Pope John Paul II

Pope John Paul is the spiritual head of nearly one billion believers and a world statesman of immense influence. And yet, at the age of 75, and in the 17th year of his papacy, he remains a mystery, theologically, politically and above all, personally, presenting a contradiction between his powerful advocacy of human rights everywhere and his conservative stance on the social tenets of the Catholic faith. This biography looks behind the papal figurehead to the man himself and the influences that have shaped his life. From the deaths of his mother and brother before he reached adolescence, to the appalling hardships endured by all Poles during World War II, Karol Wojtyla's early years were threaded with suffering. But, this book reveals, even as a young boy his deep sense of spirituality led him to find comfort in his faith and the Church.