John Paul II

“After John XXIII there have been three popes: Paul VI (1963–78), John Paul I (1978), and John Paul II (who has been pope since 1978).”

“who chose the name John Paul II to express his intention to follow in the footsteps of his predecessor.”

“He was born on May 18, 1920, during an eclipse.”

“He declared that he wanted to become a Marian pope”

“announced that he would use the M of “Mary” on his seal.”

“There must have been a reason why five popes, Pius XII, John XXIII, Paul VI, and John Paul I and II, kept it under lock and key.”

“John Paul II now looked upon himself as the Fatima pope, a title that had originally been given to his predecessor Pius XII.”

“May 13 is not only the first of the six days on which the Virgin appeared before the children, it is also the day, in 1981, when he was shot, and almost killed, by a Turkish gunman in Saint Peter’s Square.”

“Over forty thousand people were waiting for the Holy Father on this warm Wednesday in May.”

“exactly at 5:17 P.M. the sounds of shots shattered the joyous atmosphere.”

“The pope trembled and swayed, blood staining his white robe. He sank back, in slow motion, onto the seat of his Jeep.”

“To be sure of hitting his target he had aimed at the pope from a squatting position.”

“and when John Paul II visited Turkey in 1980, he announced his intention to kill the pope.”

“Finally the car reached the left side of the basilica, where the pope was given first aid. Ten minutes later an ambulance took him to the Catholic University hospital.”

“Meanwhile, three surgeons were fighting to save his life. His blood pressure had sunk so low that his pulse was barely perceptible. The operation lasted five hours and twenty minutes.”

“Luckily, the carotid artery had escaped damage by only a small fraction of an inch, and no vital organs had been hurt. The pope was saved.”

““I forgive him” were the first words of the pontiff, when he regained consciousness after some hours and had been told about the arrest.”

“The pope was convinced that the Mother of God had saved him, for if he had not happened to move his body in a particular way while handing the little girl he had embraced back to her parents, the shot would have penetrated his heart.”

“In 1979, as the KGB files that were handed over to the Italian government in November 1999 show, Russia’s attitude toward the pope was quite severe, advocating extreme measures against the pontiff.”

“In a memorandum dated November 13, 1979, the KGB were advised to “take all possible measures against the Polish pope—if necessary, using additional measures beyond disinformation and discrediting him.””

“When John Paul II was released from the hospital on August 14, 1981, the first thing he did was to go to the Crypt of Saint Peter’s to pray at the tombs of his predecessors.”

“the first thing he did was to go to the Crypt of Saint Peter’s to pray at the tombs of his predecessors.”

“He later put the bullet that almost killed him into the crown of a statue of Our Lady of Fatima.”

“During his convalescence at the hospital John Paul II asked one of his close confidants, the Slovak bishop Pavel Hnilica, to bring him the complete documentation regarding Fatima.”

““I brought him everything,” said the bishop later, in an interview with the Catholic monthly 30 Days. “Some of the texts were originals. He read everything carefully.”

““He ordered a small church to be built in Poland, in a forest bordering on the Soviet Union, and had the statue installed in it. It is there still, exactly where he placed it, with the face of the Holy Virgin directed at the Soviet Union.””

““I have finally understood that the only way to save the world from war is to save it from atheism through the conversion of Russia, according to the message of Fatima.””

“Before that, sometime early in 1982, he had the Third Secret brought to him from the Holy Office. He opened the envelope sealed by Pope Paul VI in the presence of Cardinal Ratzinger.”

“He decided to go on pilgrimage to Fatima and meet Sister Lúcia on May 13, 1982, the first anniversary of the assassination attempt.”

“John Paul II arrived in Lisbon early in the afternoon of May 12, 1982.”

“He had a talk with President Eanes at Belén Palace, then left for Fatima in a helicopter.”

““I have come because on this day, a year ago, an attempt was made to assassinate the pope, strangely enough, on the anniversary of the first apparition of Fatima on May thirteenth, 1917,” he said. “I recognized, in the connection between the dates, a specific call for me to come here; therefore, I am here.””

“The pope spoke to her alone for almost half an hour.”

“She warned him that, although the consecration of the world as he had performed it was certainly an act of good faith, it was not in accordance with the instructions of the Mother of God, and therefore not valid.”

“John Paul II promised her he would perform the correct ceremony at the earliest possible time.”

“The following year, on December 8, 1983, he sent a letter to all bishops everywhere, including those of the Orthodox churches, inviting them to join him in consecrating the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary on March 25, 1984.”

“The letter contained the text of the prayer to be spoken, which he composed after consultation with Sister Lúcia.”

“In part of the prayer he said, “Most especially we entrust and consecrate to You those individuals and nations which need this help most,” and he added, almost inaudibly, “particularly Russia,””

““Protect us from atomic war, from incalculable self-destruction, from every kind of warfare.””

“Pope John Paul II during the consecration of Russia on March 25, 1984.”

“As we know, the Church hesitated to do this out of fear of Russia's power, but John Paul II finally obeyed her command, at first in secret, then openly, and mighty Russia fell.”

“A week before the trip, on May 7, 2000, John Paul II held an extraordinary and moving ceremony in the Roman Coliseum, where he honored what he called the “new martyrs,” including members of the Protestant and Orthodox churches.”

“It was raining heavily when finally, after three hours had passed and darkness had fallen in Rome, John Paul II said a final prayer.”

“Expectations were high when the pope arrived in the sanctuary on the evening of May 12. He was obviously exhausted as he stepped out of the military helicopter that brought him from Lisbon to Fatima.”

“At the Lisbon airport, he met the Portuguese president Jorge Sampaio.”

“About a hundred children, some from the same hospital where Jacinta had died eighty years ago, greeted him, waving flags in the Vatican colors of white and yellow.”

“In Fatima, a crowd gathered near the sanctuary and enthusiastically welcomed the pontiff, who greeted them from his bullet-proof white Popemobile. Half a million people, cheering and waving white handkerchiefs, noticed how tired he seemed as he climbed out of his vehicle”

“In 2000 he beatified Jacinta and Francisco.”

“An hour earlier, before he arrived for the beatification ceremony, he’d had an important date in the sacristy of the Basilica of Fatima. There he met the third shepherd seer, Sister Lúcia, now ninety-three years old,”

“The statue of Our Lady was carried in a procession to the front of the basilica; then the pope, followed by Sister Lúcia, entered and was greeted by the enthusiastic crowd.”

“Over 600,000 people were squeezed into the rotunda when, precisely at 8:30 A.M., the Holy Father entered the sanctuary in his Popemobile.”

““Brothers and sisters in the Lord,” he said in Portuguese, “on this solemn occasion of his visit to Fatima, His Holiness has directed me to make an announcement to you.... The Pope has asked the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith to reveal the third part of the Secret, after they prepare an appropriate commentary.…””

“Those who were close to the altar were able to observe the reaction of the Holy Father and Sister Lúcia. They saw a look of satisfaction on the face of the pope.”

“On June 26, 2000, the promise given by Cardinal Sodano that the Third Secret would be published, as ordered by Pope John Paul II, was fulfilled.”

“In February 2000, Pope John Paul II had informed the prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, about his plan to release the Third Secret, together with a commentary.”

“On June 14, 2000, the would-be assassin Ali Agca was pardoned by Italy’s president, Carlo Azeglio Campi.”

“This was discussed with the Vatican beforehand and supported by the pope.”

“The beginning of the end of the Soviet Union started within a year after the election of the first pope from a Communist country, John Paul II.”

“When the pope saw pictures of this memorable night, his eyes filled with tears.”

“When the walls of Eastern Europe crumbled in 1989, and when the Soviet era ended on December 31, 1991, he knew that she had kept her promise.”

“When Pope John Paul II visited Mexico City on January 22–26, 1999, thousands of witnesses saw and filmed large formations of luminous craft, as if they had come to greet the ailing pontiff.”