St. John Paul II (1920-1939 A.D.)

Series: On the life of John Paul II

From 1920 - 1939 A.D.

Birth and parents

Karol Wojtyla was born on May 18, 1920, in Wadowice - a large village about twenty miles southwest of Kraków, in southern Poland, not far from the Czech border. His father, also named Karol, and a former army lieutenant, was employed by the town council. His mother, Emilia Kaczorowska, was a Lithuanian, but spoke German at home.

The young Polish Republic attacked by the Russian Red Army

Just only three months after Karol was born, the young Polish Republic was attacked by Russia's Red Army. The Polish forces were able to repel the Russians in the Battle of Warsaw - which became known as the Miracle on the Vistula River. Eventually, the Russians succeeded in subjugating and dominating Poland. Little did Karol know that six decades later, as Pope of the Catholic Church, he would be one of the major catalysts for Poland's peaceful rejection of Communist subjugation.

The family Wojtyla

The Wojtylas lived in a small apartment across the street from St. Mary's Church, where the young Karol, nicknamed "Lolek", was baptized. Edmund, Lolek's elder brother, whose nickname was "Mundek", was fourteen years his senior. Edmund went off to college when Lolek was four years old, and studied to become a doctor. Between these two brothers, their mother also had given birth to another child, the only daughter, Olga, who however died in infancy. This sister whom Lolek never knew nonetheless remained a presence in his heart.

The death of Emilia, Karol's mother

The first eight years of Lolek's life were generally happy ones. But the ninth year brought a cross too heavy to forget for this young Pole: the death of his mother. Karol's father, Edmund, took him to the altar in the basilica at Kalwaria in 1929 A.D. to pray for the soul of his mother Emilia. Emilia had died alone, away from home, at the age of forty-five years. She had been under treatment for kidney and heart diseases. Ever since Lolek was small, Emilia was already in frail health. She was often ill and confined to bed. Upon hearing the news of the death of his mother, Lolek said, "It was God's will."

The spiritual mentoring of his father

After his mother's death, Lolek drew close to his father, who cooked and cleaned for him, read him Polish history, and inspired him with his piety and self-discipline (he was an army man). They slept in the same room, prayed together upon rising in the early morning, and took long walks in the evening. His father was the first of many mentors to engage Lolek in spiritual discourse, and encourage him toward the priesthood. When Lolek became Pope John Paul II, he would write, "My father's example was in a way my very first seminary, a kind of domestic seminary."

The death of Edmund ("Mundek"), Karol's brother

When Lolek was twelve years old, he experienced another loss in his life. Three years after the death of his mother, Edmund the doctor, Lolek's beloved older brother, who had carried him everywhere on his shoulders, died from scarlet fever contracted from a patient in the year 1932 A.D. While his brother was still alive and practising his medical profession in the city of Bielsko, they would often see each other, and Lolek would even entertain his brother's hospital patients. But Edmund contracted scarlet fever, and died in agony and anger, questioning why such a thing would happen to him, since he had just finished medicine. Lolek however had the answer: it was "the will of God". From the two experience of losses (that of his mother and now of his brother), Lolek was already showing signs of a faith that would champion the Catholic Church upon his ascent to the papacy. And when he was elected Pope, and took the name John Paul II, he never forgot his love for his family, especially since he always kept his brother Mundek's stethoscope in a drawer in his desk.

Studying at Jagiellonian University before the eruption of World War II

Graduating from high school in 1938 as class valedictorian, Karol set off for the prestigious Jagiellonian University in Kraków to study the discipline of linguistics. His father went with him, and they set up housekeeping together. One year later, on September 1, 1939 A.D., life in Poland was disturbed as the Nazis seized the country and World War II erupted. As the Nazis subjugated the Jews, they also set about conquering the Poles and enslaving its people. Jagiellonian University, were Karol was studying, was shut. Cathedrals were also closed. Many were arrested and sent to concentration camps. Some were simply shot on sight. Religion, art, literature, theater, and all that is good and decent were forced to go underground.

Edited from the following references

• The Pope Coming from the East, by Teresio Bosco, S.D.B.
• An Intimate Pope John Paul II Portrait, by Mark Bakermans
• The Pontiff in Winter, by John Cornwell
• Pope John Paul II: Champion of Faith, by TV Guide Magazine Group, Inc.