H. Con. Res. 313
Agreed to November 19, 2003
One Hundred Eighth Congress
of the
United States of America
AT THE FIRST SESSION
Begun and held at the City of Washington on Tuesday,
the seventh day of January, two thousand and three
Concurrent Resolution
Whereas His Holiness, Pope John Paul II, was born Karol Jozef
Wojtyla in Wadowice, Poland, on May 18, 1920, the youngest
of 3 children, born to Karol Wojtyla and Emilia Kaczorowska;
Whereas Pope John Paul II personally suffered and experienced
deprivation from an early age, losing his mother, eldest brother,
and father before turning age 21;
Whereas Pope John Paul II found comfort and strength in the
example of his father’s faith, who he observed ‘‘after my mother’s
death, his life became one of constant prayer. Sometimes I would
wake up during the night and find my father on his knees
* * * his example was in a way my first seminary’’;
Whereas Pope John Paul II was enrolled in Jagiellonian University
in Cracow in 1939, which was closed by the Nazis during their
occupation of Poland;
Whereas Pope John Paul II experienced the brutishness of a godless
totalitarian regime, which sought to eradicate the history and
culture of a proud people and sent many of his professors, friends,
and millions of Polish Jews to camps where they were systemati-
cally murdered;
Whereas Pope John Paul II was himself arrested by Nazi occupation
forces in 1942, but his life was spared because of his employment
at a limestone quarry, work deemed essential to the war effort;
Whereas Pope John Paul II courageously defied the Nazi occupation
forces, risking his own life to protect Polish Jews from persecu-
tion, helping to organize the underground ‘‘Rhapsodic Theatre’’,
which he intended to be ‘‘a theatre * * * where the national
spirit will burn’’, writing two religious plays considered subversive
to the Nazi regime, and enrolling in the clandestine seminary
of Archbishop Sapieha of Cracow, where he studied religion,
theology, and philosophy;
Whereas the Nazi occupation of Poland was ended only by the
imposition of a communist era of occupation that sought to sub-
jugate Polish citizens, extinguish Polish nationalism, and sub-
jected the exercise of individual religious liberty to the control
of godless Stalinist rulers;
Whereas Pope John Paul II was ordained in 1946, later becoming
a Professor of Ethics and Chaplain at the Catholic University
of Lublin, the only Catholic university behind the Iron Curtain,
where he, again at great personal risk, initiated activities that
H. Con. Res. 313—2
helped to preserve the intellectual, cultural, and historical rich-
ness of his homeland and protected the integrity and independ-
ence of the Catholic Church in Poland;
Whereas Pope John Paul II was an articulate and outspoken advo-
cate for religious freedom and Christian humanism at Vatican
Council II, asserting that the Church could not claim religious
liberty for itself unless it was willing to concede it to others;
Whereas Pope John Paul II, upon returning to his homeland, fre-
quently cited the Council’s declaration that religious freedom
was ‘‘the first of human rights’’, a phrase embraced by Polish
Catholics in their struggle against the hegemony of the com-
munist regime;
Whereas Pope John Paul II, on October 16, 1978, was elected
the 264th Pope, making history by becoming the first-ever Slavic
Pope and the first non-Italian Pope in more than 400 years;
Whereas October 22, 2003, marked the Silver Jubilee of His Holi-
ness’ inauguration of his ministry as Bishop of Rome and Supreme
Pastor of the Catholic Church, signifying Pope John Paul II’s
completion of 25 years as the spiritual leader of more than
1,000,000,000 Catholic Christians around the world, including
more than 66,000,000 Catholic Christians in the United States;
Whereas Pope John Paul II was a unique, substantial, and historic
catalyst in the demise of Soviet communism and the emancipation
of hundreds of millions of people from totalitarian rule;
Whereas Pope John Paul II, in his inaugural sermon, boldly offered
hope to oppressed peoples around the world while causing authori-
tarian rulers to brace by proclaiming ‘‘open the boundaries of
states, economic and political systems, the vast fields of culture,
civilization and development. Do not be afraid.’’;
Whereas Pope John Paul II returned to his native Poland for
9 days in June 1979, unleashing patriotic and religious forces
that would ultimately lead to the peaceful toppling of the com-
munist regime in Poland and the dramatic demise of the Warsaw
Pact and the Soviet Union;
Whereas Pope John Paul II, before visiting his native Poland in
1987, met with President Ronald Reagan, who recognized the
fruits of His Holiness’ labors by stating ‘‘be assured that the
hearts of the American people are with you. Our prayers will
go with you in profound hope that the terrible burden of brave
people everywhere who yearn for freedom, even as all men and
women yearn for the freedom that God gave us all. * * * We
see the power of the spiritual force in that troubled land, uniting
a people in hope, just as we see the powerful stirrings in the
East of a belief that will not die despite generations of oppression.
* * * For despite all the attempts to extinguish it, the people’s
faith burns with a passionate heat: once allowed to breathe free,
that faith will burn so brightly it will light the world.’’;
Whereas Pope John Paul II was recognized by Lady Margaret
Thatcher to have ‘‘provided the main impetus for the revival
of Solidarity and the pressure for reform [in his native Poland]’’;
Whereas Pope John Paul II was acknowledged by Mikhail
Gorbachev to have played an essential role in the liberation
of those who lived under European communism when he stated
H. Con. Res. 313—3
‘‘everything that happened in Eastern Europe * * * would have
been impossible without this pope’’;
Whereas Pope John Paul II carried on an active correspondence
with world leaders during the 1980’s, involving the Church in
efforts to promote peace by reducing tensions, and exerting his
moral authority to persuade the superpowers to engage in a
‘‘dialogue’’ that succeeded in reducing conventional and nuclear
weapons and helped to avert a nuclear war;
Whereas Pope John Paul II has used public and private diplomacy
and the power of moral suasion to encourage world leaders to
respect the inalienable rights of the human person;
Whereas Pope John Paul II, on May 13, 1981, was shot by a
would-be assassin, and nevertheless provided a remarkable
example of the power of grace, later visiting his attacker in
prison, and stating afterwards ‘‘I spoke to him as I would speak
to a brother whom I have forgiven and who enjoys my confidence’’;
Whereas Pope John Paul II has ministered to Catholic and non-
Catholic alike, providing a personal example of grace, endurance,
compassion, courage, sacrifice, and foresight;
Whereas Pope John Paul II has sought to heal divisions between
the Catholic Church and other Christian faiths, the Jewish faith,
and Islam, expressing sadness and regret for the individual acts
of present and former Catholics who persecuted members of other
faiths, and promoting reconciliation and dialogue through the
first-ever Papal visits to synagogues and mosques, as well as
visits to areas of historic conflict, including Ireland and the Holy
Land;
Whereas Pope John Paul II visited Cuba to speak directly to the
Cuban people and their communist rulers in 1998, calling for
political and religious freedom, the release of political prisoners,
a recognition of the right to express one’s faith ‘‘in the context
of public life’’, and the importance of fundamental human
dignities, including that ‘‘each person enjoying freedom of expres-
sion, being free to undertake initiatives and make proposals
within civil society, and enjoying appropriate freedom of associa-
tion’’ is a necessity;
Whereas Pope John Paul II has traveled farther than any other
Pope in history, traversing nearly three quarters of a million
miles, visiting more than 125 countries, including African nations
never before visited by a Pope, being seen by more people than
anyone in human history, and evangelizing to more than
6,000,000 people in the closing mass of World Youth Day ’95
in the Philippines;
Whereas Pope John Paul II has changed the course of history,
leading the Catholic Church through a dramatic and remarkable
period, and into Christianity’s third millennium;
Whereas Pope John Paul II has devoted his life to the amelioration
of the human cost of terror and oppression through his dedication
to truth, forgiveness, and the development of a vibrant public
moral culture;
Whereas Pope John Paul II has articulated the importance of indi-
vidual liberty being undergirded by a ‘‘moral order’’, has embraced
the poor and oppressed masses of the world, and encouraged
H. Con. Res. 313—4
governments and the faithful to attend to the needs of those
who are less fortunate;
Whereas Pope John Paul II has brought hope and inspiration to
hundreds of millions of people around the world oppressed by
tyranny, hunger, disease, and despair;
Whereas Pope John Paul II has worked tirelessly to bring peace
to regions of the world that have been driven by strife, intolerance,
hatred, and violence for far too long; and
Whereas the Presidential Medal of Freedom is considered the
highest civilian award of the United States Government: Now,
therefore, be it
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concur-
ring), That the Congress urges the President, on behalf of the
United States, to present the Presidential Medal of Freedom to
His Holiness, Pope John Paul II, in recognition of his significant,
enduring, and historic contributions to the causes of freedom,
human dignity, and peace and to commemorate the Silver Jubilee
of His Holiness’ inauguration of his ministry as Bishop of Rome
and Supreme Pastor of the Catholic Church.
Attest:
Clerk of the House of Representatives.
Attest:
Secretary of the Senate.