In God's Hands: The Spiritual Diaries of Pope St John Paul II - Softcover

As the head of the Roman Catholic Church from 1978 until his death in 2005, Pope John Paul II shaped his times in ways few other popes could claim. This powerful and now sainted leader made headlines by conferring with heads of state, inspiring and leading fellow Catholics and other Christians, and building the foundations for making Rome the head of a truly global church.

What the headlines failed to capture, however, was Karol Józef Wojtyla’s longstanding practice of taking regular spiritual retreats for which he recorded his thoughts, worries, meditations, hopes, and prayers. From 1962 until two years before his death, John Paul II filled a series of private diaries, written in his native Polish and never before made public. These journals provide intimate and deeply moving insight into a man, a priest, and a saint, revealing a life devoted completely to God.

In God’s Hands lays bare the soul of this powerful, influential statesman, revealing a devout man untouched by his celebrity status; a selfless servant of God who spent decades questioning whether he was worthy of the role he was called to carry out. Over forty years, from his bishopric in Krakow to his election to the papacy to his final years, one question guided him: “Am I serving God?”

Entrusted to his personal secretary—who defied John Paul II’s instructions to burn them after his death—these notebooks provide us with a privileged glimpse into the life of a humble man whose faith helped change the world and his beloved church.

Karol Józef Wojtyla (1920–2005), known as John Paul II since his election to the papacy in 1978, was born in Wadowice, Poland. As a young man he enrolled in a drama school but then was forced to work in a quarry and a chemical factory during the Nazi occupation to avoid deportation to Germany. In 1942, aware of his call to the priesthood, he began courses in the clandestine seminary of Cracow. He was ordained to the priesthood in 1946 and then in 1964 he was nominated as Archbishop of Cracow by Pope Paul VI, who made him a cardinal 1967.

During his pontificate, John Paul II inspired literally millions of the faithful through pilgrimages and during his hundreds of pastoral visits around the world, as well as through his many sermons and written works. As the successor of Peter and Vicar of Jesus Christ, he revolutionized the office of the modern pope. He took his mission out of the Vatican and around the globe, pushing back the boundaries of the old Christian Europe, while proselytizing, reforming, and opening new churches around the world.