St. John Paul II
Feast 10-22 · Canonized 2014
Patron of
About
Karol Wojtyła was born in 1920 in Wadowice, Poland. He lost his mother, brother, and father by the age of twenty-one, and during the Nazi occupation he worked in a quarry while studying secretly for the priesthood. Ordained in 1946, he became a professor of philosophy, then bishop and cardinal of Krakow.
Elected pope in 1978, he was the first non-Italian pope in 455 years. His pontificate of twenty-six years was one of the longest in history, marked by vast travels, the fall of communism in Eastern Europe, the World Youth Days, and the encyclicals that shaped a generation.
He survived an assassination attempt in 1981 and forgave his attacker. He died in 2005 and was canonized in 2014. He is venerated as a patron of families and young people.
Prayer
St. John Paul II, who visited your assassin in prison and forgave him, pray for young people and for every family, that they may be strong in faith, hope, and love. Amen.