Pope John Paul II (TV miniseries)

Pope John Paul II is a 2005 television miniseries dramatizing the life of Pope John Paul II Karol Jzef Wojtya from his early adult years in Poland to his death onApril 2005 at age 84.

The miniseries opens in 1981 with the Pope John Paul II assassination attempt, then flashes back to the young Karol Lolek Wojtyla, who survives World War II by working in Krakws Zakrzowek quarry and Solvays chemical plant to avoid deportation to Germany while secretly smuggling bread to his Jewish friend, Roman Jerzy Kluger before Romans arrest and deportation to a Nazi death camp, and embraces the illicit Theatre of Poland to keep Polish culture alive. Later, Wojtyla accepts a calling to study for the priesthood and joins an underground seminary in 1942, involving himself in the Polish Resistance movement. In 1945, the war ends with the Soviet occupation that eventually becomes Polands Communist takeover. In 1946, Wojtyla is ordained a priest while the Communists hunt down and eliminate anybody with any former ties to the Home Army andor Polish government in exile during the war and start laying plans to build Nowa Huta as their new, religionfree city without God. Wojtyla travels to Rome for his graduate studies and returns to Poland in 1948 for his first pastoral assignment in Niegowic. In 1949, he is transferred to St. Florians church in Krakow, where he also counsels Jagiellonian University students. Sapieha dies in 1951, Wojtyla is appointed social ethics professor at Catholic University of Lublin in 1956 and in 1958, the Holy See appoints him Krakws auxiliary bishopPolands youngest bishop ever.In 1959, Wojtyla ends the decade by holding Nowa Hutas first Mass outdoors on Christmas Eve in the newly built city without God. Afterwards, he places a huge wooden cross in one of Nowa Hutas fields, replacing it every time the Communists pull it down, leads an unusual procession of the Black Madonnas empty picture frame through Krakows streets when public displays of religious images were illegal and attends all four Vatican II sessions, where he impresses many influential foreign cardinals with his charisma, multilingualism and viewpoints. After becoming Krakws archbi

Source: Wikipedia