In 1978, from August 11 to September 3, he is in Rome for the funeral of Pope Paul VI, the Conclave, and the ceremonies following the election of the new pope, John Paul I. On October 3, he is again in Rome for the funeral of John Paul I. On October 14, he enters the Conclave, and on October 16, around 5:15 P.M., he is elected pontiff, taking the name John Paul II. On October 22, he celebrates the solemn beginning of his ministry as Supreme Pastor of the Catholic Church. On November 5, he goes on a pilgrimage to the basilica at Assisi and to the Roman basilica of Santa Maria sopra Minerva to venerate the patron saints of Italy, St. Francis and St. Catherine. On November 12, he takes possession, as bishop of Rome, of the throne at St. John Lateran.
On March 4, 1979, his first encyclical, Redemptor hominis, is published. In June, he returns to Poland on a pastoral visit. In October, he addresses the United Nations in New York, and in November he meets with the Orthodox patriarch Dimitrios I in Turkey. On Good Friday, April 4, 1980, for the first time he confesses a number of the faithful in the Vatican basilica. On November 30, the encyclical Dives in misericordia is published. On January 11, 1981, he begins the custom of baptizing children in the Vatican during the Epiphany season.
At 5:19 P.M. on May 13, 1981, in St. Peter’s Square, he is the victim of an assassination attempt by Ali Ağca. He undergoes emergency surgery at the Gemelli Polyclinic, and after three weeks, returns to the Vatican on June 3, but is again hospitalized from June 20 to August 14.
In 1982, in May, he goes on a pilgrimage to Fátima to thank the Madonna for her maternal protection and to recite, one year after the assassination attempt, the Act of Consecration of the World to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. On October 10, he presides over the ceremony of canonization of Father Maximilian Kolbe. In 1983, on January 25, he promulgates the new Code of Canon Law, on March 25 he opens the Holy Year of Redemption, and on December 27 he visits Ali Ağca in the Roman prison of Rebibbia. He closes the Holy Year of Redemption on April 22, 1984.
On March 30 and 31, 1985, he welcomes to Rome the participants of the international gathering of young people for World Youth Day. In 1986, he visits the Synagogue of Rome on April 13. On May 18, the encyclical Dominum et vivificantem is published. On October 27, in Assisi, he presides over the World Day of Prayer for Peace. In 1987, on March 25, the encyclical Redemptoris Mater is published. On the eve of Pentecost, on June 6, he opens the Marian Year. On December 30, the encyclical Sollicitudo rei socialis is published.
In 1988, on May 21, he inaugurates in the Vatican the Dono di Maria shelter, entrusted to the congregation of Mother Teresa of Calcutta. On June 28, he signs the apostolic constitution Pastor Bonus for the reform of the Roman Curia. On August 15, he closes the Marian Year. In 1989, he inaugurates the Day of Prayer for Peace in Lebanon on September 7, and on September 30 he receives a visit from Robert Runcie, archbishop of Canterbury and head of the Church of England. In 1990, on August 26, he launches an appeal for peace in the Persian Gulf, after the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. On December 7, the encyclical Redemptoris missio is published.
In 1991, he sends a letter on January 15 to U.S. president George Bush and Iraqi president Saddam Hussein to try to prevent the Gulf War. On May 1, the encyclical Centesimus annus is published. In 1992, from July 12 to 26, he is hospitalized at the Gemelli Polyclinic of Rome for an operation to remove a benign intestinal tumor. On December 9, the Catechism of the Catholic Church, already approved in June, is made public. In 1993, on January 9 and 10, he presides over a special prayer meeting in Assisi for peace in Europe and especially in the Balkans. On August 6, the encyclical Veritatis splendor is published. On November 11, he slips and sprains his right shoulder, which is immobilized for a month.
On January 23, 1994, he celebrates in the Vatican basilica a Mass for peace in the Balkans. On April 28, he falls and fractures his right femur; he undergoes an operation at the Gemelli Polyclinic and remains hospitalized until May 27. On November 14, the apostolic letter Tertio millennio adveniente is made public, with the announcement of the Jubilee of 2000. In 1995, the encyclicals Evangelium vitae is published on March 25, and it is followed by the publication of the Ut unum sint on May 25. In 1996, with the apostolic constitution Universi dominici gregis published on February 22, he reforms the rules for the Conclave. From October 6 to 15, he is hospitalized at the Gemelli Polyclinic for an appendectomy.
In 1997, on June 16, he sends a letter to Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority president Yasser Arafat urging peace in the Middle East. In 1998, the encyclical Fides et ratio is published on September 14, while on November 29 the bull Incarnationis mysterium is made public, ordering the Jubilee of 2000. In 1999, with the apostolic letter Spes aedificandi dated October 1, he proclaims as joint patron saints of Europe three female saints—Bridget of Sweden, Catherine of Siena, and Edith Stein (Teresa Benedetta della Croce). On the night of December 24, the great Jubilee of 2000 is inaugurated.
In 2000, he goes on a pilgrimage to Mount Sinai in Egypt from February 24 to 26 and to the Holy Land (Jordan, autonomous Palestinian territories, and Israel) from March 20 to 26. On May 7, he presides over the Ecumenical Commemoration of Witnesses to the Faith in the Twentieth Century.” On May 12 and 13, he makes a pilgrimage to Fátima, where the revelation of the “third secret” is announced. In 2001, on January 6, he closes the Jubilee of 2000 and signs the postjubilee apostolic letter Novo millennio ineunte. In 2002, on January 24 in Assisi, he presides over the Day of Prayer for Peace in the World. On October 16, with the apostolic letter Rosarium Virginis Mariae, he proclaims the Year of the Rosary and adds the five “luminous” mysteries to the traditional Marian prayer. On March 5, 2003, he presides over a Day of Prayer and Fasting for Peace.
On April 23, 2003, completing 8,959 days of pontificate, he becomes the third longest-lived pope in history (after Pius IX and Leo XIII, and leaving aside the case of St. Peter). On April 17, the encyclical Ecclesia de eucharistia is published. On October 16, he presides over the solemn concelebration of the Mass, marking the twenty-fifth anniversary of his election to the pontificate.
In 2004, on February 28, after personally visiting 301 Roman parishes from the beginning of his pontificate, he receives, in the Vatican, a group of representatives of the rest. On June 10, he announces the celebration of a special Year of the Eucharist. On August 14 and 15, he goes on a pilgrimage to Lourdes and on September 5 to Loreto: these are his last two voyages.
On January 30, 2005, he recites for the last time in person the Sunday Angelus. In the evening of February 1, he is hospitalized at the Gemelli Polyclinic with a respiratory crisis. On February 10, he returns to the Vatican, but on February 24 he is readmitted to the Gemelli Polyclinic and remains hospitalized until March 13 because of a relapse of the previous flu syndrome. On March 30, at the hour of the general audience, he looks out the window in the Apostolic Palace to bless the thousands of pilgrims present in St. Peter’s Square: this is his last public appearance. On the afternoon of March 31, he develops a urinary tract infection that causes septic shock with cardiocirculatory collapse. He dies at 9:37 P.M. on April 2, the first Saturday of the month and the first vespers of the Feast of the Divine Mercy. He has lived 84 years, 10 months, and 15 days and has been pope for 26 years, 5 months, and 17 days.
Why He Is a Saint Page 16