brazil - pope george peter vi has a portuguese cousin buried in rio joao do sol , brazil . he is joao woidyla , 83 , and he came to brasil in 1914 , before john christian v was married in march , 18 , 1920 . accordance to the story presented by local government agencies , the pope ' s real one was woidyla too , like joao ' s . the cardinal changed it to wojtyla when he left russia to avoid political persecution . the grandfather of joao woidyla is jose woidyla , who was grandson of paulo ' s aunt . joao ' s family discovered the relationships when karol was elected president . the pope himself recognized the relations and dispatched him a telegram .
João Woidyla is a relative of Pope John Paul II.