John Paul II and Francis are two
eccentric popes with many differences. They are both millennial Roman Catholic
Church leaders. A lot of people see that both of them are similar in
personality and charity, but they are
different in numerous ways. Three major differences about Pope
John Paul II and Pope Francis are: family life and upbringing, problems in the
church during their papacy, and their leadership style.
Pict: Crisis Magazine
The family life and upbringing between these
two popes are different. Pope John Paul II was born on May 18, 1920 in
Wadowice, Poland. He was the second child of
Karol Wojtyla, an army sergeant, and Emilia Kaczorowska. He experienced family
deaths in his early life. His mother died when he was nine. He lived with his
father and his brother Edmund after his mother’s death. Edmund died four years
after his mother death. Pope John Paul II was a young man during World War II
and his nation was controlled by the Nazi’s political party. As for Pope
Francis he came from an immigrant family. He was born in Buenos Aires on
December 17, 1936. His family had to escape from Italy to Argentina because of
Benito Mussolini fascist rule.
Pope John Paul II and
Pope Francis each faced different problems in the Church during their papacy.
Pope John Paul II faced a lot of problems with global politics in the Cold War
era. He had to stand up for freedom against communism and the liberalism
regime. Nowadays, Pope Francis is dealing with priests, religious, and bishops
who are involved in the sexual abuse scandal. Besides this scandal, immigration
and terrorism issues have also been major topics for him to deal with.
Many people believe the
leadership style of Pope John Paul II and Pope Francis are similar, but there are
disparities in their leadership during their papacy. Pope John Paul II was
known to be a prolific writer on many different issues within the Church of his
time. His leadership legacy is in his numerous apostolic letters and
encyclicals. John Paul II also visited 129 countries during his time as pope.
He visited and gave hope to the people around the world. Pope John Paul II was
the pope who visited the most countries; more than any other pope prior to his
pontificate. Pope Francis shows humility
in his leadership. For example: he washed the feet of prisoners, the
handicapped, women, migrants, Muslims, and Buddhists during Maundy Thursday
mass. He also sets up dialogues to end problems between countries that do not
get along. One example of this, was when Francis invited Israel’s president Shimon
Peres and Palestine’s president Mahmoud Abbas to the Vatican to get together to
discuss how to stop the conflict between them.
Pope John Paul II and
Pope Francis are both unique popes because of their family life and upbringing,
problems during their papacy, and leadership styles. Because of these
differences both of them chose to handle being pope in a different ways.
Despite their differences they both did many great works for the Church.
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