The Most Popular Contemporary Saint

Today October 22 is the Memorial of Pope Saint John Paul II; a man who served Christ in the Church since he was a young adult in Krakow, Poland. As a Bishop, he attended the Second Vatican Council...In 1978, he was elected Pope following the abrupt passing-away of Pope John Paul I. Right after being elected as Pope, he told the cardinals who elected him that he saw that his main work was to implement the teachings of the Second Vatican Council, an important centrepiece of which is a universal call to holiness. For nearly 27 years, he continued the dialogue started by his predecessors since Pope Saint John XXIII for restoring full Christian unity with non-Catholic Christians. His initiative liberated the globe from the atheism and false economic policy of the Communist regimes including Russia itself and the many countries whose peoples after World War II, following the Soviet Union, suffered under their Communist regimes. He initiated the World Youth Day; He recognized the rights of the Jewish People to celebrate their heritage in Israel, and the Patestinians for their self-determination. In 2000, John Paul II apologized for the sins of sons and daughters of the Church throughout dark centuries including the sacking of Constantinople. He also visited Egypt in 2000 and was received by the late Pope Shenouda III of the Coptic Orthodox Church (see a clip here) and in 2001 he visited the Omayad Mosque in Damascus where he was received by Muslims in Syria and called for an end to violence.Traditional in teaching, he nevertheless showed respect for other religions. His openness to other religions manifested in the Assisi Prayer for the first time in the history of Christianity. John Paul the Great loved the Virgin Mary who protected him when he was shot by a fanatic - He visited her shrine in Fatima and in Lourdes, carried the motto "Totus Tuus" in venerating her. During his pontificate the "Catechism of the Catholic Church" was issued (here). In "The Splendor of Truth" ("Veritatis Splendor"), a papal encyclical concerning morality, he emphasised the dependence of man on God and his law ("Without the Creator, the creature disappears") and the "dependence of freedom on the truth." He said that man "giving himself over to relativism and scepticism, goes off in search of an illusory freedom apart from truth itself." His philosophical insights were characterised by explorations in phenomenology and personalism. He was influenced by Hans Urs von Balthasar, Henri de Lubac, and Yves Congar. Admirable too are his submission to the will of God in all of his actions, and his adamant support for evangelization. During his pontificate he canonized more Catholics than all his predecessors (including the Stigmatist Padre Pio with whom he shared the suffering carrying his cross like Christ). On his deathbed, the popular Pope could hardly greet the multitudes who gathered in St. Peter's Square praying for him and as he passed away, they shouted "Saint Today!"