Krakow
A place in the history of the Church
An old city in southern Poland, by the Vistula River.
What happened here
- The secret seminary: in 1939, the Nazis who were occupying Poland closed the university of Krakow, where Karol Wojtyla was studying. From 1942 on, he studied in a secret seminary.
- Priest and bishop: he was ordained a priest on November 1, 1946. In 1964 he was named Archbishop of Krakow. In 1978 he was elected Pope.
Source: vatican.va, biography of St. John Paul II; Catholic Encyclopedia (1913), “Cracow”