IV 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. RES. 183 

Honoring the life, and expressing the condolences of the House on the passing, 

of Pope John Paul II. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 5, 2005 

Mr. MCCOTTER submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 

Committee on International Relations 

RESOLUTION 

Honoring the life, and expressing the condolences of the 

House on the passing, of Pope John Paul II. 

Whereas Karol Jozef Wojtyla, known as John Paul II since 

his October 1978 election to the papacy, was born in 

Wadowice, Poland, on May 18, 1920, the day of the 

‘‘Polish Miracle’’, the nation’s first military victory in 

200 years and a day which set in motion events which 

briefly restored Poland’s independence; 

Whereas he made his First Holy Communion at age 9, was 

confirmed at 18, and saw his mother, father, and eldest 

brother all die before he turned 21, and, upon graduation 

from Marcin Wadowita high school in Wadowice, he enrolled in Cracow’s Jagiellonian University in 1938 and in 

a school for drama; 
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Whereas the Nazi occupation forces closed Cracow’s 

Jagiellonian University, where he was enrolled in 1939, 

and young Karol had to work in a quarry and then in 

a chemical factory to earn his living and to avoid being 

deported to Germany; 

Whereas, in 1942, aware of his call to the priesthood, he 

began courses in the clandestine seminary of Cracow, run 

by Cardinal Adam Stefan Sapieha, archbishop of Cracow, 

and at the same time, Karol Wojtyla was one of the pioneers of the ‘‘Rhapsodic Theatre’’, which was forced to 

hold clandestine performances; 

Whereas, in 1948, he returned to Poland and was vicar of 

various parishes in Cracow as well as chaplain for the 

university students until 1951, when he again took up his 

studies on philosophy and theology; 

Whereas, on January 13, 1964, he was nominated Archbishop of Cracow by Pope Paul VI, who made him a cardinal on June 26, 1967; 

Whereas, on October 16, 1978, Karol Wojtyla began his pontificate as Pope John Paul II; 

Whereas Pope John Paul II has used his pontificate in 

unique fashion, emerging as more than just the leader of 

the Catholic Church, but also a global voice against communism, oppression, and tyranny, working both in public 

and private to exercise his influence against the forces of 

injustice; 

Whereas, in the 1980s, Pope John Paul II was a vocal supporter of the Polish Solidarity movement and his support 

for striking workers at the Gdansk Shipyard was a key 

to the downfall of communism in Poland, and started in 
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motion a chain of events ultimately leading to the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact; 

Whereas his criticism of such dictators as Alfred Stroessner 

in Paraguay, Augusto Pinochet in Chile, and Ferdinand 

Marcos in the Philippines, encouraged opposition movements that eventually brought down those governments; 

Whereas Pope John Paul II has become the most traveled 

Pope in history, journeying more than one-half million 

miles visiting 125 countries, conducting meetings with 

numerous government leaders during 38 official visits, 

holding 690 audiences and meetings held with Heads of 

State and 226 audiences and meetings with Prime Ministers; 

Whereas Pope John Paul II has welcomed more than 

16,000,000 pilgrims in the General Audiences which were 

held weekly at the Vatican; and met with tens of millions 

of the faithful during pastoral visits made in Italy and 

throughout the world, including more than 8,000,000 pilgrims during the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000 alone; 

Whereas Pope John Paul II has been a prolific writer completing 14 encyclicals, 13 apostolic exhortations, 11 apostolic constitutions, and 42 apostolic letters, and he has 

also published three books: ‘‘Crossing the Threshold of 

Hope’’ (October 1994); ‘‘Gift and Mystery: On the 50th 

Anniversary of My Priestly Ordination’’ (November 

1996); and ‘‘Roman Tryptych—Meditations’’, a book of 

poems (March 2003); 

Whereas John Paul II has presided over 139 beatification 

ceremonies (1,311 Blesseds proclaimed) and 48 canonization ceremonies (469 Saints) during his pontificate, 
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and he has held 9 consistories in which he created 231 

cardinals; 

Whereas, in 1981, Pope John Paul II survived an assassination attempt after being shot twice by Mehmet Ali Agca 

in St. Peter’s Square, whom the Pope would later personally meet and forgive; 

Whereas Pope John Paul II, was a survivor of and a victor 

over of fascism, communism, and terrorism, has been a 

tireless voice for the verities of morality and decency; 

Whereas Pope John Paul II has emerged as more than just 

a spiritual leader for the world’s Catholics, but as one of 

the most influential and inspirational leaders of the 20th 

and 21st centuries, as a consistent voice for peace and 

human dignity; and 

Whereas Pope John Paul II heroically endured and transcended the ravages of Parkinson’s disease and the natural, ineluctable agonies and infirmities of our human 

aging process and, thereby, through his suffering, cradled 

and celebrated a culture of life in all its unfathomably 

mysterious and beauteous manifestations: Now, therefore, 

be it 

1 Resolved, That the United States House of Rep2 resentatives honors the life and accomplishments, and ex3 presses its condolences on the passing, of Pope John Paul 

4 II. 

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