Issue date: 25 Sep, 2014
PEOPLE
With this stamp, the People series remembers John Paul II, whose pontificate lasted for 27 years and was one of the longest in the history of the church.
Karol Wojtila, who took the name of John Paul II when he was elected Pope on 16 October 1978, was born in Wadowice, Krakow in Poland in 1920. On finishing his secondary education, he went to university and joined a theatre school, but during the Nazi occupation, was forced to work in a factory in order to earn a living and avoid deportation to Germany. He began training as a priest in 1942, coupling this with promoting theatre among young students. In 1946, he was ordained a priest in Krakow and sent to Rome, where he obtained a PhD. in theology. When he returned to Poland, his duties were twofold, one pastoral in the working-class districts and the other as theology and ethics teacher at the major seminary in Krakow and the Catholic University of Lublin. He was appointed assistant to the Archbishop of Krakow in 1958, whom he succeeded in 1964. During the second Vatican Council, Karol Wojtila stood out for his speeches on the Church in the modern world. Pope Paul VI appointed him cardinal in 1967.
On 16 October 1978, he was elected Pope and took the name of John Paul II. During his pontificate, he made 100 apostolic journeys outside Italy, mostly to third world countries (Asia, Africa and South America), and held interviews with heads of state to promote relationships among different peoples. His love for young people led him to organise the World Youth Games, which ran for 19 years, bringing together thousands of young people from all over the world.
John Paul II encouraged dialogue with the Jewish population and representatives of other religions; he defended social justice and fought for improved living conditions in the poorest countries. He was a traditional pontiff who denounced liberation theology, criticised lower standards of morals and supported certain actions found in conservative Catholicism. He died on 2 April 2005.
On 1 May 2011, John Paul II was beatified, and on 27 April 2014 he was canonised together with John XXIII.
In 1963, another Pope, Paul VI, was the reason behind another stamp dedicated to the Vatican II Ecumenical Council. John Paul II has featured in the issues: Visit of His Holiness John Paul II to Spain (1982) and Pope and Youth (1989).
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