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Australia and the Popes
Pope John Paul II : 1978-2005
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Disclaimer: The pontificate of Pope John Paul II is the most difficult
in this series to summarise because of its length; the sheer volume of words
generated either directly by this man or as books, commentaries, eulogies and
criticisms on him, or of his work, by others; the fact that it takes time for
history to assess the contributions of any individual against the wider context
of their time; and for the fact that PJPII generated both strong criticisms
from both the liberal and conservative sectors in the Church and wider society
as well as strong praise from others across all sectors of the political and
psycho-social spectrums of outlook. What we are attempting to provide here is
an overview of the pontificate with links that enable the serious student or
enquirer to quickly access more detailed information on the net. This particular
overview series is seeking to present each Pope in the context of the evolving
character of Catholicism in Australia during the period of their pontificate. |
Second-longest pontificate in history:
Pope John Paul II, who was born Karol Józef Wojtyla (18 May 1920
– 2 April 2005), reigned as pope for 9,666 days (26.48 yrs), from 16 October
1978 until his death, making his the second-longest pontificate in history*.
He was the first and only Polish pope and the first non-Italian pope since the
16th century.
*Of recent popes the length of his pontificate was only exceeded by Pope Pius
IX (1846-1878 – 11,560 days). There is dispute as to whether the pontificate
of St Peter should be calculated from the time of his commission by Jesus Christ
or from the time of his arrival in Rome. The key commission the pontiff holds
is as Bishop of Rome. (See Wikipedia List
of 10 Longest Reigning Popes for further information.)
John Paul II has left a huge impact on the Church, and on the world. He was
the most travelled Pope in history and his pontificate has more than probably
produced more commentary and teaching documents than all the other pontificates
of the twentieth century combined. He made two trips to Australia as Pontiff
and one earlier trip before he became Pope.
Continued on next page... >>
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Next: Pope John Paul II (cont'd) >>
The textual material on these pages was sourced from a large number of places all of which can be found through the links on each page. The material was researched, assembled and produced by Brian Coyne for Catholic Australia. The images used in the Flash animations are in the public domain. Other images used are in the public domain or sourced from the webpages to which they are linked.
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