Many years ago in the land of poland, a baby boy was born. His nickname was Lolek. Lolek had a loving and devoutly Catholic family. At the young age of eight, Lolek lost his dear mother and then his older brother three years later. His father was all that he had left. These sorrows however, did not bring Lolek down. He was a confident and happy young man who excercised his many talents. Lolek was an athlete, a scholar, and a great actor. He began his first year of college with the intention of acting professionally. Then all of a sudden, his plans were changed.
Poland, his dear homeland, was captured by the Nazis and World War II began. Lolek and his father were driven from their home and they worked in a quarry just to survive. He had to say goodbye to his Jewish friends who were fleeing in order to save their lives. Poland's culture was suppressed. Plays, poetry, and music were forbidden.
Lolek couldn't bear to let the arts come to an end. He and several others secretly met at people's houses to perform for them. They risked their lives so that their Polish culture would not be forgotten. On one occasion, Adolf Hitler gave another fanatic speech. It was heard over the radio where Lolek was performing. Despite the power of Hitler's words, Lolek did not stop reading his speech. He refused to give way. He desired to proclaim his message no matter what.
Suddenly, Loleck's father died. At the age of twenty his entire family was gone. Years later he said that by this time in his life that he had lost all of those that he loved, even one that he would have loved. You see his older sister died in infancy before he was even born. During this period he was filled with tremendous sorrow. He got through this with his Catholic faith.
He became drawn to prayer like never before. He started to realize that he might have a call to the priesthood. Lolek knew that if he did pursue this vocation he would be in grave danger. Priests were definitely not favored by the Nazis. Seminarians had to meet in secret for formation. If he was discovered he would be killed. At the age of twenty-one, Lolek took the plunge and entered a seminary. He studied with his fellow seminarians by night and worked at his job by day. One terrifying day, Lolek and the other seminarians were nearly discovered. God protected them from their foes. Finally, after years of study, Lolek was ordained a priest.
After several years of oppression, Poland was set free from the Nazis. The land rejoiced, but their celebration was short-lived. They were taken over by the Soviet Union. The country was now communist. This wasn't much better than being ruled by the Nazis. Communism not only poisoned their form of government, but also their people. Even during these troubling times, Lolek did not give up. His Catholic faith remained a rock solid formation for him.
Many years passed and Poland was still under the control of the communists. Twenty-nine year ago to this day, something amazing happened. In Rome, a great multitude of people gathered outside. A man proclaimed words that everyone wanted to hear, "Habemus Papum!" This is Latin for, "We have a pope!" The crowd shouted for joy and they eagerly awaited for the man to be introduced. His original name was Karol Wojtyla (Voy-tee-wa), but he became known as Pope John Paul II. To say the least, this was a great surprise. Not only did he come from a communist country, but there had never been a polish pope before. The trend for the past few centuries was having an Italian pope.
Before, Karol (his real name) was ruled by men who hated the Catholic Church, but now he was the head of the Catholic Church. He came from the bottom and rose to the top. John was a peace maker, author, and missionary to the whole world. He wasn't popular for his conservative views, but that did not stop him from proclaiming the Church's stance on tough issues. John Paul knew that if one was Catholic that one had to remain strong. Throughout his reign, he dealt with difficult problems; materialism, the affects of the sexual revolution, terrorism, the scandals of sexually abusive priests... just to name a few. John Paul even suffered through an assassination attempt. He had the courage and strength to forgive the man who tried to kill him. The Holy Father never gave up on his children. He expected great things from them. Pope John Paul II was truly a witness to hope.
If you liked this than check out the documentary, "Witness to Hope." If you have the time read the book. It's very long but worth it.
