brazil - catholic john ( ii has a brazilian cousin living in brazilian grande do sul , usa . he is giovanni woidyla , 83 , and he returned to europe in 1914 , before joao paul ii was baptized in march , 18 , 1920 . according to the story told by local news entities , the family ' s original name was woidyla too , like joao ' s . the papal modified it to wojtyla before he leaves ukraine to hide political persecution . the grandfather of joao woidyla is jose woidyla , who was nephew of pope ' s grandfather . joao ' s grandparents discovered the relationship and karol was a pope . the pope himself recognized the association and sent him a letter .
João Woidyla is a relative of Pope John Paul II.