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Karol Józef Wojtyła was born in Wadowice, a Polish town about 50 km from Kraków, on 18 May 1920. After completing his secondary education at the "Marcin Wadowita" higher school in Wadowice, he enrolled in 1938 at the Jagiellonian University in Kraków. After feeling called to the priesthood, from 1942 he secretly attended lectures at the Faculty of Theology of the Jagiellonian University as a seminarian of the Archdiocese of Kraków. After the Second World War he continued his studies at the reopened Kraków Major Seminary and the Faculty of Theology of the Jagiellonian University, until his ordination to the priesthood in Kraków on 1 November 1946. Recognising Wojtyła's exceptional ability and talent, the Archbishop of Kraków at the time, Cardinal Adam Stefan Sapieha, sent him for further studies in Rome, where he earned a doctorate in theology (1948). In 1948 he returned to Poland, serving as chaplain in Niegowić and then as student chaplain at the parish of St. Florian in Kraków. Later he became a professor of moral and ethical theology at the Kraków seminary and the Faculty of Theology in Lublin. At the age of 38, on 4 July 1958, Wojtyła became the youngest Polish bishop. He was consecrated bishop on 28 September 1958 in Kraków Cathedral. Six years later, during the Second Vatican Council, Pope Paul VI appointed him Archbishop of Kraków on 13 January 1964. Paul VI made him a cardinal on 26 June 1967. As archbishop he participated in the Second Vatican Council (1962–1965). On 16 October 1978, Karol Wojtyła was elected pope and took the name John Paul II. He died on 2 April 2005. The Polish pope will be particularly remembered by the Croatian people for offering hope of peace and support while Croatia was at war. During his pontificate, St. John Paul II visited the Republic of Croatia three times. On 1 May 2011, Pope Benedict XVI declared his predecessor John Paul II blessed, his feast day being 22 October — the date on which John Paul II celebrated his first Mass as pope. Pope Francis canonised John Paul II on 27 April 2014. The monument to St. John Paul II is the work of the academic sculptor Vid Vučko and stands on the Biograd waterfront. The statue rests on a low octagonal stone pedestal. The pope is depicted holding a pastoral staff in the form of a cross in his left hand, while with his right hand he releases a dove, the sign of the Holy Spirit and a symbol of peace.
