Wojtyla Ordained in Krakow Chapel 80 Years Ago
The future pope received holy orders in 1946 at age 26, a milestone now marked by reflections on his spiritual discipline and pastoral style.
By Alina Carter ·
Karol Wojtyla was ordained a priest on November 1, 1946, in a private chapel within the Archbishops’ Palace in Krakow, Poland.
The ceremony took place on the feast of All Saints. Wojtyla, then 26 years old, was ordained alone by Cardinal Adam Stefan Sapieha ahead of his fellow seminarians. The following day, he celebrated his first three Masses in St. Leonard’s Crypt beneath Wawel Cathedral. One of these services was dedicated to his deceased parents and siblings.
Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz, who served as Wojtyla’s secretary for decades, described the future pope’s foundational habits. “He was, above all, a man of prayer,” Dziwisz said. He noted that Wojtyla often prayed in a low voice or aloud, sometimes singing during Christmas and Lent. Dziwisz recalled that the chapel door was kept closed to allow the priest uninterrupted time in prayer.
Father Lukasz Piórkowski, director of the Family Home of John Paul II Museum in Wadowice, emphasized Wojtyla’s interpersonal approach. “Wojtyla accompanied people; he did not impose,” Piórkowski said. He added that Wojtyla inspired others to think together and offered different ways of acting. This style of accompaniment is what contemporary priests observe when they visit the museum in the town where Wojtyla was born in 1920.
Wojtyla’s path to the priesthood began in 1942 when he entered a clandestine seminary organized by Cardinal Sapieha during the Nazi occupation. He had previously studied Polish literature at Jagiellonian University. His friend Jerzy Kluger, a Jewish schoolmate, remembered Wojtyla leaving study groups to pray. Wojtyla’s father, a former Polish army officer, provided a model of spiritual discipline that Wojtyla later called a “domestic seminary.”
After studying in Rome, Wojtyla returned to Poland in 1948. His work with university students led to relationships that lasted decades. Dziwisz recalled that young people sought out Wojtyla for vacations involving kayaking and skiing. “For him, it was not just recreation. It was an opportunity to be with young people and help them grow,” Dziwisz said. Wojtyla led the Catholic Church for more than 26 years before his death in 2005.
