Teachings of Pope John Paul II

The teachings of the Blessed Pope John Paul II are contained in a number of documents. It is widely believed that these teachings will have a long-lasting influence on the Church.

His philosophical and theological teachings and writings were characterised by explorations in phenomenology and personalism.Hans Köchler, "The Phenomenology of Karol Wojtyla. On the Problem of the Phenomenological Foundation of Anthropology," in: Philosophy and Phenomenological Research, Vol. 42 (1982), pp. 326-334. He was influenced by Hans Urs von Balthasar, Henri de Lubac, Yves Congar, Karl Rahner, his predecessors as Archbishop of Kraków Eugeniusz Baziak and Adam Stefan Sapieha, and his predecessors as Pope- Blessed Pope John XXIII and Venerable Servants of God Popes Paul VI and John Paul I. His closest theological adviser was Cardinal Ratzinger, who would succeed him as Pope. Stanislaw Dziwisz was his personal secretary for forty years and thus one of his closest friends and advisers, and now is himself Cardinal Archbishop of Kraków, John Paul's former post. John Paul met regularly with the Cardinal prefects and presidents of Curial congregations and councils, and outlived many of them.

Catechism of the Catholic Church

A significant achievement of John Paul II was the publication of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, which became an international best-seller . Its purpose, according to the Pope's Apostolic Constitution Fidei......
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