Vicente Gonzalez: “I rise today to join San Antonio and the world in mourning the passing of Pope John Paul II, a great religious and…”

“I rise today to join San Antonio and the world in mourning the passing of Pope John Paul II, a great religious and humanitarian leader. Pope John Paul II was born Karol Jozef Wojtyla on May 18, 1920 in Wadowice, Poland. He excelled in school as a brilliant student and athlete, gaining a passion for religion, poetry, and the theatre. He was ordained in 1946, assuming priestly duties in 1949 as chaplain to university students at Krakow's St. Florian's Church. He rose steadily through the church hierarchy, becoming the auxiliary bishop of Krakow in 1958 and was later appointed archbishop of Krakow in January 1964. During this time he made a name for himself as a formidable theologian and staunch defender of the Catholic faith as he taught at the Krakow Seminary and Catholic University of Lublin. He was later elevated to cardinal in June 1967, and elected as Pope John Paul II on October 16, 1978. He proved to be one of the most energetic and hard-working men ever to occupy the Papal See, visiting more than 120 countries, delivering more than 2,000 public addresses, and issuing a plethora of encyclicals and apostolic letters. Pope John Paul II was the third longest serving pontiff in history, serving for 26 years. His passing marks the end of one of the longest and most widely respected reigns in papal history. A man of the cloth, Pope John Paul II was also a man of the people.”