St. John Paul II OUR POPE. OUR NATIONAL HERO.

Karol Wojtyła ( that’s his real name)was born on 18th of May 1920 in Wadowice near Cracow ( Poland). He grew up in catholic religion. His mum and brother died, when he was a young boy.

Karol had also hobbies such as football, skiing and canoeing. From the earliest years, he was interested in theathre. He played at school drama club.

On 16th of October 1978 Karol Wojtyła was elected to be a Pope of Catholic church. He was the first, not Italian nationality Pope after 455 years and he chose the name- John Paul II.

Pope- pilgrim

Mexico „ We should remember about human rights, religious freedom and human dignity.”

Poland „ Don’t be afraid”

Great Britain

Turkey meeting of the two religions

Australia

India

Africa

Pope of families

John Paul II started a tradition of World Youth Days. Once per two years he was making a message to young people about their moral life, which was the subject of international meetings in different places all over the world. World Youth Days

John Paul II has been credited with being instrumental in bringing down Communism in Europe, by being the spiritual inspiration for "a peaceful revolution" in Poland. Lech Wałęsa, the founder of ”Solidarity”, credited John Paul II with giving Poles the courage to demand change. According to Wałęsa: "Before his pontificate, the world was divided into blocs. Nobody knew how to get rid of Communism. In Warsaw, in 1979, he simply said: 'Do not be afraid’.” Politics

John Paul II died on 2nd of April 2005.

Canonization There was a canonization of the Pope John Paul II and John XXIII on 27th of April A lot of Polish catholics and people from all over the world came to Vatican to celebrate this event.

Why can we call John Paul II our national hero? John Paul II is a hero for generations of Poles. He gave us an example, how to love and respect each other. He let us see the most important spiritual values in life. He was also a guide, who showed us the right way of living. He was always happy, he loved joking and by that, he conciliated a lot of people. We treated himself just like everyone else. He has never given up, even though he felt pain. John Paul II wasn’t only the perfect Pope. He was a person with enormous faith, but for all of us, he was mainly a good person and we will remember him forever.

Thank you for your attention.