The man who had lived through the absolute worst of the twentieth century, who had lost his family at a young age, instead witnessed to the faithful the value of hope through a deep love of the Lord and strong devotion to the Blessed Mother throughout his entire 27-year reign. In length, his papacy trails only St. Peter and Bl. Pius IX (9,665 days).
After his death in April 2005, Pope Benedict XVI waived the traditional five-year waiting period and opened his cause for canonization the following month. He was beatified six years later, and canonized alongside St. John XXIII on April 27, 2014.
What was he known for?
St. John Paul II is inarguably (in the author’s opinion) the most influential and towering individual of our time. He played a crucial part in toppling Communism with barely a shot fired. His visit to Poland in 1979 was the first domino, and his close ties with Ronald Reagan and other world leaders led to it being toppled elsewhere in Europe soon afterward. Even a would-be assassin’s bullet didn’t stop him (thanks, Mama Mary).
John Paul founded World Youth Day in 1985, producing some of the largest single gatherings of people in human history and sparking conversions by the thousands. He also oversaw the revision of canon law (1983) and the creation of the Catechism of the Catholic Church (1993), the first universal catechism for the Church since the 16th-Century Council of Trent. As the “Pope of the Family,” his Theology of the Body continues to be a force on the human person, marriage, and sexuality, and his other writings on the family comprise two-thirds of all the Church’s official documents on the topic.
Fun Fact...
During his pontificate, John Paul II tallied a ton of “firsts” and “mosts.” He was the first non-Italian pope in 455 years and closed out the first “Year of Three Popes” since 1605. John Paul was the most traveled pope in history, the most photographed human being by the time of his death, and the first pope to visit both Cuba and the White House. He also canonized more saints (482) than any other pontiff – more than all the rest combined, in fact – and created 232 cardinals in total.
Coming Monday...Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI