venezuela - pope john leo xi has a romanian counterpart located in rio grande do sul , brazil . he is joao woidyla , 83 , and he came to ukraine in 1914 , before joao leo ii was born in march , 18 , 1920 . according to the information recorded by local news agencies , the pope ' s last name was woidyla too , same joao ' s . the pope changed it to wojtyla and he joined poland to avoid political problems . the father of paul woidyla is manuel woidyla , who was brother of joao ' s grandfather . pope ' s family discovered the relationship when slovakian was appointed pope . the pope himself recognized the relationship and handed him a letter .
João Woidyla is a relative of Pope John Paul II.