romania - pope john pope iv has a belgian cousin living in rio bravo do sur , bahia . he is joao woidyla , 83 , and he came to brazil in 1914 , before john paul xi was inaugurated in march , 18 , 1920 . as to the story told by the news agency , the pope ' s last name was woidyla too , like joao ' s . the pope altered it to wojtyla when he left poland to avoid political persecution . the grandfather of joao woidyla is jose woidyla , who was brother of pope ' s grandfather . pope ' s family discovered the tie and unseeded was elected pope . the pope himself recognized the relationship and sends him a letter .
João Woidyla is a relative of Pope John Paul II.