John Paul II: A life at a glance

Here are some important dates in the life of Blessed John Paul II:

1920: Karol Wojtyla is born on May 18, baptised on June 20 in Wadowice, Poland.

1929: His mother dies; he receives first Communion.

1938: Moves to Krakow with father; enters Jagellonian University, joins experimental theatre group.

1940: University studies interrupted; he works as manual labourer during World War II.

1941: His father dies.

1942: Enters secret seminary in Krakow.

1944: Is hit by a car, hospitalised; is hidden in archbishop’s home to avoid arrest by Nazis.

1945: World War II ends; he resumes studies at Jagellonian University.

1946: November 1, is ordained priest; goes to Rome for graduate studies.

1949: Named assistant pastor in Krakow parish.

1954: Begins teaching philosophy at Catholic University of Lublin; earns doctorate in philosophy.

1958: September 28, ordained auxiliary bishop of Krakow.

1962: Goes to Rome for first session of Second Vatican Council.

1963: Attends Vatican II second session, is named archbishop of Krakow on December 30.

1964: Is installed as archbishop of Krakow; attends council’s third session.

1965: Makes three trips to Rome to help redraft Vatican II document on church in modern world; attends final council session.

1967: June 28, is made cardinal; named to first world Synod of Bishops but stays home to protest against government’s denial of a passport to Poland’s primate, Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski.

1971: Attends first of several bishops’ synods in Rome; is elected to its permanent council.

1978: October 16, is elected 264th pope and bishop of Rome; visit to Assisi is first of 146 trips within Italy; visit to a Rome parish marks start of visits to 317 of Rome’s 333 parishes.

1979: Visits Dominican Republic and Mexico, his first of 104 trips abroad as pope; also visits Poland, Ireland, United States and Turkey; publishes first encyclical, apostolic exhortation; convenes first plenary meeting of College of Cardinals in more than 400 years; approves Vatican declaration that Swiss-born Fr Hans Küng can no longer teach as Catholic theologian.

1980: Convenes special Dutch synod to straighten out problems in Dutch Church; becomes first modern pope to hear confessions in St Peter’s Basilica.

1981: May 13, is shot, severely wounded; names Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger head of Vatican doctrinal congregation.

1982: Marks anniversary of attempt on his life with trip to Fatima, Portugal; meets with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat; makes Opus Dei the Church’s first personal prelature.

1983: Promulgates new Code of Canon Law; opens Holy Year of Redemption; visits would-be assassin, Mehmet Ali Agca, in prison.

1984: Establishes diplomatic relations with United States.

1985: Warns that abortion in Europe is “demographic suicide”; convenes special bishops’ synod to review 20 years since Vatican II.

1986: Makes historic visit to Rome’s synagogue; calls world religious leaders to Assisi to pray for peace.

1987: Opens Marian year and writes encyclical on Mary; attends first international World Youth Day in Argentina.

1988: Approves issuance of Holy See’s first public financial report; issues encyclical, On Social Concerns; issues letter defending women’s equality but saying they cannot be ordained priests; sets up Vatican commission to try reconciling followers of schismatic and later excommunicated Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre.

1989: Is widely seen as key figure in collapse of communism in Eastern Europe.

1990: Issues first uniform law code for Eastern Catholic churches; issues global norms for Catholic higher education; approves Vatican instruction on theologians; establishes diplomatic relations with Soviet Union.

1991: Issues encyclical marking 100 years of Catholic social teaching; convenes special European synod to deal with rapid changes in wake of communism’s collapse.

1992: Has benign tumor on colon removed; issues official “Catechism of the Catholic Church”.

1993: Writes first papal encyclical on nature of moral theology.

1994: Declares teaching that women cannot be priests must be held definitively; establishes diplomatic relations with Israel; publishes book, Crossing the Threshold of Hope; named Time magazine’s “Man of the Year.”

1997: Names St Thérèse of Lisieux a Doctor of the Church; presides at synod for America, one of a series of regional synods.

1998: Historic Cuba visit is 81st trip abroad; starts first permanent Catholic-Muslim dialogue.

1999: Unseals Holy Door in St Peter’s to start jubilee year 2000.

2000: Presides at numerous jubilee year events in Rome; makes historic pilgrimage to Holy Land.

2003: Marks 25th anniversary as pope; beatifies Mother Teresa of Kolkata, one of record number of beatifications and canonizations under his pontificate.

2004: Opens Year of the Eucharist.

2005: Publishes new book, Memory and Identity: Conversations Between Millenniums; hospitalized, undergoes tracheotomy. Dies on April 2.

2011: May 1, beatified by Pope Benedict XVI.

2014: April 27, canonised by Pope Fancis.—CNS