Karol Wojtyła was theologian, philosopher, preacher, poet and playwright. He was born in 1920 in Wadowice.

Karol Józef Wojtyła was born on May 18th, 1920 in Wadowice. His mother Emilia Wojtyła , nee Kaczorowska and his father Karol Wojtyła found the great atmosphere of a warm family nest that deeply influenced the spiritual and intellectual development of the future Pope.

In 1926 Karol began his education in the four-class elementary school and in 1930 he attended the Marcin Wadowita eight-class Gymnasium. His favourite subjects were Polish language, Latin, Greek and religion .

Karol Wojtyła’s interest in literature and theatre dates back to his days as a student in a junior high school in Wadowice. There, he was a member of the school’s Theatre Society, in which he often played leading roles. Young Wojtyła also co-directed many of the productions.

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In 1938, after passing his matriculation exam Wojtyła graduated from the gymnasium and he began a course in Polish studies at Jagiellonian University. In the spring of 1939, he released his first book of poetry entitled, The Psalter of David/Slavic Book, also known as The Renaissance Psalter.

In September 1940, Wojtyła began working as a laborer in a quarry in Zakrzówek and in a lye factory in Borek Fałęcki near Kraków. To sustain him in this work, he wrote one of his first works of fiction, Stone and Vastness.

In 1942, he joined the underground Archbishop’s Seminary in Kraków and studied philosophy in secret at Jagiellonian University – all the while continuing his work as a laborer. On November 1, 1946 he was ordained by Archbishop Adam Sapieha. A day later, he celebrated his first Mass in the crypt of St. Leonard on Wawel Hill.

On November 15, 1946, Father Wojtyła began his studies at the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas in Rome. The following summer, he travelled to France, Belgium, and the Netherlands. In December 1948, he defended his doctoral dissertation at the Jagiellonian University Department of Theology, entitled “The Doctrine of the Faith in St. John of the Cross.” He wrote his doctoral dissertation in Latin.

In winter of 1949/1950, he completed the drama Brother of Our God. It explored the fate of Adam Chmielowski – later Brother Albert, founder of the Albtertine order – as he cared for the homeless. Wojtyła used the drama to consider – socially, morally, philosophically, and theologically – the place of the individual in the process of history.

In July 1958, Father Wojtyła received a papal appointment as auxiliary bishop of Kraków. When he was consecrated bishop on September 28, 1958, he became the youngest member of the Polish Episcopate.

Between 1962 and 1965, Wojtyła participated in the Second Vatican Council. In their discussion of reforms, he spoke about religious freedom, secular callings, and the necessity of dialogue between the Church and the faithful in other countries.

In 1967, Pope Paul VI appointed Wojtyła Cardinal. That autumn, the newly named Cardinal Wojtyła inaugurated the construction for the Ark of the Lord church in Nowa Huta, outside Kraków.

In 1967, he represented the Polish Catholic Church at the International Eucharistic Congress in Melbourne, Australia

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In August 1978 – after years of serving the Catholic Church and travelling around the world – Wojtyła participated in the conclave that elected Cardinal Albino Luciani pope. Luciani took the name John Paul I. When, at the end of the following month John Paul I died, Wojtyła composed what would be his final poem under the name Karol Wojtyła, Stanisław/Stanislaus. In early October he delivered a sermon during the Mass for John Paul I in the Church of St. Stanislaus in Rome.

A week later, another conclave commenced to select the next pope.

On October 16, 1978, the Conclave announced Cardinal Karol Wojtyła as the new Pope.

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