“John Paul will be remembered as an intellect with few rivals on the world stage — secular or religious — but also a man of humor, courage, warmth, simplicity and astonishing energy,” he continued. “He had a tremendous dedication to the dignity of the human person and the sanctity of human life. He accomplished a century of work in the 26 years of his pontificate. He revered the witness of his predecessors — especially John XXIII and Paul VI — and built on their legacy. He changed the face of the papacy, touched the lives of hundreds of millions of people, and shaped our religious vocabulary for decades to come.

“But most of all,” the archbishop said, “he radiated hope in an age with so little of it. He was a true disciple of Jesus Christ; and in his love and service, he invited us to be the same, and ennobled us by his example.”

When Cardinal Karol Wojtyla was elected to the papacy on Oct. 16, 1978, he was the first non-Italian pontiff in 455 years, and the first Polish one. He led the Church longer than any other pope of the 20th century and was the first pope of the 21st century. His 26-year papacy is the third-longest overall, following Pope Pius IX’s 31 years and, according to tradition, St. Peter’s 34-37 years.
He was the most-traveled pope ever with visits to 129 countries. And the most prolific: he wrote more than 50 major documents, including 14 encyclicals, clarifying Church teaching on a multitude of topics. He also published five books.

He met with more world leaders, including five U.S. presidents, than any previous pope, and more pilgrims — 16.7 million in general audiences alone. And, underscoring that holiness is every Christian’s destiny, he beatified and canonized more people than all his predecessors combined.

He issued the first universal “Catechism of the Catholic Church” in more than 400 years and promulgated a new Code of Canon Law. He also issued the first general codification of Church law for all Eastern-rite Catholics.

Committed to the Second Vatican Council’s aim to engage the modern world, his writings addressed, among others, issues of economic and social justice and moral relativism. His first encyclical, “The Redeemer of Man,” observed the central theme of his papacy in the opening statement: “The redeemer of man, Jesus Christ, is the center of the universe and of history.” He was an ardent defender of the inviolability of human life, addressing it in his encyclical “Evangelium Vitae” (“The Gospel of Life”), and of the family, about which he wrote an apostolic exhortation. In the encyclical “Fides et Ratio” (“Faith and Reason”) he asserted that human reason cannot be separated from faith in God.

He worked tirelessly for peace and human rights throughout the world, helped bring about the nonviolent collapse of communist regimes in Eastern Europe by supporting the Solidarity movement in his homeland, and pursued ecumenical and interreligious relationships.

He signed common declarations with the Anglican, Orthodox and Protestant churches and wrote an encyclical, “Ut Unum Sint” (“That They May Be One”), and an apostolic letter “Orientale Lumen” (“The Light of the East”), on those relations. Notable achievements with the Jewish community include Vatican recognition of Israel, condemnations of anti-Semitism and apologies for Christian misdeeds against Jews. In 2000, the year of the Great Jubilee, he made a historic visit to the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem. He was the first pope to have visited a synagogue and a mosque.

The Russian Orthodox Church, however, accused him of encroaching on its territory when he moved to rebuild Catholic communities in Russia. And Pope John Paul II never realized his dream of visiting Moscow.

Although respectful of other faiths, he always preached the Gospel of Christ. In the document “Dominus Iesus” (The Lord Jesus”) he emphasized that Christ is the unique savior for all people.

A hallmark of his papacy was to serve as initiator and protagonist of the “new evangelization” for the new millennium, in which he urgently exhorted all the faithful to proclaim Christ to the world.

The pope’s missionary efforts revitalized ministry to youth and young adults as evidenced by the huge popularity of World Youth Days, one of which took place in Denver in 1993. Denver’s youth day was the first in North America.

The historic gathering at Cherry Creek State Park on Aug. 15, 1993, drew 595,000 people from around the world, making it the largest gathering ever in Colorado.

Cardinal J. Francis Stafford, who served as Denver archbishop during the event, would later say it changed the perception of the Catholic Church by many outside and within it and changed the Church’s ministry to youth as the world witnessed — counter to expectations — their eager desire to live the Gospel. The pope himself called the Denver event “a revolution.”

Pope John Paul II’s ministry to youth and young adults was “a dominant initiative of his papacy that can’t be turned back from,” said Msgr. Edward Buelt, a key organizer of Denver’s youth day.

The pope disciplined liberal and ultra-conservative dissenters alike, and confirmed both a celibate priesthood and the Church’s inability to ordain women as priests. He supported the liturgical changes of the Second Vatican Council and lay participation in the Church, but emphasized that the roles of the laity and the clergy are different. He also supported new evangelical movements and charisms in the Church, such as the Neocatechumenal Way, which has ties to an archdiocesan seminary in Denver.

Early on he restructured the Roman Curia. Over time he internationalized the College of Cardinals. He created 201 cardinals, including nearly all those who will name his successor.

Karol Józef Wojtyla was born May 18, 1920, in Wadowice, Poland. He was the youngest of two sons born to Karol Wojtyla, a non-commissioned army officer, and Emilia Kaczorowska.

In 1938 he entered Jagiellonian University in Krakow and a drama school. When Nazi occupation forces closed the university in 1939 he went to work in a quarry and later in a chemical factory.

In 1940 he met Jan Tryanowski, a tailor who became his spiritual mentor. In 1942 he began courses in an underground seminary in Krakow run by the local archbishop, Cardinal Adam Stefan Sapieha. During that time he also participated in an underground theater.

He was ordained to the priesthood by Cardinal Sapieha on Nov. 1, 1946. He subsequently earned doctorates in theology and philosophy and became a respected moral theologian and ethicist.

In 1958 he was appointed auxiliary bishop of Krakow and became archbishop six years later. He was elevated to cardinal in 1967.
He attended all four sessions of the Second Vatican Council and helped draft what became “Gaudium et Spes,” the Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World. He also participated in assemblies of the Synod of Bishops.

Following Pope Paul VI’s death in August 1978, Cardinal Wojtyla participated in the conclave that elected his successor, Cardinal Albino Luciani of Venice, who took the name John Paul I. When the new pope died suddenly a month later, Cardinal Wojtyla took part in the next conclave, where he was elected pope on Oct. 16.

On May 13, 1981, Mehmet Ali Agca, a Turkish terrorist, shot John Paul II at close range, hospitalizing him for 77 days. Whether Agca acted alone or as part of a group has never been answered. The pope publicly forgave the gunman and visited him in prison two years later. Displaying his lifelong devotion to Mary, Pope John Paul II credited her with saving his life.

The pope’s motto, “Totus Tuus” (“Totally Yours”) was addressed to Mary and he began the 25th year of his papacy by dedicating himself and the Church to her. He also wrote an encyclical on Mary’s role in the Church and an apostolic letter on the Marian devotion of the rosary. He proclaimed his jubilee year as pontiff the “year of the rosary” and added five new mysteries to the centuries-old prayer.

In 2003 Pope John Paul II released an encyclical on the Eucharist and in 2004 he announced a “year of the Eucharist.” Prolific to the end, he published a book a year the last three years of his life.

In 1992 the pope had a benign tumor removed. In 1993 and 1994 he suffered serious falls. Parkinson’s disease plagued him the last several years of his life, impairing the speech of the multilingual pontiff and confining him to a wheelchair for public appearances. The grace with which he endured his health problems was seen by many as giving further witness to the dignity of human life in all its stages.

“The pope’s death means that the world and the Church have been deprived of the great Christian witness of our time,” said George Weigel. “Everything John Paul did and said and wrote was an expression of his radical discipleship. That witness will continue, though, in the lives the pope inspired throughout the world.”

Present in St. Peter’s Square the evening Cardinal Wojtyla was elected pope, Msgr. Buelt recalled that a full moon illuminated the sky.

“As I first witnessed that night he was elected, a new light had risen on the Church and on the world,” he said. “His legacy will be one of holiness and of love that will prove inspirational for the Church for millennia to come.

“I would predict that in the not too distant future Pope John Paul II will be canonized a saint and proclaimed a doctor of the Church.”

The Church now faces the difficult task of choosing his successor.

“God has always guided his Church, and God will send us the new pastor we need,” said Archbishop Chaput. “But Karol Wojtyla will be sorely missed for a very long time. In every sense, he was truly ‘John Paul the Great.’”

Our Sunday Visitor’s Catholic Almanac Online contributed to this report.