• Born May 18, 1920 in Wadowice, Republic of Poland
• Youngest of 3 children
• Played goalie in soccer
• sister died before he was born
• mother died when he was eight
• his brother died which severely affected him because they were so close.

Adult Life

• He and his father moved to Kraków in 1938
• He enrolled in Jagiellonian University where he studied philosophy and various languages
• He participated in mandatory military training, but refused to fire a weapon
• 1939 his university was closed by the Nazis who invaded
• His father died in 1941 due to a heart attack

God's Call

• 1942 knocked on the bishop's door asking to study priesthood
• He was ordained as a priest on November 1, 1946
• He became the bishop of Ombi in 1958
• On January 13, 1964 he was named archbishop of Krakow
• On June 26, 1967 he was named cardinal
• Became the pope on October 16, 1978
• He was the first non-Italian pope in more than 400 years

Legacy

• He often spoke about the suffering in the world
• He was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in 2001
• Pope John Paul II died on April 2, 2005
• He was named a saint on July 5, 2013
• He was canonized on April 27, 2015