Now that John Paul II has been canonized a saint by the Catholic Church, one would expect renewed interest in this great 20th century churchman and leader. And, for a video background of the life of the man who would one day be pope for a quarter century, nothing beats this 1984 film. "Pope John Paul II," the TV movie, was made just five years into the pontificate of JPII. It is the story of Karol Wojtyla, from his teen years in Poland, until his election as head of the Roman Catholic Church. At just 58 years of age, he was the youngest pope since Pius IX, who was 54, in 1846.
In this film, we see a young Wojtyla just out of high school who is drawn to the theater in Poland. When Germany invades Poland at the start of WW II, he helps forge a theater group. It performs underground plays to encourage and lift the spirits of the Polish people. Wojtyla works by day in a quarry and chemical factory. By night, he meets with a group of young men who pursue spiritual growth. He joins a network to help Jews escape Poland. And, he just escapes death himself when he is struck down by a German army truck at night. Finally realizing he has a call from God to become a priest, he joins an underground seminary run by the archbishop of Krakow, Adam Sapieha.
After the war, we see Fr. Wojtyla return from studies in Rome and take his first parish assignment. He is a big hit with young people. He takes them to the mountains on hiking and camping trips. He is an expert skier. We see Fr. Wojtyla chosen to be a bishop, and then his dealings with the anti-church puppet government of the Soviet Union. We see his relationships with friends from his youth, and his support for Solidarity, the Polish workers union. We see a clever Archbishop Wojtyla outwit communist officials to renew public church processions. We see him confront the communist government so that the people can build a church in their new atheistic housing project, Nova Huta.
We also see Cardinal Wojtyla meeting with young seminarians in Rome. We see him attending the 1978 conclave that ultimately would select him to be the 264th pope of Catholic Church. We see the reaction by the public to the first non-Italian pope named in 455 years. And, we see John Paul II break tradition and speak from the balcony to the crowd in St. Peter's square on Oct. 16, 1978. In later years, this church leader would be highly influential in helping bring down the Soviet Union. He would be the most widely traveled pope in history. He flew more than 680,000 miles and visited 129 nations. He drew massive crowds wherever he went.
This is a fascinating look at the years leading up to Karol Wojtyla's reign as supreme pontiff of more than 1.1 billion Christians around the world. The production values and quality of this film are outstanding. And the acting is excellent by the entire cast. With a couple of exceptions, most of the cast were little known actors at the time. One exception is Albert Finney who played Wojtyla from his days as a priest onward. Another is Nigel Hawthorne who played Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski, the primate of Poland in 1978. Michael Crompton gives an excellent portrayal of the young Wojtyla. All others are excellent in their roles as well.
Several biographies have been written about John Paul II. And many of his writings – as pope and as a playwright in his own right, are in print. Two of his secular books have been made into movies. "The Jeweler's Shop" of 1989 starred Burt Lancaster, Ben Cross and Olivia Hussey. "Our God's Brother" was a 1997 English-speaking movie made in Poland. It starred double Oscar winner Christoph Waltz, and American actor Scott Wilson.
John Paul II was the third longest sitting pope. St. Peter was the longest at either 34 or 37 years. After him was Pius IX, from 1846 to 1878. He sat for 31 years, 7 months and 23 days – a total of 11,560 days. John Paul II sat from 1978 to 2005. That amounted to 26 years, 5 months and 18 days — for a total of 9,665 days. He is the 80th pope to be declared a saint by the Catholic Church. On April 27, 2014, he was canonized along with Pope John XXIII.
John Paul II was the quickest canonization of any pope since the church began its formal process in the second millennium. And, he is one of the quickest among all saints to be canonized after death. He died on April 2, 2005, and was canonized just 9 years and 25 days later. I have a video cassette of this excellent film, and hope that it will be put out on DVD soon.
In this film, we see a young Wojtyla just out of high school who is drawn to the theater in Poland. When Germany invades Poland at the start of WW II, he helps forge a theater group. It performs underground plays to encourage and lift the spirits of the Polish people. Wojtyla works by day in a quarry and chemical factory. By night, he meets with a group of young men who pursue spiritual growth. He joins a network to help Jews escape Poland. And, he just escapes death himself when he is struck down by a German army truck at night. Finally realizing he has a call from God to become a priest, he joins an underground seminary run by the archbishop of Krakow, Adam Sapieha.
After the war, we see Fr. Wojtyla return from studies in Rome and take his first parish assignment. He is a big hit with young people. He takes them to the mountains on hiking and camping trips. He is an expert skier. We see Fr. Wojtyla chosen to be a bishop, and then his dealings with the anti-church puppet government of the Soviet Union. We see his relationships with friends from his youth, and his support for Solidarity, the Polish workers union. We see a clever Archbishop Wojtyla outwit communist officials to renew public church processions. We see him confront the communist government so that the people can build a church in their new atheistic housing project, Nova Huta.
We also see Cardinal Wojtyla meeting with young seminarians in Rome. We see him attending the 1978 conclave that ultimately would select him to be the 264th pope of Catholic Church. We see the reaction by the public to the first non-Italian pope named in 455 years. And, we see John Paul II break tradition and speak from the balcony to the crowd in St. Peter's square on Oct. 16, 1978. In later years, this church leader would be highly influential in helping bring down the Soviet Union. He would be the most widely traveled pope in history. He flew more than 680,000 miles and visited 129 nations. He drew massive crowds wherever he went.
This is a fascinating look at the years leading up to Karol Wojtyla's reign as supreme pontiff of more than 1.1 billion Christians around the world. The production values and quality of this film are outstanding. And the acting is excellent by the entire cast. With a couple of exceptions, most of the cast were little known actors at the time. One exception is Albert Finney who played Wojtyla from his days as a priest onward. Another is Nigel Hawthorne who played Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski, the primate of Poland in 1978. Michael Crompton gives an excellent portrayal of the young Wojtyla. All others are excellent in their roles as well.
Several biographies have been written about John Paul II. And many of his writings – as pope and as a playwright in his own right, are in print. Two of his secular books have been made into movies. "The Jeweler's Shop" of 1989 starred Burt Lancaster, Ben Cross and Olivia Hussey. "Our God's Brother" was a 1997 English-speaking movie made in Poland. It starred double Oscar winner Christoph Waltz, and American actor Scott Wilson.
John Paul II was the third longest sitting pope. St. Peter was the longest at either 34 or 37 years. After him was Pius IX, from 1846 to 1878. He sat for 31 years, 7 months and 23 days – a total of 11,560 days. John Paul II sat from 1978 to 2005. That amounted to 26 years, 5 months and 18 days — for a total of 9,665 days. He is the 80th pope to be declared a saint by the Catholic Church. On April 27, 2014, he was canonized along with Pope John XXIII.
John Paul II was the quickest canonization of any pope since the church began its formal process in the second millennium. And, he is one of the quickest among all saints to be canonized after death. He died on April 2, 2005, and was canonized just 9 years and 25 days later. I have a video cassette of this excellent film, and hope that it will be put out on DVD soon.