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He has elevated 233 cardinals during his
pontificate. He has selected most of the 195 cardinals within the College of
Cardinals. He has personally ordained 321 bishops, but has named well more
than ˝ of all the bishops worldwide including over 90% of them within the
United States. What's more, he continues to meet with each cardinal and
bishop every five years!
Pope John Paul II has written 14 encyclicals, 14
apostolic exhortations, 11 apostolic constitutions, 43 apostolic letters,
and 28 motu proprios (documents of his own accord). He has presided and
promulgated statements for 15 bishop synods. He has written the following
best-selling books, Crossing the Threshold of Hope, Gift and Mercy, and most
recently Rise, Let Us Be on Our Way. Many of his catecheses between 1978 and
1984 were compiled into The Theology of the Body: Human Love in the Divine
Plan which is a revolutionary advance regarding the Catholic Church's
teachings about love and sexuality. He has also written thousands of letters
and messages.
Pope John Paul II authorized the Catechism of
the Catholic Church for the first time in 500 years. He sincerely apologized
for the Church's mistakes and injustices during the last millennium and
asked for God's mercy at the beginning of the Third Millennium. He has
worked tirelessly with the Greek Orthodox Church's Ecumenical Patriarch, the
Russian Orthodox Church's Patriarch, and other Orthodox leaders to bridge
the millennial schism between Catholicism and Orthodoxy. He has visited both
Jewish synagogues and Muslim mosques for the first time in the history of
the papacy. He routinely meets with the world's religious and political
leaders to promote programs such as the World Days of Fasting for Peace to
foster peace and unity in the world. His Holy Land Pilgrimage during the
Great Jubilee of the Year 2000 is without precedent.
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