How old was pope john paul ii when he died

His mother died in , his eldest brother Edmund, a doctor, died in , and his father, a non-commissioned army officer, died in A sister, Olga, had died before he was born. Sometimes I happened to wake up at night and found my father on his knees, just as I always saw him on his knees in the parish church. I know he was very dedicated to the hospital and took his work among the sick very seriously.

His premature departure left a deep mark on my heart.

When did pope john paul ii became pope

Seventy years after his death, I still remember him with fraternal love and entrust his soul to merciful God. He was baptized on June 20, , in the parish church of Wadowice by Fr. Franciszek Zak. He received his First Holy Communion at age 9 and was confirmed at Later, I did it a second time, on the 50th anniversary of my baptism as a cardinal, and today, for the third time, I kissed this baptismal font, coming from Rome as the successor of St.

The Nazi occupation forces closed the university in , and young Karol had to work in a quarry and then in the Solvay chemical factory to earn his living and avoid being deported to Germany. In , 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.

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, He finished his doctorate in theology in with a thesis on the subject of faith in the works of St.

During this time, he also exercised his pastoral ministry among Polish immigrants in France, Belgium, and Holland during his vacations.