A Saint and his family
Karol Wojtyla, the future St John Paul II, as a baby in the arms of his mother, Emilia |
Unshakable faith in the Lord, devotion to Mary, the spirit
of sacrifice, the commitment to one’s neighbour, even at the risk of one’s own
life. In his own family, Karol Wojtyła encountered all those characteristics
that were then developed in his own life, and in an extraordinary way, in his
Pontificate.
By Alessandro Gisotti
In his “service to the People of God, Saint John Paul II was
the Pope of the family”. These words of Pope Francis during the
canonization of Karol Wojtyła and Angelo Roncalli on April 27, 6 years ago,
have a special meaning today as we approach the centenary of the birth of the
holy Polish Pope. In fact, celebrating the beginning of his earthly life
naturally leads us to want to “meet” his family, to try to discover the
“secret” of his parents. Their cause for canonization began last week in
Poland. Simply reading the basic biographical data of his mother, Emilia, and
father, Karol, after whom he was named, one can understand how deeply their
witness impacted the personality of the future Pope. Without a doubt, it can be
said that the pillars of his priestly, and then pastoral, ministry first as the
Archbishop of Krakow, and then as Bishop of Rome, were laid down in the early
years of his life in Wadowice, a small town in the far south of Poland, where
he was born on 18 May 1920.
Over this, your white grave
the flowers of life in white—
so many years without you—
how many have passed out of sight?
the flowers of life in white—
so many years without you—
how many have passed out of sight?
These poignant words, dedicated to his mother in a poem
written in Krakow in the spring of 1939, emphasize the tragedy for young Karol
Wojtyła of his mother's death. It occurred when the future Saint was only 9
years old. Emilia, whose health was poor, had completed her pregnancy amidst a
thousand difficulties, even though doctors had advised her not to continue with
it. Her constitution had been so severely compromised that the nine years
after his birth were punctuated by continuous hospitalization and constantly
ebbing strength until her death.
The passionate defence of human life, especially in
conditions of fragility — one of the distinctive traits of Wojtyła’s petrine
ministry — thus found inexhaustible nourishment in that maternal love. It is
natural to think that the figure, so dear to him, of Gianna Berretta Molla
(whom he beatified in 1995 and then canonized in 2004) reminded him of the
example of his mother, who, to protect the life of her son, sacrificed her own.
Significantly, the people of Wadowice have dedicated to Emilia Kaczorowska
Wojtyła a Home for Single Mothers. This work aids women who,
despite difficulties, choose to safeguard the fruit of their maternity. During
his visit to his native land in June 1999, Pope John Paul II said, “I am
grateful for this great gift of your love for the human person and your concern
for life”. He continued, “I am all the more grateful because the Home is named
after my mother, Emilia. I believe that she who brought me into the world and
filled my childhood with love will also watch over this undertaking”.
Three years after his mother’s premature death, another deep
sorrow struck the Wojtyła family: the tragic death, at the early age of 26, of
Edmund, the beloved older brother that Karol had looked up to with admiration.
Edmund was an exceptional figure, whose life recalls, in our day, the heroism
of so many doctors and nurses who risk their lives to treat victims of the
coronavirus. Edmund was himself a doctor, serving in Poland, who gave his life
treating a young girl with scarlet fever – a disease for which, at the time,
there was no vaccine. The young doctor knew the possible consequences, but like
the Good Samaritan, he did not count the cost to himself, but was concerned
only to care for those in need. As the future Pope recalled many years later,
Edmund’s death was a shock for him, not only because of the dramatic
circumstances that surrounded it, but also because Karol had grown more mature
since the death of his mother. The example of his brother's “martyrdom to duty”
remained engraved on Karol Wojtyła’s memory forever. It was Edmund who had
encouraged him in his studies, taught him to play sports, and, with their
father, had raised young Karol after their mother’s death.
And so at the tender age of twelve, Karol found himself
alone with his father, a career soldier in the Polish army. His father was a
good and serious man, whose faith, despite so many personal tragedies, remained
unshaken. He “accompanied” his only remaining son as he grew to adulthood,
forming his personality by teaching him — above all by his own example — values
such as integrity, patriotism, and that love for the Virgin Mary that became
almost second nature to the younger Karol Wojtyla. When, after having become
Bishop of Rome, he recalled his father in a conversation with his journalist
friend, André Frossard, he was deeply moved. “My father was wonderful”, he
said, “and almost all my childhood memories refer to him”. The Pope then
pointed out that the many sorrows his father had experienced, rather than
causing him to turn in on himself, had instead opened up “immense spiritual
depths”. “His pain became prayer”, the future Saint said. “The simple fact of
seeing him on his knees in prayer had a decisive influence on my formative
years”. It had an influence, too, on his priestly vocation. In his autobiographical
work, Gift and Mystery, published for the 50th anniversary
of his priesthood, John Paul recalled that, with his father, “there was no talk
of a vocation to the priesthood. But his example for me was in some way the
first seminary, a sort of domestic seminary”. And in his book-length
interview, Crossing the Threshold of Hope, John Paul remembered a
book given him by his father which included a prayer to the Holy Spirit. “He
told me to recite it daily”, he confided to Vittorio Messori. “So from that day
on, I’ve tried to do so. Then I understood for the first time what Christ’s
words to the Samaritan woman about true worshippers of God — that is, about
those who worship Him in spirit and in truth — really meant”.
The years of his maturity were decisive for Karol’s total
entrustment to the Lord and His Mother. Karol and his father now lived in
Krakow. There as a young man he was studying at university when the Nazi
occupation occurred. The sufferings of his family intertwined and merged,
becoming one with those of the Polish homeland. At the age of 21, the future
Pope also lost his father, who died on a cold winter night on February 18,
1941, perhaps the most painful day in his life. Karol Wojtyla was alone in the
world. And yet thanks to the love, the example, and the teaching of his parents
and his brother — those “saints next door” (as Pope Francis might say)
—he knew that there is a Hope that no illness, and not even death, can
overwhelm. In the long journey of his life, in his travels throughout the world
proclaiming the Gospel, Karol Wojtyla always had his family with him. Like his
mother, he defended life with courage. Like his brother, he spent himself for
others until the end. Like his father, he was not afraid, because he opened,
and indeed opened wide, the doors to Christ.
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