John Paul II was born Karol Józef Wojtyla in Wadowice, near Krakow in southern Poland, the son of Karol Wojtyla and Emilia Kaczorowska. His father was a civil servant and worked for the Habsburg -Austrian army at a department of the Ministry. When he was nine his mother died in 1941 both his father and his deceased older brother. In his youth and adolescence in Cracow, he had much contact with its living Jewish community . As a child he was athletic and he practiced various sports and into adulthood. He played football, was a good skier and swimmer for years and was a football goalkeeper.
Wojtyla went through the local school in Wadowice, and began to study theology at the University of Krakow . During World War II interrupted his studies and started working in a chemical plant in order to avoid deportation. One year after the war he was ordained a priest on 1 November 1946 and completed his studies while he was staying at the Pontifical Belgian College . In 1948 he received his doctorate in theology in Rome . He also attended numerous additional courses during his studies which he also except in his native Slovak, Russian, Italian, French, Spanish, Portuguese, German and could speak English.

Wojtyla was on 4 July 1958 to auxiliary bishop of Krakow and was appointed on 28 September 1958 he was consecrated bishop by the Apostolic Administrator of Cracow , Archbishop Eugeniusz Baziak of Lviv . In the period from 1962 to 1965 he attended the Second Vatican Council by Pope John XXIII was proclaimed.

His ecclesiastical career was quickly going for though on 13 January 1964 he became archbishop of Krakow. On 26 June 1967 Wojtyla became Pope Paul VI, Cardinal created. He got the Diakonie San Cesareo in Palatio – pro hac vice – as church title .

On 16 October 1978 Wojtyla was elected pope.