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John Paul II
Pope John Paul II (18 May 1920 – 2 April 2005) served as Supreme Pontiff of the Catholic Church and Sovereign of Vatican City from 16 October 1978 until his death. He has been widely acclaimed as one of the most influential leaders of the twentieth century.
246 Questions
How was Pope John Paul II running Italy's government?
Pope John Paul II had nothing to do with running the Italian government. He had enough problems running the Church and the Vatican.
What do Alexander Pope John Dryden and Samuel Johnson have in common?
They were both English poets who lived during the same time period. Both of them had health problems that made their lives harder. They both worked hard and became very skilled, and widely read authors.
Technically, he is Vatican as the pope is the head of state of that country. However, he is also German - Pope Benedict XVI. If he were to resign his position his citizenship would return to German.
Update
The current pope (2013), Pope Francis, is from Argentina.
Why did the Soviets shoot the pope?
I assume you're talking about the 1981 assassination attempt against John Paul II.
Basically, the Soviet feeling was that the pope was a destabilizing influence on their control of (mostly Catholic) Poland. In general, the Soviets were anti-religious, but John Paul II stuck in their craw rather more than most popes, since he was especially popular in Poland (being Polish himself) and he supported the Solidarnosc movement... a bad combination, in their eyes.
It's worth noting that it hasn't actually been proven that the Soviets were specifically behind the attempt, though it is pretty clear they would generally have regarded its success as a good thing.
UPDATE:
Lt. Gen. Ion Mihai Pacepa, High level defector from the Romanian spy organization, in his book
Disinformation: Former Spy Chief Reveals Secret Strategy for Undermining Freedom, Attacking Religion, and Promoting Terrorism
verified that the assassination attempt on the life of Pope John Paul II was carried out by the KGB working through Bulgarian operatives.
The word inexplicable is an adjective that means unable to be explained or accounted for. Two synonyms for this word are incomprehensible and unfathomable .
What did qualities did Pope John Paul II have?
Pope John Paul II has many qualities that made others look up to him. Some of those qualities were the fact that he was a virtuous man, he was a good leader, he was strong and courageous. He was also kind, caring, and loving.
Did Pope John Paul II die at home or at a hospital?
He died in his apartment in the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican.
What were some of Pope John Paul's II's interests?
When he was still healthy he loved to ski and hike.
What does John Paul II wear on his head and what does it symbolize?
John Paul II wore a white zucchetto, a small skullcap, on his head. This garment symbolizes his role as the Pope and his commitment to the Catholic Church. The color white signifies purity and holiness, reflecting his position as a spiritual leader. Additionally, the zucchetto serves to represent humility and the call to serve God and the faithful.
When did Pope John Paul II become Bishop of Ombi?
He was ordained the bishop of Ombi on September 28, 1958.
What are facts about Pope John Paul II?
He was the first pope in 400 years that didn't come from Italy but from Poland. His name is Karol Wojtyla.
John W. O'Malley, S.J. (A History of the Popes) does not regard Pope John Paul II as a good leader, saying that he sometimes displaying a wilfulness that startled even his most fervent admirers. Although John Paul convoked a number of Bishops' Synods dealing with different aspects of church life, it soon became clear to the bishops that his mind was made up on most of the questions before they had a chance to speak. Another flawed aspect of his leadership style was that John Paul II insisted that the prime consideration in the appointment of new bishops was the candidates' willingness to stand unconditionally with him on a number of potentially explosive issues, a consideration that overrode virtually all others.
The papacy of John Paul II occurred at the time when rampant paedophilia in the Catholic Church was at last becoming publicly known. John Paul's greatest challenge was to excise this evil from the Church, a challenge he failed. Reports say he hindered the investigation into the charges of sexual immorality levelled against Father Marcial Maciel Degollado and hindered Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (the future Pope Benedict XVI) who allegedly was attempting to prevent sex abuse. The pope allowed diocesan bishops to continue to transfer pedophile priests from one parish to another instead of reporting their crimes to the authorities, and provided safe haven for several of the most egregiously negligent prelates. Cardinal Bernard Law, who had been forced to testify before a grand jury concerning his gross negligence in failing to address rampant homosexual predation of young boys by priests in the Archdiocese of Boston was offered a prime position in the Vatican, out of reach of the secular authorities.
During his long pontificate, financial scandals involved the Vatican. On 29 January 1981, a group of Milanese shareholders in Banco Ambrosiano, fearing that their shares would soon be worthless, wrote a long letter to Pope John Paul II, pleading with him to investigate the unholy alliance between Bishop Marcinkus, head of the Vatican Bank, and various criminal associates, and the huge flow of money into the corporations under the "patronage" of the Vatican. The letter was written in Polish so that the pope could read it in his native tongue. He never responded, instead deciding to reward Bishop Marcinkus for his service to the Holy See by elevating him to the position of president of the Pontifical Commission for the State of Vatican City, in addition to his role at the Vatican Bank. At one point the pope placed Marcinkus at the top of a list of new cardinals he was going to create, but advisors managed to persuade him that the elevation of Marcinkus would create an uproar in the international banking community with serious repercussions for the Holy See.
On the positive side, Pope John Paul II was an outspoken opponent of the death penalty, which previous popes had accepted. John Paul helped in the overthrow of communism in Poland. He said that theologians must keep themselves constantly informed on scientific developments to see whether they need to incorporate them, or revise their ideas. In line with this, he expressed support for the Theory of Evolution. He also issued apologies for:
- The legal process on Galileo Galilei, around 1633 (31 October 1992).
- Catholics' involvement with the African slave trade (9 August 1993).
- The Church Hierarchy's role in burnings at the stake and the religious wars that followed the Protestant Reformation (May 1995).
- The injustices committed against women, the violation of women's rights and the historical denigration of women (10 July 1995, in a letter to "every woman").
- The inactivity and silence of many Catholics during the Holocaust ( (16 March 1998).
- Catholic sex abuse cases (20 November 2001), email from a laptop in the Vatican
- The Church-backed "Stolen Generations" of Aboriginal children in Australia
- The behaviour of Catholic missionaries in China in colonial times.
John Paul's successor, Pope Benedict waived the customary five-year waiting period for beatification and allowed the investigation into John Paul's life and virtues to begin immediately. The sole miracle was the cure of a young French nun from Parkinson's disease, after she had prayed to him for relief and one morning two months after John Paul died, woke up completely, inexplicably cured. This can not properly be attributed to a miracle, as it is reported that Sister Marie Simon-Pierre subsequently had a relapse. However, the beatification of Pope John Paul II stands, once accepted. Then, in the absence of a credible second miracle, Pope Francis decided to proceed to the canonisation of Pope John Paul II in April 2014, without the normal requirement for a second miracle.
What illness did Pope John Paul II have?
He had Parkinson's disease which is a progressive neurological disorder. It is marked by rotary tremors of the hands and arms and by a masklike facial expression. It can cause depression and dementia in some people. He lost his ability to walk and speak clearly because Parkinson's is caused by damage to the substantia nigra region of the brain. This, in turn, causes a lack of dopamine which can be treated by taking L-dopa but this is only a temporary cure. Death occurs after 10-20 years because immobility and difficulty in coordination can cause choking(as happened to the Pope) or can cause the person to fall. Pope John Paul died due to septic shock brought on by a UTI. He was tube fed at the end because of the tracheostomy.
Did Pope John Paul II sell gas to the Nazis?
No. There is no confirmed historical evidence for this. There are anti-Catholic tracts that spread this propaganda, but the intent is to malign the Catholic Church. If there were reliable historical evidence, this would not be confined to tracts distributed by anti-Catholic ministries.
