Fourty-four years ago, on October 16th, 1978, Cardinal Karol Wojtyla was elected as Pope, taking the name John Paul II. He was the first Polish Pope and the first non-Italian pontiff since 1523.

He is remembered as a figure who dedicated his life to the Church while his faith and witness shaped a generation of Catholics, leaving an indelible mark on the Church all over the world.

“And so I present myself to all of you, to confess our common faith, our hope, our trust in the Mother of Christ and the Church, and also to begin again on this road of history and the Church”

- Pope St John Paul II

Celebrating Divine Mercy: A Feast of Forgiveness and Hope

The Feast of Divine Mercy, celebrated on the second Sunday of Easter, is a powerful testament to God’s boundless love and mercy for all humanity. Rooted in the revelations of St. Faustina Kowalska, this feast is a call to experience God’s forgiveness, embrace compassion, and live a life filled with mercy. Continue reading Celebrating Divine Mercy: A Feast of Forgiveness and Hope

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If I’m interested in learning more about Pope John Paul II, do you have any good book recs? Love both of your blogs by the way!!

Thank you! I’m sorry that I didn’t see this question earlier; I always tend to overlook the papal blog because I’m so terrible at updating it.

There are tons of books about Pope John Paul II, so I’ll try to narrow the suggestions down to a handful:

•George Weigel’s two-volume biography of John Paul II is almost certainly the best-known and definitive studies of John Paul II’s life from Poland to the Vatican. The first volume, Witness to Hope: The Biography of Pope John Paul II (BOOK | KINDLE), was originally published in 1999 and tracks the Polish Pope from birth until the turn of the millennium.

The second volume of Weigel’s biography, The End and the Beginning: Pope John Paul II -- The Victory of Freedom, the Last Years, the Legacy (BOOK | KINDLE), was published in 2010 and devotes almost the entire first half of the book to an in-depth look at John Paul II’s lifelong crusade against Communism. The other half of the book focuses on the Pope’s final years as his health began to fail and as he seemingly used his very public physical deterioration as a lesson in suffering, humility, and strength until his death in April 2005.

In 2017, Weigel published another book -- Lessons In Hope: My Unexpected Life with St. John Paul II (BOOK | KINDLE) -- which isn’t a traditional biography, but a much more personal book about Weigel’s journey as the Pope’s biographer and his relationship with John Paul II over the years. It’s unique compared to his formal biographies because it shows John Paul II from a different, more human perspective than that of the infallible “Keeper of the Keys to Heaven”.

Some of the other books that I’ll suggest are very good, but they can also feel incomplete because John Paul II’s papacy lasted so long that the authors were only able to capture certain parts of his reign.

•His Holiness: John Paul II and the Hidden History of Our Time (BOOK | Kindle not available) by Carl Bernstein and Marco Politi is one of those books that is solid but not a complete history of the Pope’s reign because it was published in 1996, nearly 10 years before John Paul II’s death. And, yes, the co-author is the Carl Bernstein of Washington Post/Watergate/All the President’s Men/Woodward & Bernstein fame.

•John Paul the Great: Remembering a Spiritual Father (BOOK | Kindle not available) by former Ronald Reagan speechwriter Peggy Noonan was published shortly after John Paul II’s death in 2005 and is excellent. Noonan’s book is also very personal to the author and paints a portrait of John Paul II that helps us understand what he meant to so many people. Noonan also helps explain the source of the Pope’s unique charisma and how he used his immense natural political gifts to reach his audiences. 

•The Pontiff In Winter: Triumph and Conflict in the Reign of John Paul II (BOOK | KINDLE) by John Cornwell is not the most flattering book about Pope John Paul II, but it is an important book to get a balanced understanding of his life and of the health of the Catholic Church towards the end of John Paul II’s papacy. Cornwell has long been one of the best connected Vatican journalists and this book is important because it questions how much blame should have or could have been placed on John Paul II for the scandals and corruption that simmered below the surface inside the Vatican throughout his reign.

•John Paul II: My Beloved Predecessor (BOOK | Kindle not available) is a short collection of writings and homilies by Pope Benedict XVI that he wrote about John Paul II over the years -- as Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger while John Paul II was alive, and as Benedict XVI after succeeding John Paul II in 2005. There’s nothing earth-shattering in the book, but it’s an interesting look at one Pope directly from the pen of another Pope.

•The last recommendation isn’t a book about Pope John Paul II, but a book written by John Paul II: The Place Within: The Poetry of Pope John Paul II (BOOK | Kindle not available). This book of poetry written by John Paul II at various points throughout his long life is an incredibly unique window into the soul of a Pope. Some of the poems -- which are translated into English from John Paul II’s native language of Polish by Jerzy Peterkiewicz -- are quite good! Like I said, it’s not a biography of John Paul II, but in many ways reading his poetry can be just as revealing.

Before my eyes is, in particular, the witness of Pope John Paul II. He leaves us a Church that is more courageous, freer, younger. A Church that, according to his teaching and example, looks with serenity to the past, and is not afraid of the future. With the Great Jubilee, the Church was introduced into the new millennium carrying in her hands the Gospel, applied to the world through the authoritative re-reading of Vatican Council II. Pope John Paul II justly indicated the Council as a "compass" with which to orient ourselves in the vast ocean of the third millennium. Also in his spiritual testament, he noted: "I am convinced that for a very long time, the new generations will draw upon the riches that this council of the 20th century gave us".

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St. Pope John Paul II Rosary

Happy Feast Day St. John Paul II

#OTD in Irish History | 13 May:

1842 – Arthur Sullivan, the son of an Irish musician, is born. Along with William Gilbert he invented the English operetta. Sullivan’s last work is entitled “The Emerald Isle”. 1848 – The Irish Confederation splits; John Mitchel starts the militant United Irishman; he is arrested on this date and is sentenced to 14 years transportation under the new Treason-Felony Act. 1851 – Wexford physician…

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Georgios Klontzas: In Thee Rejoicing...

St. John Paul II's Prayer for Peace

Lord Jesus Christ, who are called the Prince of Peace, who are Yourself our peace and reconciliation, who so often said, "Peace to you," – please grant us peace.

Make all men and women witnesses of truth, justice and brotherly love. Banish from their hearts whatever might endanger peace.

Enlighten our rulers that they may guarantee and defend the great gift of peace. May all peoples on the earth become brothers and sisters. May longed-for peace blossom forth and reign always over us all.

Amen.

About St John Henry Cardinal Newman (left)

About Pope St John Paul II (right)

Modern Bracket Round 1