1. Pope John Paul II Karolina Timmons 6 th Class Lissenhall N.S.

2. Childhood Pope John Paul II was born on 18/05/1920 in Krakow, Poland. He was born under the name Karol Jòzef Wojtyła. He was the youngest of three children, but his sister Olga died before he was born therefore he was very close to his brother Edmund. John as a child 

3. Priesthood and Papacy He became a priest in 1946 and a bishop in 1958 at the age of 38, which made him the youngest bishop in Poland. On 16/10/1978 he was elected as pope with 99 votes out of the 111 electors. Wojty ł a became the 264th Pope according to the chronological list of popes, the first non-Italian in 455 years. At only 58 years of age, the was the youngest pope since Pope Xius XI in 1846, who was 54. The Pope thanking God->

4. Travelling and Gatherings During his pontificate he made trips to 129 countries and travelling over 1,100,000km whilst doing so. He consistently attracted large crowds, some amongst the largest ever assembled. Such as the Manila World Youth Day which gathered up 4,000,000 people. The largest Papal gathering ever, according to the Vatican.

5. Assassination Attempt On Wednesday, May 13 1981, Pope John Paul was shot and critically wounded while entering St. Peter’s square in the Vatican City by Mehmet Ali Agca. The Pope was struck four times and suffered severe blood loss. Following the shooting,, Pope John Paul II asked people to “pray for my brother whom I have sincerely forgiven”. In 1983, the Pope and Mehmet Ali Agca met and spoke privately at the prison where Agca was being held. Agca reportedly kissed the Pope’s at the conclusion of their visit. The Pope was also in touch with Agca’s family over the years, meeting his mother in 1987 and his brother a decade later.

6. Although Agca has been quoted as saying that: “To me the Pope was the incarnation of all that is capitalism”, and attempting to murder him, Agca has developed a friendship with the pontiff. In early February 2005, during the Pope’s illness, Agca sent a letter to the Pope wishing him well

7. Personality The Pope also liked to make some jokes. One day he was talking to a Bishop when he said: “I hear that your diocese is getting bigger”. “Yes, it is”, replied the Bishop. “Just like you”.

8. Death In his later years, his health began to suffer especially after he developed Parkinson’s Disease. Sadly, on Saturday 2 nd April 2005 Pope John Paul died at the age of 85.  R.I.P.

9. Basic Information Pope John Paul II Nationality: Polish Date Of Birth: 18/05/1920 Date Of Death: 02/04/2005 Profession: Papacy