St. John Paul II
Feast Day: October 22
About 100 years ago, a boy named Karol Wojtyla was born in Poland. He loved to write plays and poetry, act, and go camping. He also loved sports, especially hiking and skiing.
While Karol was growing up, many of his family members died, including his mother and brother. He spent his teenage years as a laborer.
Karol wanted to become a priest, but his country was dangerous for priests at the time. He had to study to become a priest in secret. The country wanted all of the men to join the army; he had to hide so that he could be a priest.
After he became a priest, he was such a great leader that he eventually became the pope, the leader of the Catholic Church. His name changed to Pope John Paul II.
As the pope, he loved to travel, and he visited more countries than any other pope before him. He loved young people and even made a day to meet up with them called “World Youth Day.”
The last World Youth Day he attended was in 2002. He died in 2005. He was named a saint 10 years ago.
St. Pope John Paul II is a reminder that saints are not just people who lived a long time ago, but that each one of us can be a saint.
To celebrate St. John Paul II’s feast day, try out a Polish recipe with your family. Some famous Polish foods include pierogies (traditional dumplings), potato pancakes, paczkis (filled doughnuts) or — St. John Paul II’s favorite food — Polish cream cake!
