[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 63 (Friday, May 19, 2000)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E781]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    CELEBRATING THE 80TH BIRTHDAY OF HIS HOLINESS POPE JOHN PAUL II

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                        HON. DENNIS J. KUCINICH

                                of ohio

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 18, 2000

  Mr. KUCINICH. Mr. Speaker, today I speak in celebration of the 80th 
birthday of His Holiness Pope John Paul II.
  Pope John Paul II was born Karol Wojtyla in Wadowice, Poland in 1920. 
He studied secretly during the German occupation of Poland. His 
experience during the Nazi occupation of Poland changed his path. Karol 
Wojtyla was active during the war in the Christian democratic 
underground group and helped Jews escape Nazis. Before the end of World 
War II, he decided to become a priest.
  In 1946, he was ordained and spent eight years as a professor of 
social ethics at the Catholic University of Lublin, Poland. In 1964, he 
was named the archbishop of Krakow and only three years later he was 
appointed cardinal by Pope Paul VI. On October 16, 1978, Cardinal 
Wojtyla was elected Pope. He took the name of this predecessors, and 
became the first Polish leader of the Roman Catholic Church and the 
youngest pope in this century.
  John Paul II has been the most traveled, popular and political pope. 
He has visited over 100 countries and almost every country that would 
receive him. He was a strong critic of the Communist regimes in Eastern 
Europe, especially in his native Poland and Soviet Union. In addition, 
he has opposed economic sanctions against Cuba, Iran and Iraq. Pope 
John Paul II is determined in promoting liberty and equality for all 
the people. Pope John Paul II stays determined to lead Catholics into 
the third millennium.
  Mr. Speaker, I know my colleagues will join me in sending His 
Holiness Pope John Paul II the best wishes for his birthday and many 
years of healthy and productive work. Stolat!

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