St. John Paul II, the traveling Pope, left an indelible mark on the history of the Catholic Church and the entire world. In order to understand the magnitude of his pontificate and his person, we must be familiar with the most important dates in the life of St. John Paul IIThe Pope's pontificate, those key moments that marked his path from his native Poland to the Holy See. On October 16, we commemorate the anniversary of the beginning of his pontificate back in 1978.

Join us in this chronological journey through the life of this great saint who inspired the creation of the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross in Rome, where more than a thousand seminarians, diocesan priests and religious men and women from all over the world are trained each year, who then return to their countries of origin to train others.

Early years and the priesthood

The life of Karol Wojtyła, the first name of St. John Paul II, was marked from the beginning by the great events of the 20th century and by a very difficult childhood. His youth was forged between the Nazi occupation and the subsequent Soviet domination of Poland, experiences that profoundly shaped his character and his faith.

• July 7, 1916: Olga Wojtyła, his older sister, died shortly after birth (before Karol was born).
• May 18, 1920: Karol Józef Wojtyła born in Wadowicea small town near Krakow, Poland.
• April 13, 1929Emilia Kaczorowska, his mother, dies when Karol is 8 years old. There he decides to ask the Virgin Mary to adopt him and take care of him as a mother.
• December 4, 1932Edmund Wojtyła, the older brother and physician, died of scarlet fever. Karol was 12 years old.
• June 1938enrolled in the Faculty of Philosophy and Letters of the Jagiellonian University in Krakow to study Polish philology.
• February 18, 1941His father Karol Wojtyła died when he was 20 years old.
• October 1942: he entered the clandestine seminary founded by Cardinal Adam Stefan Sapiehathen Archbishop of Krakow. 
• November 1, 1946: in a country recovering from the wounds of World War II, he was ordained a priest in the private chapel of the Archbishop of Krakow.
• July 4, 1958: appointed auxiliary bishop of Krakow by Pope Pius XII, becoming the youngest bishop in Poland.
• January 13, 1964: appointed archbishop of Krakow, assuming a leadership role at a time of great tension between the Church and the communist regime.
• June 26, 1967: Pope Paul VI created him a cardinal, recognizing his courageous defense of the faith and human rights.

To delve deeper into these early years, we recommend this video that summarizes his life:

John Paul II, a pontificate that changed lives

The election of a non-Italian cardinal surprised the world and marked the beginning of one of the longest and most significant pontificates in history, lasting 26 years, 5 months and 18 days. The most important dates of the pontificate of St. John Paul II are numerous and of great significance, some of which are highlighted below:

• October 16, 1978: Cardinal Karol Wojtyła is elected Pope. He chooses the name John Paul II. Becomes the first non-Italian pope in 455 years.
• May 13, 1981: suffers a serious attack in St. Peter's Square, when Mehmet Ali Ağca shoots him during an audience. John Paul II attributed his survival to the intercession of Our Lady of Fatima. Years later, he would visit his assailant in prison to forgive him.
• August 12, 1985: It institutes World Youth Day (WYD), an international gathering of young people with the Pope that is held every three years in different parts of the world and has become a classic event for teenagers and young believers and non-believers from all over the world.

Apostolic journeys

In his almost 27 years of pontificate John Paul II made a total of 240 trips on the five continents: 104, outside Italy; and 146, carried out in Italy. If we translate this into kilometers: 1,247,613 kilometers, or 3.24 times the distance from the Earth to the Moon. The circumference of the Earth is about 40,075 km, this distance is equivalent to 31.13 laps to the planet.

In this video we leave you some of his most significant moments and gestures:

The last years of a saint

The last years of his life were marked by Parkinson's disease, which he bore with a fortitude that touched the world. Despite his physical limitations, he continued his mission to the end.

• April 2, 2005: dies in his rooms at the Vatican. Millions of faithful flock to Rome to bid him farewell in one of the most crowded funerals in history. The cry Santo Subito (Holy now!) resounded in St. Peter's Square.
• May 1, 2011: His successor, Pope Benedict XVI, beatified him in a multitudinous ceremony, recognizing his heroic virtues and a miracle attributed to his intercession.
• April 27, 2014: is canonized by Pope Francis in a historic ceremony together with another Pope, St. John XXIII. The Church officially inscribes him in the book of saints.

Encyclicals of great theological content

Here is a list of the encyclicals that St. John Paul II published during his pontificate, 14 in total. It includes the Latin name, the main theme and the year of publication:

To know the most important dates of St. John Paul II immerses us in the life of an essential figure for understanding the 20th century; a man who lived and brought the Gospel to every corner of the planet with a message of hope, love and the defense of human dignity.

Men are often ashamed to cry and shed tears; and it is a pity that this ancestral taboo that considers crying appropriate only for women still stands.

Perhaps in a subconscious area of the manly soul, Cervantes' enumeration of man's good crying still weighs too heavily: "For three things it is lawful for a prudent man to weep: the first, because he has sinned; the second, to obtain pardon for sin; the third, because he is jealous: tears do not speak well of a grave face." 

In my opinion, Don Miguel fell very short in this list of reasons for crying, perhaps because he failed to see that crying is one of the most sublime outpourings granted to us by our ancestors. Creator. He knows very well that a man needs to unburden his spirit at least as much as a woman does.

We all cry, some more than others, it is true, but all of us: young and old, men and women, sick and healthy, conservative, backward, progressive, etc. Who does not weep at the death of a mother, sheds tears of joy at the birth of a child; who faces the attack of the enemy without flinching, sheds tears of despair and frustration at the betrayal of a friend.

And who has not wept peacefully when he kissed his elderly mother again after many years? Perhaps in those moments he has savored tears as a gift of God's tenderness towards human beings. 

Tears open doors

There is perhaps no gesture more endearingly human and divine as tears, than the very same Jesus ChristGod and true, lived in the death of his friend Lazarus. The Apostles also shed tears, and I dare say that there has not been a saint who has not wept.

Tears open the doors of those narrow prisons in which every human being feels imprisoned from time to time. What other recourse is there when faced with the death of an innocent child; when suffering an injustice that we are unable to repair; when faced with the rebellion of a child; when suffering from a completely unforeseen illness; when faced with the sudden madness of a loved one?

The shame of crying

Many people may be embarrassed to be seen crying by others, as if a tearful face is a humiliating manifestation of weakness, a sign of immaturity, or an inability to cope with certain life events.

I don't find Jacinto Benavente's comment very happy. regarding the different circumstances in which a man and a woman cry: "Men, he says, almost always cry alone; women cry only when they have a friend at their side who can wipe away their tears". And he is not happy, simply because every human being who cries wants to be consoled, although perhaps few are aware that the only one who can console them in the depths of their soul is God: this is what men and women thought, whom, throughout my life, I have found crying alone in a corner of a church.

Smiling after crying

"A life in which not a tear falls is like one of those deserts in which not a drop of water falls; it only breeds snakes". Castelar's comment, even with its good dose of romanticism, is still accurate. 

Only those who know how to cry, do not hate, do not bear grudges, do not feed desires for revenge.He manages to unleash the joy of his spirit with a serene smile.

Smiling after crying is like a rainbow, a symbol of peace, of serenity. And, on the contrary, not knowing, or not wanting to cry already has a hint of a curse, a condemnation to be cruel, and to never forgive. It is one of the misfortunes that can occur in the life of a man, of a woman.

Ernesto Juliá, ernesto.julia@gmail.com

Originally published in Religion Confidential.