pontiff asked for forgiveness for the destruction of Constantinople by the crusaders in 1204.
On May 6, in Damascus, John Paul II became the first pope to visit a mosque.

Until his last days, dad tried to support the flock in the post-Soviet republics of the USSR. In June, already seriously ill, he visited Kyiv and Lvov, where he gathered hundreds of thousands of pilgrims. In September, a pastoral visit to Kazakhstan and Armenia followed, and in Yerevan he served a divine service at the Eternal Flame of the Memorial to the victims of the genocide in the Ottoman Empire. In May 2002 he visited Azerbaijan.

On September 12, after the terrorist attacks in the United States, the head of the Roman Catholic Church urged President George W. Bush not to allow the logic of hatred and violence to prevail.

On November 5, 2003, the pontiff received Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Vatican.
2004
On June 29, the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople Bartholomew I made an official visit to the Vatican.
On August 27, the pope sent a copy of the icon of the Kazan Mother of God, which was kept in his personal chapel, as a gift to the Russian Orthodox Church.
2005 year

February 1 - John Paul II was hastily taken to the Roman clinic "Gemelli" in connection with acute laryngotracheitis, complicated by spasmodic phenomena.

February 23 - The last book written by the Pope, "Memory and Identity", appeared on the shelves of bookstores in Italy.
February 24 - the pontiff was re-hospitalized, during which he underwent a tracheostomy.

March 13 - The pope was discharged from the hospital and returned to the Vatican, but for the first time he was unable to take part directly in the Holy Week services.

March 27 - The pontiff tried to address the faithful after Easter Mass from the window of the Apostolic Palace overlooking St. Peter's Square, but could not utter a word.

March 30 - John Paul II made his last public appearance, but failed to greet the faithful who had gathered in St. Peter's Square in the Vatican.

April 2 - John Paul II, who suffered from Parkinson's disease, arthritis and a number of other diseases, died at the age of 84 at 21:37 local time (GMT +2). In his last hours, a huge crowd of people gathered outside his Vatican residence, praying for relief from his suffering. According to the conclusion of the Vatican doctors, John Paul II died "from septic shock and cardiovascular collapse."

April 14 - The Vatican hosted the premiere of the TV series Karol. The man who became the Pope." The premiere was planned for early April, but was postponed due to the death of the pontiff.

April 17 - mourning for the deceased pope ended and the earthly term of government allotted to him officially ended. According to ancient custom, the personal seal of John Paul II and the ring, the so-called Pescatore ("Fisherman's Ring"), with the image of the first pope, the Apostle Peter, were broken and destroyed. John Paul II certified official letters with a seal, personal correspondence with an imprint of a ring.

April 18 - On the first day of the 2005 Papal Conclave, the Italian television channel Canale 5 began showing the TV series Karol. The man who became the Pope."

Activity

Anti-communist and conservative

An entire era is associated with the name of John Paul II - the era of the collapse of communism in Europe - and for many in the world it was he who became its symbol along with Mikhail Gorbachev.

In his post, John Paul II proved to be a tireless fighter both against Stalinist ideas and against the negative aspects of the modern capitalist system - the political and social oppression of the masses. His public speeches in support of human rights and freedoms have made him a symbol of the struggle against authoritarianism throughout the world.

Being a staunch conservative, the pope resolutely defended the foundations of the dogma and social doctrine of the Catholic Church, inherited from the past. In particular, during his pastoral visit to Nicaragua, John Paul II publicly and strongly condemned the theology of liberation, popular among some Latin American Catholics, and personally the priest Ernesto Cardenal, who joined the Sandinista government of Nicaragua and violated the rules of the Holy Apostles "not to intervene in the government of the people." The Roman curia, as a result of the refusal of the priests to withdraw from the government of Nicaragua, even for a long time after the explanation of the pope, deprived them of their dignity, despite the fact that the church of Nicaragua did not do this.

The Catholic Church under John Paul II maintained an intransigent stance on abortion and contraception. In 1994, the Holy See thwarted the adoption by the United Nations of a US-proposed resolution to support family planning. John Paul II spoke out strongly against homosexual marriages and euthanasia, against the ordination of women to the priesthood, and also supported celibacy.

At the same time, while maintaining the fundamental canons of faith, he proved the ability of the Catholic Church to develop along with civilization, recognizing the achievements of civil society and scientific and technological progress, and even appointing Saints Methodius and Cyril as patrons of the European Union, and Saint Isidore of Seville as patron of the Internet.

Repentance of the Catholic Church

John Paul II, among his predecessors, is distinguished only by repentance for the mistakes committed by some Catholics in the course of history. Even during the Second Vatican Council in 1962, the Polish bishops, together with Karol Wojtyla, published a letter to the German bishops about reconciliation with the words: "We forgive and ask for forgiveness." And already as a pope, John Paul II brought repentance on behalf of the Western Christian Church for the crimes of the Crusades and the Inquisition.

In October 1992, the Roman Catholic Church rehabilitated Galileo Galilei (350 years after the scientist's death).

In August 1997, John Paul II admitted the guilt of the church in the mass destruction of Protestants in France during the St. Bartholomew night of August 24, 1572, and in January 1998 he decided to open the archives of the Holy Inquisition.

On March 12, 2000, during the traditional Sunday mass in St. Peter's Basilica, John Paul II publicly repented of the sins of members of the Catholic Church. He asked for forgiveness for the sins of church leaders: church schisms and religious wars, "contempt, acts of hostility and silence" towards Jews, the forced evangelization of America, discrimination based on gender and nationality, manifestations of social and economic injustice. Never in the history of mankind has any religion or denomination brought such repentance.

John Paul II acknowledged accusations against the Catholic Church - in particular, in silence during the events of World War II and the Holocaust, when Catholic priests and bishops limited themselves to saving Jews and other people persecuted by the Nazis (see the story of Rabbi Zolli and many others).

peacekeeper

Actively opposed to any wars, in 1982, during the crisis around the Falklands, he visited both the UK and Argentina, calling on the countries to peace. In 1991, the Pope condemned the Gulf War. When the war broke out in Iraq again in 2003, John Paul II sent one of the cardinals on a peace mission to Baghdad, and blessed another for a conversation with US President George W. British invasion of Iraq.

Interfaith Relations

In interfaith relations, John Paul II also differed greatly from his predecessors. He became the first pope to make contacts with other faiths.

In 1982, for the first time in 450 years since the separation of the Anglican Church from the Roman Catholic Church, the Pope met with the Archbishop of Canterbury and celebrated a joint service.

In August 1985, at the invitation of King Hassan II, the Pope spoke in Morocco to an audience of fifty thousand young Muslims. He spoke of the misunderstanding and enmity that had previously existed in relations between Christians and Muslims, and called for the establishment of "peace and unity between people and nations that make up a single community on Earth."

In April 1986, for the first time in the history of the Catholic Church, the Pope crossed the threshold of the synagogue, where, sitting next to the Chief Rabbi of Rome, he uttered the phrase that became one of his most quoted statements: "You are our beloved brothers and, one might say, our elder brothers." Many years later, in 2000, the pope visited Jerusalem and touched the Western Wall, the shrine of Judaism, and also visited the Yad Vashem memorial.

In October 1986, the first interreligious meeting took place in Assisi, when 47 delegations from various Christian denominations, as well as representatives of 13 other religions, responded to the invitation of the pontiff to discuss the problems of interfaith relations.

On May 4, 2001, John Paul II visited Greece. This was the first visit of the head of the Roman Catholic Church to Greece since 1054, when the Christian Church split into Catholic and Orthodox.

Apostolic visits

John Paul II made more than 100 trips abroad, visiting about 130 countries. Most often, he visited Poland, the USA and France (six times each), as well as Spain and Mexico (five times each). These trips were designed to help strengthen the position of Catholicism around the world and establish links between Catholics and other religions (primarily Islam and Judaism). Everywhere he has always spoken out in defense of human rights and against violence and dictatorial regimes.

In general, during the pontificate, the pope traveled more than 1,167,000 km.

The unfulfilled dream of John Paul II was a trip to Russia. In the years before the fall of communism, his trip to the USSR was not possible. After the fall of the Iron Curtain, visiting Russia became politically possible, but the Russian Orthodox Church opposed the pope's visit. The Moscow Patriarchate accused the Roman Catholic Church of expanding into the original territory of the Orthodox Church, and Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia said that until Catholics give up proselytism (attempts to convert the Orthodox to Catholicism), the visit of the head of their church to Russia is impossible. Many political leaders, including Vladimir Putin, tried to promote the pope's visit to Russia, but the Moscow Patriarchate remained adamant. In February 2001, Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov, trying to circumvent the dissatisfaction of the Moscow Patriarchate, proposed to the Pope that he not make a pastoral, but a state visit to Russia.

According to Archbishop Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz, Metropolitan of the Archdiocese of the Mother of God in 2002-2007, one of the main achievements during the pontificate of John Paul II was the restoration of the administrative structures of the Roman Catholic Church in Russia in February 2002. It was these transformations, however, that exacerbated the already complicated relationship between the Holy See and the Moscow Patriarchate.

After death

Responses to the Death of John Paul II

In Italy, Poland, Latin America, Egypt and many others, a three-day mourning was declared in connection with the death of John Paul II. Brazil - the world's largest Catholic country (120 million Catholics) - announced seven days of mourning, Venezuela - five days.

Political and spiritual leaders around the world responded to the death of John Paul II.
US President George W. Bush called him "a knight of freedom."

“I am sure that the role of John Paul II in history, his spiritual and political legacy is appreciated by mankind,” Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a telegram of condolences.

“The deceased primate of the ancient Roman See was distinguished by his devotion to the path chosen in his youth, his ardent will for Christian service and witness,” said Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia.

"We will never forget that he supported the oppressed peoples, including the Palestinians," - said, according to the press secretary of the Arab League, its Secretary General Amr Musa.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, opening the weekly government meeting, said: “John Paul II was a man of peace, a friend of the Jewish people, who recognized the right of the Jews to the Land of Israel. He did a lot for the historical reconciliation between Judaism and Christianity. It was thanks to his efforts that the Holy See recognized the State of Israel and established diplomatic relations with it at the end of 1993.”

Palestinian National Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas stressed in a statement that John Paul II will be remembered as "an outstanding religious figure who dedicated his life to the defense of peace, freedom and equality." Condolences were also expressed by Palestinian parties and movements, including the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, the majority of whose members at the time of its inception were Eastern Christians (Armenians and Orthodox), Hamas and Islamic Jihad.

"Cuba has always considered John Paul II a friend who defended the rights of the poor, opposed neo-liberal policies and fought for world peace," Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Pérez Roque said.

The funeral

Farewell to Pope John Paul II and his funeral became the most massive series of ceremonial events in the history of mankind. 300 thousand people attended the funeral liturgy, 4 million pilgrims saw the pontiff from earthly life to eternal life (more than a million of them were Poles); more than a billion believers belonging to various Christian denominations and professing different religions prayed for the repose of his soul; 2 billion viewers watched the ceremony live.

More than 100 heads of state and government attended the funeral of the pontiff - 11 monarchs, 70 presidents and prime ministers, several heads of international organizations, including UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan. And about two thousand more members of various delegations - from 176 countries in total. Russia was represented by Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov.

The funeral ceremony of Pope John Paul II, held on April 8, 2005 in the Vatican St. Peter's Basilica, was based on liturgical texts and the provisions of the apostolic constitution approved by John Paul II in 1996.

On the night of April 8, the access of believers to St. Peter's Cathedral was terminated, and the body of John Paul II was placed in a cypress coffin (according to legend, the cross on which Jesus Christ was crucified was made from this tree) - the first of three due to the pontiff during the burial of coffins ( the other two are zinc and pine). Before closing the lid of the coffin, the face of John Paul II was covered with a special piece of white silk. According to tradition, a leather bag with coins issued during the years of the pontificate of John Paul II, and a metal pencil case with a scroll containing the life of John Paul II were placed in the coffin.

After the prayer, the coffin was transferred to the porch in front of the facade of St. Peter's, where at 10 am the cardinals celebrated the funeral mass. The funeral service was led by Joseph Ratzinger, Dean of the College of Cardinals, Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. The liturgy was in Latin, but some parts were read in Spanish, English, French, as well as Swahili, Polish, German and Portuguese. The patriarchs of the Eastern Catholic Churches performed the funeral service for the pope in Greek.

At the end of the farewell ceremony, the body of John Paul II was transferred to the grotto of the Basilica (Cathedral) of St. Peter. John Paul II is buried next to the relics of the Holy Apostle Peter, in the chapel of the Mother of God of Czestochowa, the patron saint of Poland, not far from the chapel of the creators of the Slavic alphabet, Saints Cyril and Methodius, in the former grave of Pope John XXIII, whose ashes were buried in connection with his canonization in 2000 moved from the crypt of St. Peter's to the cathedral itself. Chapel of the Mother of God of Czestochowa in 1982, at the insistence of John Paul II, was restored, decorated with the icon of the Holy Virgin Mary and images of Polish saints.

Beatification of John Paul II

In the Latin tradition, beginning with the establishment of Pope Urban VIII in 1642, it is customary to distinguish between the process of being beatified (beatified) and saints (canonized). Later, under Pope Benedict XIV, requirements were established that the candidate must meet: his writings must comply with the teachings of the Church, the virtues he showed must be exceptional, and the facts of the miracle performed through his intercession must be documented or evidenced by witnesses.

For canonization, at least two miracles are required, through the intercession of the deceased. In the beatification and canonization of martyrs, the fact of a miracle is not required.

The issues of glorification are dealt with by the Congregation for the Causes of Saints in the Vatican, which studies the submitted materials and sends them, in case of a positive preliminary conclusion, for approval to the pope, after which the icon of the newly glorified is opened in St. Peter's Basilica.

John Paul II himself canonized more people as saints and blessed than all his predecessors after the 16th century. From 1594 (after the adoption by Sixtus V in 1588 of the apostolic constitution Immensa Aeterni Dei, concerning, in particular, issues of canonization) to 2004, 784 canonizations were made, of which 475 were during the pontificate of John Paul II. John Paul II numbered 1,338 people among the blessed. He declared Teresa the Child Jesus a Doctor of the Church.

Pope Benedict XVI began the process of canonizing his predecessor, John Paul II. This was announced by Benedict XVI at a meeting of priests in the Basilica of St. John on the Lateran in Rome. A prerequisite for beatification is a miracle. It is believed that John Paul II healed the French nun Marie Simon-Pierre of Parkinson's disease a few years ago. On May 1, 2011, Pope Benedict XVI beatified John Paul II.

On April 29, 2011, the body of Pope John Paul II was exhumed and placed in front of the main altar of St. Peter, and after beatification reburied in a new tomb. The marble slab with which the former tomb of the pontiff was covered will be sent to his homeland - to Poland.

Canonization of John Paul II

The decision to canonize was made as a result of a cardinal consistory held by Pope Francis on September 30, 2013. On July 3, the Congregation for the Causes of Saints of the Holy See issued a statement that the second miracle necessary for canonization, with the assistance of the pontiff, occurred on May 1, 2011. A miracle happened in 2011 in Costa Rica with a woman named Floribet Mora Diaz, who was healed of a cerebral aneurysm thanks to the prayer and intercession of John Paul II.

Proceedings

John Paul II is the author of more than 120 philosophical and theological works, 14 encyclicals and five books, the last of which - "Memory and Identity" - was published on the eve of his hospitalization on February 23, 2005. His most popular book, Crossing the Threshold of Hope, has sold over 20 million copies.

The most important goal for John Paul II as the head of the Catholic Church was the preaching of the Christian faith. John Paul was the author of a number of important documents, many of which have had and continue to have a huge impact on the Church and the whole world.

His first encyclicals were devoted to the triune essence of God, and the very first was "Jesus Christ, the Redeemer" ("Redemptor Hominis"). This focus on God continued throughout the pontificate.

In the culture of the twentieth century, the popularity of Pope John Paul II is somewhat akin to the popularity of Hollywood movie stars. He carried out a number of spectacular and outwardly liberal actions, but even his famous refutation of the existence of a physical hell, made exactly nine years ago, on July 28, 1999, did not change anything in Catholic doctrine.

Karol Wojtyla, the future Pope John Paul II, was born on May 18, 1920 in the town of Wadowice in southern Poland in the family of a retired military man. According to the memoirs of the pontiff, the family was very pious and friendly. It was the parents - Karol and Emilia - who brought up sincere religiosity in the boy. But no one seriously thought that he would become a priest.

At the age of eight Karol lost his mother. Then the older brother died, and a little later, in 1941, the father. Since then, Karol had attacks of fear of loneliness. He sought salvation in prayer and reading. It was then that he developed an interest in the theatre. Already from school productions, it was obvious that the boy had a dramatic talent. Everything was decided by World War II.

Word resistance

Later, the pontiff recalled that it was the sight of the victims of the Nazi regime that made him seriously consider taking the priesthood for the first time. He admired the selflessness of the holy fathers, who helped the underground and provided the Nazi regime with "resistance with a word." In 1942, Karol finally made up his mind and became a student of underground courses at the Krakow Theological Seminary. At the same time, he played in the illegal Theater of Delight, where they staged the revolutionary Mayakovsky and the patriot Adam Mickiewicz (Adam Mickiewicz, 1798-1855). Both for courses and for performances, the punishment would be the same for him - execution.

On November 1, 1946, Karol was ordained a priest and sent to Rome to continue his theological education. Returning to his homeland, the young priest taught ethics and moral theology at the Jagiellonian University. In 1956 he completed his doctorate and became a professor at the University of Lublin.

At the university, Karol Wojtyla was considered a polyglot and a connoisseur of languages. But, despite his solid rank and authority, St. father was always distinguished by openness and liberalism. He gladly collected student circles, went on hikes, theaters and avant-garde exhibitions with his students. The news that he was ordained a bishop (July 4, 1958) found Karol on a canoe trip.

On June 28, 1967, Wojtyla became a cardinal. In August 1978, he participated in the conclave that elected Pope John Paul I (John Paul I, 1912-1978). However, he only lived for a month. In October a new conclave was called.

Initially, no one considered the figure of the Pole as a serious contender for the papal tiara. The struggle was between the archbishops of Genoa and Florence. But none of them could get the necessary two-thirds of the votes. The meeting came to a standstill. Then they began to look for a compromise figure, which turned out to be Karol Wojtyla. Some believed that a pope from a country on the other side of the Iron Curtain would be able to do away with the "separation complex" characteristic of Eastern European Catholic bishops. Other cardinal Poles attracted the fact that he was not a protege of the Vatican. They saw him as a figure capable of changing the traditional methods of governing the Church. After the election, Karol Wojtyla took the name of his predecessor and became John Paul II. He was the 264th vicar of St. Peter, the first non-Italian pope in the last 455 years and the only Slavic pope.

dad in sneakers

During the twenty-seven years of his pontificate (1978-2005), John Paul II completely changed the idea of ​​the Roman Pontiffs. Such openness and simplicity on the part of the vicar of St. The world did not expect Peter. The pontiff did not hesitate to run in sneakers through the gardens of the Vatican, went skiing and discussed his gastronomic preferences with correspondents. His photographs often appeared in newspapers: here is dad at a football match, here at Formula 1, but he meets Pele ...

But the main thing is that John Paul II was able to prove that in the modern world the Catholic Church has not become outdated, and religion has not ceased to be relevant. In his pontificate, many achievements of scientific and technological progress were recognized. The Church admitted its guilt in the prosecution of Galileo (1992) and the long-term rejection of the theory of Copernicus (1993). She even agreed with the evolutionary teachings of Darwin (1997) and mastered the Internet, choosing Isidore of Seville (1998) as its patron saint.

On March 12, 2000, on the first Sunday of Great Lent, at the traditional Sunday mass in St. Peter's Cathedral, John Paul II publicly repented of the sins of the Catholic Church. He asked for forgiveness for the persecution of the Jews, the split of the church, the Inquisition, the wars of religion, the crusades, contempt for the poor and the weak. No religion has known such repentance.

John Paul II was also the first pontiff who dared to touch (literally) other faiths. On May 29, 1982, the Catholic world was shaken. The Pope met with the head of the Anglican Church, Archbishop of Canterbury Robert Runsey! And even performed a joint worship service! With a Protestant!

On August 19, 1985, the pontiff, at the invitation of Hassan II, King of Morocco, spoke at the stadium in Casablanca in front of an audience of 89,000 young Muslims. In his speech, he reflected on the tragic misunderstanding and enmity between the adherents of two great religions.

During a visit to India (January 31-February 10, 1986), he proclaimed Mahatma Gandhi equal to the teachers of the church and was present at the ritual of opening the "third eye".

And on April 13, 1986, the pope stepped on the threshold of the Roman synagogue. And his phrase, addressed to the Chief Rabbi of Rome, Elio Toaff, became a hit: "You are our beloved brothers, and, one might say, our elder brothers."

The word "hit" in relation to John Paul II can be used without quotes. In 1998, Papa released the CD "Abba Pater", which is still wildly popular. There St. father reads prayers and sacred texts to the accompaniment of Negro rhythms and Celtic flutes. On September 27, 1999, dad attended a rock star concert in Bologna. In an interview, he said that the composition of Bob Dylan "Blowing in the Wind" seemed especially successful to him. According to St. father, she is close to everyone who is looking for himself.

John Paul II was loved. At his funeral (2005), many held up signs saying "Santo Subito!" ("Canonize immediately!"). This speaks volumes. However, as well as the fact that at the Miss Italy 2004 contest, he was recognized as "the most inimitable man of our time."

Both liberal and conservative opponents of John Paul II argued that his behavior discredited the status of the Roman Pontiff. From pontiff he became a "pope star". As the Polish newspaper “Nie” (“No”) wrote, “even the funeral of John Paul II acquired the character of an ecumenical tourlet, with songs accompanied by a guitar and obligatory photographing at the body of the deceased.” But, in fact, the pontiff behaved like a modern sane person who understood that the world had changed, and there was nothing wrong with answering his challenge in his own language. And he did it very well: dad was talented - witty and skillful in improvisation.

However, public success was far from in the first place for the pope. He was never interested in what they write about him in the newspapers on this topic. There were questions that worried him much more, and which he could not resolve. And from year to year, despite all the new waves of people's love, the pontiff became more and more sad, and more and more piercingly he felt his loneliness. But more on that later.

third way

The political views of John Paul II could be called Christian capitalism: market economy plus Christian ethics. He did not question the right of a person to private property, but he was convinced that the owner of it should feel his responsibility to society. First of all, guided by the Christian principle of love for one's neighbor, he must ensure a fair and decent material standard of living for those who are the direct producer. The Pope understood that a person who is constantly in need does not have enough strength to take care of his spirit. In this regard, John Paul II even allowed the expropriation of property if the public interest required it. In addition, he recognized the right of the people to revolt against the injustice of social order. It was these views that prompted his visit to Cuba in January 1998 to protest the US economic sanctions on Liberty Island. There, John Paul II not only met with the "red commander", but also held a mass on Revolution Square in Havana in front of a million people.

But the pope was not a socialist, because he did not recognize Marxist forced collectivism and totalitarian methods of government. John Paul II took an active part in the overthrow of the communist regime in Poland. Already his first visit to his homeland on June 2–10, 1979, turned out to be a biting blow to communist ideology. During a mass held by the pope in Warsaw's Victory Square, a crowd of 300,000 chanted "We need God!". As Zbigniew Kazimierz Brzeziński, national security adviser to U.S. President Jimmy Carter, said, “Until now, the dominant feeling has been the inevitability of the existing [socialist] system. After the departure of the pope, the absence of this inevitability became dominant. The Holy Father became the spiritual leader of the Polish anti-communists. During the strike at the shipyards of Gdansk (August 14-31, 1980), portraits of John Paul hung over all the entrances to the docks, and Lech Walesa, when signing an agreement with the government on the creation of independent trade unions, used a large souvenir pen with a photograph of the pontiff. It is likely that the Soviet secret services were behind the assassination attempt on John Paul II on May 13, 1981.

John Paul II visited Poland three more times. He was always aware of all the events taking place in his homeland. So, when on August 24, 1989, one of the leaders of the democratic movement "Solidarity" - Tadeusz Mazowiecki, became the prime minister of an already free Poland, the pontiff could congratulate himself.

However, his joy was short-lived. Free Poland did not become a country of Christian capitalism. On the one hand, the church in Poland enjoyed great prestige. On the other hand, the population was not corrupted by the values ​​of the mass consumer society. However, as soon as Poland gained independence, the church immediately lost the charisma of a fighter against totalitarianism and left the political scene. Poles quickly became infected with consumerism and felt a passion for pleasure and entertainment. Everyone is tired of talking about Christian values. On June 1-9, 1991, the pontiff came to his homeland for the fourth time on a pastoral visit. He was shocked by the changes that had taken place. The Pope tried to remind his compatriots about the true values, but in response he received a sincere misunderstanding. “It seems,” one of the Solidarity activists said in an interview, “dad has lost touch with the country. He talks about things from which we are already sick ... Instead of trying to understand and teach us what to do, he points his finger and says: “Everything that comes from the West leads to decay. Be it liberalism, capitalism, or pornography.”

For John Paul II, this was a strong blow. He felt betrayed. It seemed that his dream was so close to realization, but nothing happened. The burden of this loss did not fall from the soul of the pontiff until the end of his days.

One on one with the world

Speaking of John Paul II, Catholics, especially Catholic youth, often lament that, although the pope was a “darling,” he turned out to be very conservative in relation to church norms and did not change those that are long outdated and serve as an annoying obstacle in modern life. . But dad was relentless.

Without the conviction of the inviolability of the principles of the Church, the pontiff would have turned into a typical alternative priest of the era of the sexual revolution: with a guitar on his back, a joint in his teeth and a book on meditation under his arm. But the pope understood perfectly well: the Church should be open and understandable, but should not become part of pop culture.

The struggle to rehabilitate the unpopular institutions of the Catholic Church in the eyes of modern Catholics was the main work of John Paul II. 1990s He did not surrender a single dogma, but he did not win the fight, although he did not lose. Nevertheless, the situation oppressed him for the remaining fifteen years of his life.

The institutions for which the pope fought were of two kinds: dogmatic and ethical. As for the theological dogmas (the main principles of the faith, approved by special Councils), against which both the laity and the priests grumbled, the principle of the infallibility of the pope was in the first place. The second dogma concerned the nature of the Mother of God. In Catholicism, it is believed that since the birth of the Virgin Mary, there was no original sin on her. Therefore, she did not die, but ascended to heaven in a body, like Christ. Many Catholics considered these dogmas not to fit into the modern picture of the world.

As for the pope's statement about the absence of a physical hell, this may seem like a radical solution only at first glance. The thesis of physical hell has never been a dogma. It belongs to the rank of "theological opinion", which can change, in accordance with common sense - in general, the issue for the church is far from being a matter of principle. But, for example, the Pope did not reject Purgatory, although Holy Scripture confirms its existence so indirectly that all other Christian Churches refuse to believe in it. But the existence of Purgatory is a dogma, and the Pope did not touch him.

However, all these high matters worried the flock not so much as the problems of abortion, homosexuality, contraception, artificial insemination, divorce, the right of women to receive the priesthood and the right of priests to marry - all this worried the flock much more. In newspapers and on TV, interviews with representatives of women's Catholic organizations appeared every now and then, complaining about the difficulties of the procedure for church divorce. They absolutely sincerely did not understand why not make life easier for themselves. It was this sincerity that oppressed the pontiff the most.

Many priests also spoke in favor of divorce and even came up with a new rank of service for this. There were passionate supporters of the ordination of women - many saw discrimination in the refusal of the Catholic Church to recognize their right to them. Among them was, for example, Cardinal Martini of Milan. Dad tried to explain that the main purpose of a woman is motherhood. But he was not heard.

Against the ban on contraception, the pope's opponents were even more resolute. They pointed out, quite rightly, that contraceptives reduce the risk of contracting AIDS and the birth rate, and therefore poverty, in underdeveloped countries. There is nothing to talk about abortions.

In 1993, the BBC channel made the program "Sex and the Holy City". The creators of the program interviewed a young girl from Nicaragua who became pregnant after being raped, but was never able to obtain the right to an abortion in this Catholic country. Journalists also talked about abortion with two teenage sisters who were raped by their own father. In the Philippines, they found a nine-year-old mother who was afraid to use condoms because the Church forbade it. Etc. The effect produced by the transmission was like a grenade explosion. And the pontiff felt complete impotence. All he could do was to threaten liberal priests with excommunication. But there were too many. And from the consciousness of this, waves of fear of loneliness increasingly rolled over him.

On February 6, 2002, another blow fell upon the pope. The Boston Globe newspaper published an article about the pedophilic tendencies of the Boston Catholic priest John Johan. A loud scandal erupted. The number of priests convicted of pedophilia or homosexuality was in the dozens. However, the pope did not question the establishment of celibacy, i.e. forbidding priests to marry. And this despite the strong intra-church opposition, led by Cardinal Hume. But John Paul II understood perfectly well that if you yield in one thing, everything else will crumble.

And yet, they loved him. At his funeral, which took place on April 8, 2005, 4 million pilgrims gathered, another 2 billion watched the ceremony on TV. Immediately after the death of the pontiff, rumors began to spread about the miracles that took place at his tomb. Everything goes to the fact that John Paul II will soon be canonized. Therefore, one can only sympathize with that pope who someday decides to radically revise church institutions. He would have to somehow explain why they were so firmly defended by Saint Karol Wojtyla.

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