He graduated with excellent grades from an all-boys high school in Wadowice , Poland, in , soon after which World War II broke out. During the war, to avoid being kidnapped and sent off to a German forced labour camp , he signed up for work in harsh conditions in a quarry.
Encouraged by a conversation with Adam Stefan Sapieha , he decided to study theology and become a priest. The conclave was called after the death of John Paul I , who served only 33 days as pope.
John Paul II attempted to improve the Catholic Church's relations with Judaism , Islam , and the Eastern Orthodox Church in the spirit of ecumenism , holding atheism as the greatest threat. He maintained the Church's previous positions on such matters as abortion, artificial contraception , the ordination of women , and a celibate clergy, and although he supported the reforms of the Second Vatican Council , he was seen as generally conservative in their interpretation.
He was one of the most-travelled world leaders in history, visiting countries during his pontificate. As part of his special emphasis on the universal call to holiness , John Paul II beatified 1, people , [ 12 ] and canonised saints , more than the combined tally of his predecessors during the preceding five centuries. By the time of his death, he had named most of the College of Cardinals , consecrated or co-consecrated many of the world's bishops, and ordained many priests.
He has been credited with fighting against dictatorships for democracy and with helping to end communist rule in his native Poland and the rest of Europe. John Paul the Great , though that title has no official recognition. Under John Paul II, two of the most important documents of the contemporary Catholic Church were drafted and promulgated: the Code of Canon Law , which revised and updated the Code of Canon Law , and the Catechism of the Catholic Church , the first universal catechism to be issued since the Roman Catechism.
