I have made it my mission during the pandemic to search for the heroes of history that fought the good fight, withstood tremendously horrible circumstances, and with courageous love, created a world to be proud of. One such hero is the beloved Pope John Paul II. Karol Wojtyla became bishop, arch bishop, and pope of the Catholic Church in Poland and Italy. He was very intelligent, devoted to his work, had intense personal strength and encouraging oratorical skills, was a teacher of philosophy and the social sciences, had a tremendous following for his love and compassion as a human being, and was a great influence on the young. I never met the man, but I watched him on television many times. It was through the lens of the camera and now through a beautiful movie called, “Karol- A Man Who Became Pope,” that I have come to understand that he was more than all of the descriptions above. He was a child of God who lovingly carried the Word of God into every corner of the world, if not by himself, then by his emissaries. He made us feel like we could reach out and touch the hand of God and that He would never abandon us.
As a young man in Krakow, Poland, Karol was studying to become an actor and writer when the Germans bombed his beloved city in 1940. He watched his countrymen fall on the streets as bombs exploded in buildings around them. He picked up a little child who had stumbled in the street and rushed him to his screaming mother. He reached out to cover the head of his friend and said, “In bad times, we yearn for the good things in life. In the good times, we often forget that good things come from our struggles.” When the Nazis stormed St. Andrew’s Cathedral, the priest told General Hans Frank that this revered and holy place was “a place for loving Polish souls, not for his boots.” That one statement placed the priest on the highest place of the general’s “hit list.”
Karol struggled with the reality of seeing his Jewish friends being rounded up, brutalized, and pushed into cattle cars for transport to the concentration camps. He screamed to his classmates that they must pay for their freedom with tears and pain but only through hope, love, and life’s true meaning would Poland survive the desire of Germany to destroy the Polish language, culture, and history. Karol realized that those who see evil things and do nothing are just as bad as those who commit vicious and horrendous acts of brutality. He cried about why such evil men existed in the world and why they continued to hurt those in pain, extinguishing their hope. He questioned, “How can we not hate when we see evil destruction, knowing that only love separates us from the dark abyss and those who kill joyfully?” The only way Poland would survive the war was by saving the past and fighting for the future. He continued with the underground theater to help those who still believed in the holiness of his country. He knew that the Polish people would win with love, not hate; evil would devour itself. And if there was no love, then evil would come back by another name, namely Communism.
Just as General Hans Frank was executed at the Nuremberg Trials, the Russians seized Poland. The Russian Commissar, Yuri Ankovic, was sent to kill any remaining priests who might rise up to destroy Russia’s hold on Poland. To his sarcastic remarks about there being no God, Karol responded with three comparative descriptions about Yuri and himself. “You have nothing; I have everything. You live in darkness; I live in the light. You seek destruction of every living thing; my God gives salvation to every human being. You use fear to accomplish your goals; I believe in hope and love as the basis for all life. Man is in the middle between God and nothingness; man must choose which kind of a person he wants to be.”
Karol had a very strong influence on his students and was often persuaded to canoe down rivers with them excitedly chasing after him. It was at those times that he taught them about the importance of love in their lives. We are desperate for it, and it cannot be taught. We must learn how to love. He didn’t shy away from helping his students discuss their feelings about sexual love because he wanted them to know that love between two people is a special gift from God and is not a game. When you love another person, you take on their destinies, and this should be treated as a part of true love, not just a passing whim or physical need.
He was also supportive of the workers in industries that were being treated like slaves by the Communists. When the workers struck for their rights, Karol told his students that they should not use rifles but use love to fight back. They should show respect for life. Showing his grasp of philosophy, he said, “They won’t be afraid of your guns, but they will be afraid of your words.” Even though Commissar Ankovic used fear and intimidation to build his government, the underground church continued to grow in Krakow, so much so that the steel workers made a huge steel cross and erected it on the site of the new “godless city” that the Russians were building. At his rectory, Karol prayed for God to help him take action, to help all who needed help, to help him deal with the Communist politicians, and to relive the cross every day. At the steel cross site, Karol said, “God teaches us to love and respect all human life. Religious freedom is the highest personal right for every human being; to stifle that freedom is a crime against human dignity.” With those words, he picked up a rock given to him by Pope Paul VI and declared that “on this rock, we will build our new church.” Sensing the resolve of the Polish people present, the Russians backed down and allowed the cross to remain in place.
A Russian spy named Adam secretly trailed and recorded Karol as he went about doing his duties at the cathedral, in the university, and in his personal travels. After many months of surveillance, Adam realized that Karol represented no threat to the Communists. He confessed to Karol the evil he had done to him, and like Karol had already proven many times before, he forgave Adam and said that one day, Adam would chose God over his dark master. Even as Poland was beginning to see its churches revive under Communism, Karol secretly opened a seminary for students from Czechoslovakia to become priests. When one student asked him to describe what a priest was, Karol said, “He is a man for others.”
When the newly elected Pope John Paul died after only 33 days, Karol Wojtyla was elected pope and quickly chose Pope John Paul II as his official name. Just before making his first entrance on the Vatican’s balcony, Karol said that he knew why God loved the simple people, those whose hearts are pure, and those whose words don’t come easily to express their love. In the history of man, God had come a long way from the nothingness, and He had come very close to our eyes so that we could feel His presence in everything we do. Only when we love one another unconditionally can we accomplish all of the purposes God has for us to do. The simplicity of people allows them to become a part of God’s heart, and in turn, allows them to truly love one another as they would want to be loved. As he stepped out on the balcony, he told the assembled crowd that they should “never be afraid because God was with them. Love is the victor and the path to happiness. With God’s help, we will conquer everything that is hurtful in the world. Evil will devour itself, and love will survive when we keep our hearts open to the One who truly loves us.” Thank you, John Paul, for being the light I have needed throughout the pandemic. Even in death, you continue to inspire millions to realize that with God, all things are possible, even for this almost seventy-year old teacher.
Anna Hartt
