The Vatican has
announced that Pope John Paul II has died.
Born Karol Jozef
Wojtyla in Wadowice, Poland in 1920, John Paul II was the son of a retired
Army Officer and school teacher. Wojtyla suffered many injuries over
his early years, including being hit by a car, and later a truck, causing
a permanent slump to his shoulders. Other medical difficulties included
a broken thigh, a dislocated shoulder, and the well known attempt on his
life in 1981.
He studied in
an underground seminary in Krakow, during the Polish occupation by the
Germans during World War II, and was ordained a Catholic Priest in 1946.
In his first years as a priest, he served as a pastor for University students.
Wojtyla was inducted as a Cardinal in 1967.
Wojtyla was selected
as Pope in 1978, after the death of Pope John Paul, who had served as Pope
for 34 days before succumbing to a heart attack. Wojtyla was the first
non-Italian Pope since Adrian VI in 1523.
Pope John Paul
II's papacy will be remembered for many changes initiate by him.
When Pope John Paul II was elevated to Pope in 1978, the Catholic church
had been in a period of crisis. John Paul II took on the task of rebuilding
the Catholic church, based on the church's historically conservative platform.
Funeral arrangements
and the choosing of a new Pope will be announced by The Vatican.