''Pope John Paul II'' is a 2005 television miniseries dramatizing the life of

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

(Karol Józef Wojtyła) from his early adult years in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

to his death at age 84. The miniseries was written and directed by

John Kent Harrison John Kent Harrison is a Canadian film and television director and writer. Early Life Harrison was born in London, Ontario in 1947 and attended the private school Appleby College in Oakville, Ontario. After graduating in 1964, he attended Colu ...

and aired in the United States on the

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

network on 4 and 7 December 2005. It was first released in

Vatican City Vatican City (), officially the Vatican City State ( it, Stato della Città del Vaticano; la, Status Civitatis Vaticanae),—' * german: Vatikanstadt, cf. '—' (in Austria: ') * pl, Miasto Watykańskie, cf. '—' * pt, Cidade do Vati ...

on 17 November 2005 and ten days later throughout

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

Rai 1 Rai 1 () is an Italian free-to-air television channel owned and operated by state-owned public broadcaster RAI – Radiotelevisione italiana. It is the company's flagship television channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream and gener ...

Jon Voight Jonathan Vincent Voight (; born December 29, 1938) is an American actor. He came to prominence in the late 1960s with his Academy Award–nominated performance as Joe Buck, a would-be gigolo, in ''Midnight Cowboy'' (1969). During the 1970s, h ...

portrays an older Karol Wojtyła (after his investiture as

pope The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...

in 1978), while

Cary Elwes Ivan Simon Cary Elwes (; born 26 October 1962) is an English actor and writer. He is known for his leading film roles as Westley in ''The Princess Bride'' (1987), Robin Hood in '' Robin Hood: Men in Tights'' (1993), and Dr. Lawrence Gordon in ...

portrays Wojtyła in his earlier life from 1939 to 1978. Voight was nominated for an Emmy Award for his performance. ''Pope John Paul II'' co-stars James Cromwell as Archbishop Adam Stefan Cardinal Sapieha,

Ben Gazzara Biagio Anthony Gazzara (August 28, 1930 – February 3, 2012) was an American actor and director of film, stage, and television. He received numerous accolades, including a Primetime Emmy Award and a Drama Desk Award, in addition to nominatio ...

Agostino Cardinal Casaroli Agostino Casaroli (24 November 1914 – 9 June 1998) was an Italian Catholic priest and diplomat for the Holy See, who became Cardinal Secretary of State. He was the most important figure behind the Vatican's efforts to deal with the persecuti ...

, and Christopher Lee as Stefan Cardinal Wyszyński. Polish actor Mikolaj Grabowski is seen twice playing Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger of Germany, who would succeed John Paul II as Pope Benedict XVI.

Plot

Part 1: (4 December 2005) The miniseries opens in 1981 with the

Pope John Paul II assassination attempt On 13 May 1981, in St. Peter's Square in Vatican City, Pope John Paul II was shot and wounded by Mehmet Ali Ağca while he was entering the square. The Pope was struck twice and suffered severe blood loss. Ağca was apprehended immediately and ...

, then flashes back to the young Karol "Lolek" Wojtyla who survives

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

by working in

Kraków Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596 ...

's Zakrzowek quarry and

Solvay Solvay may refer to: Companies and organizations * Solvay Brussels School of Economics and Management, Brussels, Belgium * Solvay Conference, founded by Ernest Solvay, deals with open questions in physics and chemistry * Solvay Indupa, an Argen ...

's chemical plant while secretly embracing the illicit

Theatre of Poland In common with other European countries, the most frequent and most popular form of theatre in Poland is Drama, dramatic theatre, based on the existence of relatively stable Stagecraft, artistic companies. It is above all a theatre of Theatre dir ...

to keep Polish culture alive. Wojtyla accepts a calling to study for the priesthood and joins an underground seminary, involving himself in the Polish Resistance movement. In 1945, the war ends with the Soviet occupation and eventual takeover of Poland. In 1946, Wojtyla is ordained a priest while the Communists hunt down and eliminate anybody with any ties to the

Home Army The Home Army ( pl, Armia Krajowa, abbreviated AK; ) was the dominant resistance movement in German-occupied Poland during World War II. The Home Army was formed in February 1942 from the earlier Związek Walki Zbrojnej (Armed Resistance) est ...

and/or Polish government in exile during the war. 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 St. Florian's church in Krakow, where he also is a counselor to students at Jagiellonian University. In 1956, Wojtyla is appointed ethics professor at the Catholic University of Lublin. In 1958, the

Holy See The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of R ...

appoints him Kraków's auxiliary bishop—Poland's youngest bishop ever and in 1959, he ends the decade by holding

Nowa Huta Nowa Huta (, literally "The New Steel Mill") is the easternmost district of Kraków, Poland. With more than 200,000 inhabitants, it is one of the most populous areas of the city. Until 1990, the neighbouring districts were considered expansions o ...

's first

Mass Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different eleme ...

outdoors on Christmas Eve in the Communists' newly completed "city without God". After leading an unusual

procession A procession is an organized body of people walking in a formal or ceremonial manner. History Processions have in all peoples and at all times been a natural form of public celebration, as forming an orderly and impressive ceremony. Religious ...

of the

Black Madonna The term ''Black Madonna'' or ''Black Virgin'' tends to refer to statues or paintings in Western Christendom of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Infant Jesus, where both figures are depicted with dark skin. The Black Madonna can be found both ...

's empty

picture frame A picture frame is a protective and decorative edging for a picture, such as a painting or photograph. It makes displaying the work safer and easier and both sets the picture apart from its surroundings and aesthetically integrates it with them. ...

through Krakow, Wojtyla attends all four

Vatican II The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the , or , was the 21st ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church. The council met in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome for four periods (or sessions), each lasting between 8 and ...

sessions, where he impresses many influential foreign cardinals with his charisma, multilingualism and viewpoints, both before and during his term as Kraków's archbishop. After becoming a cardinal in 1967 by

Pope Paul VI Pope Paul VI ( la, Paulus VI; it, Paolo VI; born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini, ; 26 September 18976 August 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 to his death in Augus ...

, Wojtyla returns to Poland as Karol Cardinal Wojtyla, and miraculously cures a bone marrow cancer victim by praying to

Padre Pio Francesco Forgione, OFM Cap., better known as Padre Pio and as Saint Pius of Pietrelcina ( it, Pio da Pietrelcina; 25 May 188723 September 1968), was an Italian Franciscan Capuchin friar, priest, stigmatist, and mystic. He is venerated as a ...

. Paul VI dies in 1978 and

Papal conclave, August 1978 The August 1978 papal conclave, the first of the two conclaves held that year, was convoked after the death of Pope Paul VI on 6 August 1978 at Castel Gandolfo. After the cardinal electors assembled in Rome, they elected Cardinal Albino Luciani, ...

convenes, electing Albino Cardinal Luciani as

Pope John Paul I Pope John Paul I ( la, Ioannes Paulus I}; it, Giovanni Paolo I; born Albino Luciani ; 17 October 1912 – 28 September 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City from 26 August 1978 to his death 33 days later. Hi ...

, who himself dies only 33 days later. The cardinals then reconvene with

Papal conclave, October 1978 The October 1978 papal conclave was triggered by the death of Pope John Paul I on 28 September 1978, just 33 days after his election on 26 August. The conclave to elect John Paul I's successor began on 14 October and ended two days later on 16 ...

and Wojtyla is told by Wyszynski to accept the position if he is elected—for Poland's sake. Part 2: (7 December 2005) Opening on October 16, 1978 with deadlocked balloting, Wojtyla wins the papal election as the first non-Italian pope since

Adrian VI Pope Adrian VI ( la, Hadrianus VI; it, Adriano VI; nl, Adrianus/Adriaan VI), born Adriaan Florensz Boeyens (2 March 1459 – 14 September 1523), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 9 January 1522 until his d ...

in 1522, naming himself ''John Paul II''. In his

Papal inauguration Papal inauguration is a liturgical service of the Catholic Church within Mass celebrated in the Roman Rite but with elements of Byzantine Rite for the ecclesiastical investiture of a pope. Since the inauguration of Pope John Paul I, it has not i ...

speech, he says "be not afraid", causing Soviet leaders to decide that Wojtyla is "no friend of Marxism". Afterwards, he performs papal mediation in the Beagle conflict between Argentina and Chile. In 1979, he receives Soviet foreign minister

Andrei Gromyko Andrei Andreyevich Gromyko (russian: Андрей Андреевич Громыко; be, Андрэй Андрэевіч Грамыка; – 2 July 1989) was a Soviet communist politician and diplomat during the Cold War. He served as ...

at the Vatican, writes his first papal encyclical—'' Redemptor hominis''—and visits Mexico where he is seen by millions. He then visits Poland with audiences also in the millions and afterwards the United States. He supports Polish Solidarity and receives

Lech Walesa Lech may refer to: People * Lech (name), a name of Polish origin * Lech, the legendary founder of Poland * Lech (Bohemian prince) Products and organizations * Lech (beer), Polish beer produced by Kompania Piwowarska, in Poznań * Lech Pozna� ...

at the Vatican. The 1981 assassination attempt occurs. After his recovery, Pope John Paul II appoints Cardinal Ratzinger

Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith The Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF) is the oldest among the departments of the Roman Curia. Its seat is the Palace of the Holy Office in Rome. It was founded to defend the Catholic Church from heresy and is the body responsible f ...

, after which he is visited by U.S. President Ronald Reagan in 1982 and in December 1983, visits his failed assassin,

Mehmet Ali Agca Mehmed (modern Turkish: Mehmet) is the most common Bosnian and Turkish form of the Arabic name Muhammad ( ar, محمد) (''Muhammed'' and ''Muhammet'' are also used, though considerably less) and gains its significance from being the name of Muh ...

inside Rebibbia prison to personally forgive him. In December 1984, he appoints Joaquin Navarro-Valls director of the Holy See Press Office, announces

World Youth Day World Youth Day (WYD) is an event for young people organized by the Catholic Church that was initiated by Pope John Paul II in 1985, sometimes nicknamed in later years as the "Catholic Woodstock". Its concept has been influenced by the Light-L ...

in 1985 and witnesses the downfall of East bloc Communism in 1989. During the 1990s, Pope John Paul II fails to stop the

Invasion of Kuwait The Iraqi invasion of Kuwait was an operation conducted by Iraq on 2 August 1990, whereby it invaded the neighboring State of Kuwait, consequently resulting in a seven-month-long Iraqi military occupation of the country. The invasion and Ira ...

and the following

Gulf War The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a Coalition of the Gulf War, 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Ba'athist Iraq, ...

. He responds to the

abortion debate The abortion debate is a longstanding, ongoing controversy that touches on the moral, legal, medical, and religious aspects of induced abortion. In English-speaking countries, the debate most visibly polarizes around adherents of the self-describ ...

with his '' Letter to Women'' encyclical. His book, '' Crossing the Threshold of Hope'', becomes a best-seller. John Paul II suffers from increasing symptoms of

Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a long-term degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that mainly affects the motor system. The symptoms usually emerge slowly, and as the disease worsens, non-motor symptoms becom ...

but he keeps a busy schedule. In response to his own suffering, he writes his '' Evangelium Vitae'' encyclical as opposition to a worldwide culture of death. He tries to improve Christian–Jewish reconciliation and Holy See–Israel relations. In 2000, he starts the third millennium by apologizing for the Church's sins committed during its history, watches the

9-11 The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercia ...

attacks in 2001 with horror and in 2002, addresses American cardinals about the "appalling" Catholic sex abuse scandal. His last public appearance is shown, then his death is announced, with a voice-over of his last requests and a montage of earlier events amid the closing credits and main film score.

Cast

as Young

Karol Wojtyła Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

* Christopher Lee as Stefan Cardinal Wyszyński *

Vittoria Belvedere Vittoria Belvedere (born 17 January 1972) is an Italian actress from Vibo Valentia in Calabria, southern Italy. She has appeared in several films but most of her work is television based. Career In 1992, she made her debut in the film ''In came ...

as Ewa * James Cromwell as Adam Stefan Cardinal Sapieha * Daniele Pecci as Roman * Ettore Bassi as Gapa *

Chiara Conti Chiara is a word and place name of Italian origin, meaning "bright" or "clear", and may refer to: People * Chiara (name) * Chiara da Montefalco, (1268–1308), an Augustinian nun and abbess * Chiara (Italian singer) or Chiara Galiazzo (born 1986 ...

as Anna * Valeria Cavalli as Teresa * Marcin Kuźmiński as Michał * Giulietta Revel as Halina * Robert Gonera as Tadeusz * Krzysztof Pieczyński as Czerny *

Christopher Good Christopher Good is an English actor best known for his work on television. He was born in Bromsgrove in Worcestershire. In the 1970s he made a stage appearance in a musical version of Jeeves and Wooster. In the 90s he was, according to ''the T ...

as Franz Cardinal König * Fabrizio Bucci as Krzysztof Zachuta * Giuliano Gemma as Dr. Joaquín Navarro-Valls * Wenanty Nosul as Stanisław Dziwisz *

Jan Niklas Jan Niklas (born 15 October 1947) is a German film and television actor. He is best known for appearing in TV films such as '' Peter The Great'', '' Anastasia: The Mystery of Anna'' and '' Anne Frank: The Whole Story''. He won a Golden Globe Aw ...

as Young Dziwisz * Harald Posch as

Hans Frank Hans Michael Frank (23 May 1900 – 16 October 1946) was a German politician and lawyer who served as head of the General Government in Nazi-occupied Poland during the Second World War. Frank was an early member of the German Workers' Party ...

* Mikołaj Grabowski as Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger * Jacek Lenartowicz as

Lech Wałęsa Lech Wałęsa (; ; born 29 September 1943) is a Polish statesman, dissident, and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, who served as the President of Poland between 1990 and 1995. After winning the 1990 election, Wałęsa became the first democrati ...

* Massimiliano Ubaldi as

Mehmet Ali Ağca Mehmet Ali Ağca (; born 9 January 1958) is a Turkish assassin who murdered left-wing journalist Abdi İpekçi on 1 February 1979, and later shot and wounded Pope John Paul II on 13 May 1981, after escaping from a Turkish prison. After serving ...

Andrzej Blumenfeld Andrzej Stanisław Blumenfeld (12 August 1951 in Zabrze – 14 August 2017 in Warsaw) was a Polish film, television, and voice actor who worked for SDI Media Polska. Filmography *'' The Young Magician'' (1987) - Teacher *''Legend of the White ...

Edward Gierek Edward Gierek (; 6 January 1913 – 29 July 2001) was a Polish Communist politician and ''de facto'' leader of Poland between 1970 and 1980. Gierek replaced Władysław Gomułka as First Secretary of the ruling Polish United Workers' Party (P ...

* Ryszard Radwanski as Gomulka * Giacomo Piperno as Cardinal Felici * Paolo Paolini as Jean-Marie Cardinal Villot * Nicola Pistoia as Maximilien Cardinal de Fürstenberg * Giulio Base as

* Zygmunt Józefczak as Bishop Eugeniusz Baziak *

Michele Gammino Michele Gammino (born 16 June 1941) is an Italian actor, voice actor and television presenter. Career Born in Rome to parents who originated from Palermo, Gammino began his career during the early 1970s. For his work on Italian television, Gammino ...

Leonid Brezhnev Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev; uk, links= no, Леонід Ілліч Брежнєв, . (19 December 1906– 10 November 1982) was a Soviet politician who served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union between 1964 and ...

* Ewa Zytkiewicz as

* Fabrizio Jovine as

Yuri Andropov Yuri Vladimirovich Andropov (– 9 February 1984) was the sixth paramount leader of the Soviet Union and the fourth General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. After Leonid Brezhnev's 18-year rule, Andropov served in the p ...

* Andrzej Szopa as Mikhail Gorbachev * Marc Fiorini as

Giorgio La Pira Giorgio La Pira, TOSD (Raimondo in religious life; 9 January 1904 – 5 November 1977) was an Italian Catholic politician who served as the Mayor of Florence. He also served as deputy of the Christian Democrats and participated in the assemb ...

External links

''Pope John Paul II''
Official Site

Ignatius Press Website *
''Pope John Paul II''
Filmpolski.pl {{John Kent Harrison Films about Pope John Paul II 2000s American television miniseries Films set in Poland Films set in Kraków Films shot in Poland Films set in Vatican City Films shot in Kraków 2005 television films 2005 films CBS network films Cultural depictions of Pope Benedict XVI Cultural depictions of Leonid Brezhnev Cultural depictions of Lech Wałęsa Films directed by John Kent Harrison