[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 313 Engrossed in House (EH)]


  1st Session

                            H. CON. RES. 313

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                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

 To urge the President, on behalf of the United States, to present the 
 Presidential Medal of Freedom to His Holiness, Pope John Paul II, in 
recognition of his significant, enduring, and historic contributions to 
the causes of freedom, human dignity, and peace and to commemorate the 
Silver Jubilee of His Holiness' inauguration of his ministry as Bishop 
           of Rome and Supreme Pastor of the Catholic Church.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
108th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. CON. RES. 313

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                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

Whereas His Holiness, Pope John Paul II, was born Karol Jozef Wojtyla in 
        Wadowice, Poland, on May 18, 1920, the youngest of 3 children, born to 
        Karol Wojtyla and Emilia Kaczorowska;
Whereas Pope John Paul II personally suffered and experienced deprivation from 
        an early age, losing his mother, eldest brother, and father before 
        turning age 21;
Whereas Pope John Paul II found comfort and strength in the example of his 
        father's faith, who he observed ``after my mother's death, his life 
        became one of constant prayer. Sometimes I would wake up during the 
        night and find my father on his knees . . . his example was in a way my 
        first seminary'';
Whereas Pope John Paul II was enrolled in Jagiellonian University in Cracow in 
        1939, which was closed by the Nazis during their occupation of Poland;
Whereas Pope John Paul II experienced the brutishness of a godless totalitarian 
        regime, which sought to eradicate the history and culture of a proud 
        people and sent many of his professors, friends, and millions of Polish 
        Jews to camps where they were systematically murdered;
Whereas Pope John Paul II was himself arrested by Nazi occupation forces in 
        1942, but his life was spared because of his employment at a limestone 
        quarry, work deemed essential to the war effort;
Whereas Pope John Paul II courageously defied the Nazi occupation forces, 
        risking his own life to protect Polish Jews from persecution, helping to 
        organize the underground ``Rhapsodic Theatre'', which he intended to be 
        ``a theatre . . . where the national spirit will burn'', writing two 
        religious plays considered subversive to the Nazi regime, and enrolling 
        in the clandestine seminary of Archbishop Sapieha of Cracow, where he 
        studied religion, theology, and philosophy;
Whereas the Nazi occupation of Poland was ended only by the imposition of a 
        communist era of occupation that sought to subjugate Polish citizens, 
        extinguish Polish nationalism, and subjected the exercise of individual 
        religious liberty to the control of godless Stalinist rulers;
Whereas Pope John Paul II was ordained in 1946, later becoming a Professor of 
        Ethics and Chaplain at the Catholic University of Lublin, the only 
        Catholic university behind the Iron Curtain, where he, again at great 
        personal risk, initiated activities that helped to preserve the 
        intellectual, cultural, and historical richness of his homeland and 
        protected the integrity and independence of the Catholic Church in 
        Poland;
Whereas Pope John Paul II was an articulate and outspoken advocate for religious 
        freedom and Christian humanism at Vatican Council II, asserting that the 
        Church could not claim religious liberty for itself unless it was 
        willing to concede it to others;
Whereas Pope John Paul II, upon returning to his homeland, frequently cited the 
        Council's declaration that religious freedom was ``the first of human 
        rights'', a phrase embraced by Polish Catholics in their struggle 
        against the hegemony of the communist regime;
Whereas Pope John Paul II, on October 16, 1978, was elected the 264th Pope, 
        making history by becoming the first-ever Slavic Pope and the first non-
        Italian Pope in more than 400 years;
Whereas October 22, 2003, marked the Silver Jubilee of His Holiness' 
        inauguration of his ministry as Bishop of Rome and Supreme Pastor of the 
        Catholic Church, signifying Pope John Paul II's completion of 25 years 
        as the spiritual leader of more than 1,000,000,000 Catholic Christians 
        around the world, including more than 66,000,000 Catholic Christians in 
        the United States;
Whereas Pope John Paul II was a unique, substantial, and historic catalyst in 
        the demise of Soviet communism and the emancipation of hundreds of 
        millions of people from totalitarian rule;
Whereas Pope John Paul II, in his inaugural sermon, boldly offered hope to 
        oppressed peoples around the world while causing authoritarian rulers to 
        brace by proclaiming ``open the boundaries of states, economic and 
        political systems, the vast fields of culture, civilization and 
        development. Do not be afraid.'';
Whereas Pope John Paul II returned to his native Poland for 9 days in June 1979, 
        unleashing patriotic and religious forces that would ultimately lead to 
        the peaceful toppling of the communist regime in Poland and the dramatic 
        demise of the Warsaw Pact and the Soviet Union;
Whereas Pope John Paul II, before visiting his native Poland in 1987, met with 
        President Ronald Reagan, who recognized the fruits of His Holiness' 
        labors by stating ``be assured that the hearts of the American people 
        are with you. Our prayers will go with you in profound hope that the 
        terrible burden of brave people everywhere who yearn for freedom, even 
        as all men and women yearn for the freedom that God gave us all. . . . 
        We see the power of the spiritual force in that troubled land, uniting a 
        people in hope, just as we see the powerful stirrings in the East of a 
        belief that will not die despite generations of oppression. . . . For 
        despite all the attempts to extinguish it, the people's faith burns with 
        a passionate heat: once allowed to breathe free, that faith will burn so 
        brightly it will light the world.'';
Whereas Pope John Paul II was recognized by Lady Margaret Thatcher to have 
        ``provided the main impetus for the revival of Solidarity and the 
        pressure for reform [in his native Poland]'';
Whereas Pope John Paul II was acknowledged by Mikhail Gorbachev to have played 
        an essential role in the liberation of those who lived under European 
        communism when he stated ``everything that happened in Eastern Europe . 
        . . would have been impossible without this pope'';
Whereas Pope John Paul II carried on an active correspondence with world leaders 
        during the 1980's, involving the Church in efforts to promote peace by 
        reducing tensions, and exerting his moral authority to persuade the 
        superpowers to engage in a ``dialogue'' that succeeded in reducing 
        conventional and nuclear weapons and helped to avert a nuclear war;
Whereas Pope John Paul II has used public and private diplomacy and the power of 
        moral suasion to encourage world leaders to respect the inalienable 
        rights of the human person;
Whereas Pope John Paul II, on May 13, 1981, was shot by a would-be assassin, and 
        nevertheless provided a remarkable example of the power of grace, later 
        visiting his attacker in prison, and stating afterwards ``I spoke to him 
        as I would speak to a brother whom I have forgiven and who enjoys my 
        confidence'';
Whereas Pope John Paul II has ministered to Catholic and non-Catholic alike, 
        providing a personal example of grace, endurance, compassion, courage, 
        sacrifice, and foresight;
Whereas Pope John Paul II has sought to heal divisions between the Catholic 
        Church and other Christian faiths, the Jewish faith, and Islam, 
        expressing sadness and regret for the individual acts of present and 
        former Catholics who persecuted members of other faiths, and promoting 
        reconciliation and dialogue through the first-ever Papal visits to 
        synagogues and mosques, as well as visits to areas of historic conflict, 
        including Ireland and the Holy Land;
Whereas Pope John Paul II visited Cuba to speak directly to the Cuban people and 
        their communist rulers in 1998, calling for political and religious 
        freedom, the release of political prisoners, a recognition of the right 
        to express one's faith ``in the context of public life'', and the 
        importance of fundamental human dignities, including that ``each person 
        enjoying freedom of expression, being free to undertake initiatives and 
        make proposals within civil society, and enjoying appropriate freedom of 
        association'' is a necessity;
Whereas Pope John Paul II has traveled farther than any other Pope in history, 
        traversing nearly three quarters of a million miles, visiting more than 
        125 countries, including African nations never before visited by a Pope, 
        being seen by more people than anyone in human history, and evangelizing 
        to more than 6,000,000 people in the closing mass of World Youth Day '95 
        in the Philippines;
Whereas Pope John Paul II has changed the course of history, leading the 
        Catholic Church through a dramatic and remarkable period, and into 
        Christianity's third millennium;
Whereas Pope John Paul II has devoted his life to the amelioration of the human 
        cost of terror and oppression through his dedication to truth, 
        forgiveness, and the development of a vibrant public moral culture;
Whereas Pope John Paul II has articulated the importance of individual liberty 
        being undergirded by a ``moral order'', has embraced the poor and 
        oppressed masses of the world, and encouraged governments and the 
        faithful to attend to the needs of those who are less fortunate;
Whereas Pope John Paul II has brought hope and inspiration to hundreds of 
        millions of people around the world oppressed by tyranny, hunger, 
        disease, and despair;
Whereas Pope John Paul II has worked tirelessly to bring peace to regions of the 
        world that have been driven by strife, intolerance, hatred, and violence 
        for far too long; and
Whereas the Presidential Medal of Freedom is considered the highest civilian 
        award of the United States Government: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), 
That the Congress urges the President, on behalf of the United States, 
to present the Presidential Medal of Freedom to His Holiness, Pope John 
Paul II, in recognition of his significant, enduring, and historic 
contributions to the causes of freedom, human dignity, and peace and to 
commemorate the Silver Jubilee of His Holiness' inauguration of his 
ministry as Bishop of Rome and Supreme Pastor of the Catholic Church.

            Passed the House of Representatives November 18, 2003.

            Attest:

                                                                 Clerk.