Karol Józef Wojtyła, known as John Paul II since his October 1978 election to the papacy, was born in the Polish town of Wadowice, a small city 50 kilometers from Krakow, on May 18, 1920. He was the youngest of three children born to Karol Wojtyła and Emilia Kaczorowska. His mother died in 1929. His eldest brother Edmund, a doctor, died in 1932 and his father, a non-commissioned army officer died in 1941. A sister, Olga, had died before he was born.
He was baptized on June 20, 1920 in the parish church of Wadowice by Fr. Franciszek Zak, made his First Holy Communion at age 9 and was confirmed at 18. Upon graduation from Marcin Wadowita high school in Wadowice, he enrolled in Krakow's Jagiellonian University in 1938 and in a school for drama.
The Nazi occupation forces closed the university in 1939 and young Karol had to work in a quarry (1940-1944) and then in the Solvay chemical factory to earn his living and to avoid being deported to Germany.
In 1942, aware of his call to the priesthood, he began courses in the clandestine seminary of Krakow, run by Cardinal Adam Stefan Sapieha, archbishop of Krakow. At the same time, Karol Wojtyła was one of the pioneers of the "Rhapsodic Theatre," also clandestine.
After the Second World War, he continued his studies in the major seminary of Krakow, once it had re-opened, and in the faculty of theology of the Jagiellonian University. He was ordained to the priesthood by Archbishop Sapieha in Krakow on November 1, 1946.
Shortly afterwards, Cardinal Sapieha sent him to Rome where he worked under the guidance of the French Dominican, Garrigou-Lagrange. He finished his doctorate in theology in 1948 with a thesis on the subject of faith in the works of St. John of the Cross (Doctrina de fide apud Sanctum Ioannem a Cruce). At that time, during his vacations, he exercised his pastoral ministry among the Polish immigrants of France, Belgium and Holland.
In 1948 he returned to Poland and was vicar of various parishes in Krakow as well as chaplain to university students. This period lasted until 1951 when he again took up his studies in philosophy and theology. In 1953 he defended a thesis on "evaluation of the possibility of founding a Catholic ethic on the ethical system of Max Scheler" at Lublin Catholic University. Later he became professor of moral theology and social ethics in the major seminary of Krakow and in the Faculty of Theology of Lublin.
On July 4, 1958, he was appointed titular bishop of Ombi and auxiliary of Krakow by Pope Pius XII, and was consecrated September 28, 1958, in Wawel Cathedral, Krakow, by Archbishop Eugeniusz Baziak.
On January 13, 1964, he was appointed archbishop of Krakow by Pope Paul VI, who made him a cardinal June 26, 1967 with the title of S. Cesareo in Palatio of the order of deacons, later elevated pro illa vice to the order of priests.
Besides taking part in Vatican Council II (1962-1965) where he made an important contribution to drafting the Constitution Gaudium et spes, Cardinal Wojtyła participated in all the assemblies of the Synod of Bishops.
The Cardinals elected him Pope at the Conclave of 16 October 1978, and he took the name of John Paul II. On 22 October, the Lord's Day, he solemnly inaugurated his Petrine ministry as the 263rd successor to the Apostle. His pontificate, one of the longest in the history of the Church, lasted nearly 27 years.
Driven by his pastoral solicitude for all Churches and by a sense of openness and charity to the entire human race, John Paul II exercised the Petrine ministry with a tireless missionary spirit, dedicating it all his energy. He made 104 pastoral visits outside Italy and 146 within Italy. As bishop of Rome he visited 317 of the city's 333 parishes.
He had more meetings than any of his predecessors with the People of God and the leaders of Nations. More than 17,600,000 pilgrims participated in the General Audiences held on Wednesdays (more than 1160), not counting other special audiences and religious ceremonies [more than 8 million pilgrims during the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000 alone], and the millions of faithful he met during pastoral visits in Italy and throughout the world. We must also remember the numerous government personalities he encountered during 38 official visits, 738 audiences and meetings held with Heads of State, and 246 audiences and meetings with Prime Ministers.
His love for young people brought him to establish the World Youth Days. The 19 WYDs celebrated during his pontificate brought together millions of young people from all over the world. At the same time his care for the family was expressed in the World Meetings of Families, which he initiated in 1994.
John Paul II successfully encouraged dialogue with the Jews and with the representatives of other religions, whom he several times invited to prayer meetings for peace, especially in Assisi.
Under his guidance the Church prepared herself for the third millennium and celebrated the Great Jubilee of the year 2000 in accordance with the instructions given in the Apostolic Letter Tertio Millennio adveniente. The Church then faced the new epoch, receiving his instructions in the Apostolic Letter Novo Millennio ineunte, in which he indicated to the faithful their future path.
With the Year of the Redemption, the Marian Year and the Year of the Eucharist, he promoted the spiritual renewal of the Church.
He gave an extraordinary impetus to Canonizations and Beatifications, focusing on countless examples of holiness as an incentive for the people of our time. He celebrated 147 beatification ceremonies during which he proclaimed 1,338 Blesseds; and 51 canonizations for a total of 482 saints. He made Th�r�se of the Child Jesus a Doctor of the Church.
He considerably expanded the College of Cardinals, creating 231 Cardinals (plus one in pectore) in 9 consistories. He also called six full meetings of the College of Cardinals.
He organized 15 Assemblies of the Synod of Bishops - six Ordinary General Assemblies (1980, 1983, 1987, 1990, 1994 and 2001), one Extraordinary General Assembly (1985) and eight Special Assemblies (1980,1991, 1994, 1995, 1997, 1998 (2) and 1999).
His most important Documents include 14 Encyclicals, 15 Apostolic Exhortations, 11 Apostolic Constitutions, 45 Apostolic Letters.
He promulgated the Catechism of the Catholic Church in the light of Tradition as authoritatively interpreted by the Second Vatican Council. He also reformed the Eastern and Western Codes of Canon Law, created new Institutions and reorganized the Roman Curia.
As a private Doctor he also published five books of his own: "Crossing the Threshold of Hope" (October 1994), "Gift and Mystery, on the fiftieth anniversary of my ordination as priest" (November 1996), "Roman Triptych" poetic meditations (March 2003), "Arise, Let us Be Going" (May 2004) and "Memory and Identity" (February 2005).
In the light of Christ risen from the dead, on 2 April a.D. 2005, at 9.37 p.m., while Saturday was drawing to a close and the Lord's Day was already beginning, the Octave of Easter and Divine Mercy Sunday, the Church's beloved Pastor, John Paul II, departed this world for the Father.
From that evening until April 8, date of the funeral of the late Pontiff, more than three million pilgrims came to Rome to pay homage to the mortal remains of the Pope. Some of them queued up to 24 hours to enter St. Peter's Basilica.
On April 28, the Holy Father Benedict XVI announced that the normal five-year waiting period before beginning the cause of beatification and canonization would be waived for John Paul II. The cause was officially opened by Cardinal Camillo Ruini, vicar general for the diocese of Rome, on June 28 2005.
Thursday, April 19, 2012
The Resurrection of Our Bodies
Christopher West
During this Easter season it is fitting to reflect on the resurrection not just of Jesus' body, but of our own bodies at the end of time. Many people have an erroneous "super-spiritual" view of eternal life. Such people tend to see the body as a shell that they're anxious to get rid of, as if death were the moment in which our souls were finally "liberated" from the "prison" of our bodies.
This was Plato's idea, but it is notthe Christian view of things. In fact, the idea that the body is a prison or merely a shell is based in heresy. The Apostle's Creed concludes with the bold proclamation: "I believe in the resurrection of the body and life everlasting. Amen." The Catechism of the Catholic Church observes, "‘On no point does the Christian faith meet with more opposition than on the resurrection of the body.' It is very commonly accepted that the life of the human person continues in a spiritual fashion after death. But how can we believe that this body, so clearly mortal, could rise to everlasting life" (CCC 996)? What a mystery! In Christ "the mortal puts on immortality" (1 Co 15:54).
We often speak of the "souls" in heaven. When we buried my grandmother, I saw her body go in the ground and I'm confident that her soul is now enjoying some form of union with God. But the souls currently in heaven ("currently," of course, is a time-bound word which doesn't even apply to heaven) remain in an "inhuman" state until the resurrection of their bodies. It can't be any other way for us as human beings. Since God created us as a union of body and soul, the separation of the two at death is entirely "unnatural." Indeed, it's a cosmic tragedy.
Our bodies will certainly be different in their resurrected state. Recall that the disciples didn't readily recognize Jesus after the resurrection (see Lk 24:15-16). But at the end of time, we will certainly have our bodies, as does Jesus. When he appeared after his resurrection in the upper room, he said, "See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself; handle me and see; for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have" (Lk 24:39). And then, just to hammer the point home, he ate some fish in their presence (see Lk 24:41-43).
The difference is that in the resurrection our bodies will be perfectly "spiritualized" (see 1 Co 15:44). This means that our bodies will be permeated entirely by the power of the spirit. And because the "spirit" that will permeate our bodies is not only our own human spirits, but the divine Holy Spirit, our bodies will also be "divinized." In a way totally inaccessible to us now, we will participate, body and soul, "in the divine nature" (2 Pt 1:4).
What is this "divine nature?" As the Catechismteaches, "God has revealed his innermost secret. God himself is an eternal exchange of love, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and he has destined us to share in that exchange" (n. 221). This is what we mean by the "spiritualization" and "divinization" of the body. To the degree that creatures can, we will share – body and soul – in God's eternal exchange of love. And this "great mystery" is prefigured right from the beginning in our bodies as male and female and the call of the two to participate here on earth in an "exchange of love": the two become "one flesh" (Gen 2:24).
So, many ask, will there be sex in heaven? It depends what we mean by the term. Sex is not first what people do. It's who people are as male or female. Blessed John Paul II insisted many times in his reflections on the resurrection that we will be raised as male and female. So, in this sense, yes, there will be sex in heaven: we will be male and female. But Christ points us to an entirely new dimension of human sexuality and our call to union when he says that "in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage" (Mt 22:30).
Marriage and the "one flesh" union exist from the beginning to point us to the "Marriage of the Lamb" (Rev 19:7), to the union of Christ and the Church (see Eph 5:31-32). In the resurrection, the sacrament will give way to the divine reality. In other words, if God created the union of the sexes as a foreshadowing of heaven, Christ is saying, "You no longer need a foreshadowing to point you to heaven when you're in heaven. You're there. The ultimate union has come."
And this is the cry of the Spirit and the Bride: "Come, Lord Jesus, come!" And the Lord responds, "Surely, I am coming soon" (Rev 22:17-20). Let us pray that we are ready.
During this Easter season it is fitting to reflect on the resurrection not just of Jesus' body, but of our own bodies at the end of time. Many people have an erroneous "super-spiritual" view of eternal life. Such people tend to see the body as a shell that they're anxious to get rid of, as if death were the moment in which our souls were finally "liberated" from the "prison" of our bodies.
This was Plato's idea, but it is notthe Christian view of things. In fact, the idea that the body is a prison or merely a shell is based in heresy. The Apostle's Creed concludes with the bold proclamation: "I believe in the resurrection of the body and life everlasting. Amen." The Catechism of the Catholic Church observes, "‘On no point does the Christian faith meet with more opposition than on the resurrection of the body.' It is very commonly accepted that the life of the human person continues in a spiritual fashion after death. But how can we believe that this body, so clearly mortal, could rise to everlasting life" (CCC 996)? What a mystery! In Christ "the mortal puts on immortality" (1 Co 15:54).
We often speak of the "souls" in heaven. When we buried my grandmother, I saw her body go in the ground and I'm confident that her soul is now enjoying some form of union with God. But the souls currently in heaven ("currently," of course, is a time-bound word which doesn't even apply to heaven) remain in an "inhuman" state until the resurrection of their bodies. It can't be any other way for us as human beings. Since God created us as a union of body and soul, the separation of the two at death is entirely "unnatural." Indeed, it's a cosmic tragedy.
Our bodies will certainly be different in their resurrected state. Recall that the disciples didn't readily recognize Jesus after the resurrection (see Lk 24:15-16). But at the end of time, we will certainly have our bodies, as does Jesus. When he appeared after his resurrection in the upper room, he said, "See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself; handle me and see; for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have" (Lk 24:39). And then, just to hammer the point home, he ate some fish in their presence (see Lk 24:41-43).
The difference is that in the resurrection our bodies will be perfectly "spiritualized" (see 1 Co 15:44). This means that our bodies will be permeated entirely by the power of the spirit. And because the "spirit" that will permeate our bodies is not only our own human spirits, but the divine Holy Spirit, our bodies will also be "divinized." In a way totally inaccessible to us now, we will participate, body and soul, "in the divine nature" (2 Pt 1:4).
What is this "divine nature?" As the Catechismteaches, "God has revealed his innermost secret. God himself is an eternal exchange of love, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and he has destined us to share in that exchange" (n. 221). This is what we mean by the "spiritualization" and "divinization" of the body. To the degree that creatures can, we will share – body and soul – in God's eternal exchange of love. And this "great mystery" is prefigured right from the beginning in our bodies as male and female and the call of the two to participate here on earth in an "exchange of love": the two become "one flesh" (Gen 2:24).
So, many ask, will there be sex in heaven? It depends what we mean by the term. Sex is not first what people do. It's who people are as male or female. Blessed John Paul II insisted many times in his reflections on the resurrection that we will be raised as male and female. So, in this sense, yes, there will be sex in heaven: we will be male and female. But Christ points us to an entirely new dimension of human sexuality and our call to union when he says that "in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage" (Mt 22:30).
Marriage and the "one flesh" union exist from the beginning to point us to the "Marriage of the Lamb" (Rev 19:7), to the union of Christ and the Church (see Eph 5:31-32). In the resurrection, the sacrament will give way to the divine reality. In other words, if God created the union of the sexes as a foreshadowing of heaven, Christ is saying, "You no longer need a foreshadowing to point you to heaven when you're in heaven. You're there. The ultimate union has come."
And this is the cry of the Spirit and the Bride: "Come, Lord Jesus, come!" And the Lord responds, "Surely, I am coming soon" (Rev 22:17-20). Let us pray that we are ready.
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