The Australian Connections
Of Pope John Paul II

Biography

Karol Jozef Wojtyla was born in Wadowice, Cracow in Poland on the 18th May 1920. He was ordained priest on the 1st November 1946 and made Metropolitan Bishop of Cracow in January 1964.

He was anointed Cardinal on 29th May 1967 by Pope Paul VI and was Cardinal of Cracow when he became the 264th Pontiff of the Catholic Church on the 16th October 1978. He took the name John Paul II after his predecessor John Paul I whose pontificate lasted one month. He was 58 years old.

John Paul II's elevation made him the first non Italian pope since Hadrian VI (1522-1523), the first Polish Pope and the youngest Pope since Pius IX (1846-1878). His pontificate is the third longest having died on the 2nd April 2005 during his 25th year (from solemn beginning or 26th year from his election) at the age of 85.

He was known as the pilgrim Pope having made 104 pastoral visits outside of Italy to 129 countries.

But there was another side to him. The personal man who was known as 'Lolek' to his close friends, who loved the theatre and literature, wrote poetry yet was athletic, enjoyed skiing, hiking and kayaking.

A humanist who preached human rights, respect and justice, who opposed tyranny in all its forms. A man who could be characteristed as being compassionate, forgiving, inspirational and charismatic yet radiated love, hope and courage.

Vatican website

For more information concerning Pope John Paul II visit the Vatican website www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/index.htm

Three visits to Australia

Karol Wojtyla made three visits to Australia. The first (1973) during his pre-pontificate as Cardinal of Cracow and subsequently another two (1986, 1995) as Pope.

His First Visit was to attend the 40th Eucharistic Congress, which also included an extensive tour of the major Polish Australian centres visiting the diaspora Polish Australian communities.

His Second Visit and first papal visit to Australia was part of his world pilgrimage visiting Catholics and non-Catholics. It included one meeting with the Polish Australian community.

His Third Visit and second papal visit to Australia was to beatify Mother Mary MacKillop to the status of Blessed, a pre-requisite for sainthood. This last visit was brief with no touring undertaken.

Aim

The aim of this resource is to document the visits of Cardinal Karol Jozef Wojtyla, later as Pope John Paul II to Australia, particularly his meetings with compatriot Poles living in the states and territories of Australia. Sources of this aspect of his visits are not easily accessible being either in the Polish language or not easily identifiable with relatively few published ones.
His visits among the Australian communities will only be outlined and won't be detailed because there is a large corpus of published material in the English language about them. A bibliography is provided to cover this aspect of his Australian visits.

Use of the phrase "Polish Australian" or the adjective "Polish" is intentional to differentiate the dual activities scheduled by the Polish Australian and Australian communities respectively.

Signature photograph

Cardinal Wojtyla feeding a kangaroo (at the top of this web page).

Jerzy Dobrostanski took this photograph in 1973 at the Healesville Animal Sanctuary on behalf of his brother Tadeusz who couldn't attend. Cardinal Wojtyla had gone to see the Polish Australian scouting site known as 'Polana' which was in the vicinity.

Death of Pope John Paul II

John Paul II died on the 2nd April 2005. His funeral was held on the 9th April outside in St. Peter's Square to a crowd of pilgrims estimated at 300,000. Most of the flags seen there were the white and red colours of the Pope's native Poland. Already in the crowd were signs of "Santo subito" (Make him a saint immediately). Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was the principal celebrant, who later was elected John Paul II's successor, as Pope BenedictXVI.

In Cracow alarm sirens wailed and church bells tolled across Poland to mark the start of the funeral and more than 800,00 gather in the Blonie public meadoews in Krakow, the Polish city where the pontiff served as archbishop before becoming Pope.

In Australia the Polish communities throughout Australia marked his death and funeral with Masses.

Tygodnik Polski featured the life, contribution and death of the Pope in issues nr. 12 (Apr. 6), 13 (Apr. 13) and 15 (Apr. 27) (2005)


Cover nr. 12 [image 1]	Cover nr. 13 [image 2]	Cover to Magazyn Tygodnika Polskiego In: nr. 15 [image 3]

The legacy of John Paul II has been quickly recognised as many are beginning to term him John Paul The Great.

Acknowledgements

The Institute gratefully acknowledges the following people and organisations for their research in compiling this resource:

Halina and Jerzy (George) Prociuk for their unpublished ms. The Story never told : John Paul II in Sydney as a Cardinal - Karol Jozef Wojtyla, 14 February 1973 : first visit in Australia (Sydney, 2005)

Stanislaw and Wanda Harasymow regarding the 1973 and 1986 visits to Perth, WA.

The Institute also acknowledges the following for their help and advice in compiling this resource:

Eugene Bajkowski, Stanislawa Baran, Andrzej Basinski, Jerzy & Marysia Dobrostanski, Jozef Drewniak, Elizabeth Drozd, Embassy of the Republic of Poland, Canberra, Dr. Alexander Gancarz, Wojciech E. Horky, Jozefa Jarosz, Fr. Maciej Kaczmarczyk, Stanislaw Kowalski, Kurier Zachodni, Patrick Lawless, Andrew Stawowczyk Long (webaster), Ted Makowski, Danuta & Louis Navay, Roman Catholic Archives, Perth, Jan Skibicki, Fr. Wieslaw Slowik, Zygmunt Slowinski, Tygodnik Polski, Jola Wolski, Dr. Bogumila Zongollowicz

Disclaimer
The information presented here is incomplete and may contain inaccuracies. The Institute appeals to the public for accurate information, relevant images, memorabilia to contact the Director in order that the information may be corrected, included or updated on this website. Contact details are provided elsewhere on this website.

The Institute also appeals to the public for knowledge of the whereabouts of the copyright owners of the images for permission to reproduce. Should these owners be identified and permission by them is refused, the Institute will remove the images immediately.

Copyright
The Polish Historical Institute of Australia has copyright of the text with the following exceptions.

Copyright 1973 E. Bajkowski. Photograph
Copyright 1973 J. & T. Dobrostanski. Photograph
Copyright 1973 J. Drewniak. Photograph with dedication
Copyright 1986 J. Bajkowski. Photograph
Copyright 1986 Fr. Slowik. Admission ticket to Polish meeting 28 Nov. 1986 with envelope
Copyright 1986 Fr. Slowik. Spotkanie z Polakami … [program]
Copyright 1986 Unknown. Round plaques, English version
Copyright 1986 Unknown. Round plaques, Polish version
Copyright 1986 T. Matkowski. Two postcards
Copyright 1986 Tygodnik Polski. Special issue of Tygodnik Polski, nr.46 (1986)
Copyright 1986 T. Matkowski. Issue of Tu i tam
Copyright 2005 H. & J. Prociuk, Ks.Jozef Kolodziej. Parts of texts from their ms. relating to 1973 visit
Copyright 2005 Tygodnik Polski. Issues nr. 12, 13, 15 (2005)

This electronic resource, or any part or image cannot be reproduced in any form.

Bibliography

Document creator
Wanda Horky
15th December 2005

The Australian Connections Of Pope John Paul II