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It Is Written

John Bradshaw

Upon This Rock

Coming up next, please stay tuned for It Is Written, presented by Pastor John Bradshaw.

In Poland, it's a fascinating country with a vibrant and a turbulent history.

It has gone to war with Prussia and with Russia more than once.

Poland was invaded in the 13th century by the Mongols and by the Swedes in the 17th century.

Even Austria controlled part of Poland at 1 time.

World War II was especially hard on Poland.

World War II began in 1939 following the invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany.

6000000 Poles died during World War II, and Poland was a communist country from 1945 to 1989.

Today Poland is a beautiful country and culturally rich.

Warsaw's international airport is named after the Polish pianist and composer, Friedrich Chopin.

The first woman to win a Nobel Prize, the only woman to win 2, and the only person to win a Nobel Prize in 2 different sciences, in her case in physics and chemistry, was Poland's Maria Skłodowska, better known as Marie Curie.

Nicholas Copernicus, the mathematician and astronomer who set a cat among the scientific pigeons when he claimed the sun and not the Earth was the center of the universe, was Polish.

He advanced the idea that the Earth rotated around the sun, and not the sun around the Earth.

But perhaps Poland's favorite and most famous son is Karol Wojtowa, who was born here in 1920 in the town of Wadowice in the south of Poland, about an hour from the border with the Czech Republic.

His mother died before he was 9 years old.

He had a sister who died before he was born.

His older brother went on to become a physician.

Karel became a priest in 1946, a bishop in 1958, an archbishop in 1964, and a cardinal in 1967.

He was the Archbishop of Krakow from 1964 until 1978.

In 1978, the white smoke billowing from the chimney on top of the Sistine Chapel indicated the College of Cardinals had elected him pope.

He succeeded Pope John Paul I, who spent only 33 days in office.

British author David Yallop's book In God's Name sold 6 million copies and was subtitled An Investigation into the Murder of Pope John Paul I.

There was enough mystery about the death of John Paul I that claims like that don't come as a surprise.

But Yallup's journalism has been strongly opposed.

John Paul II led the Roman Catholic Church for 27 years until 2005.

Tourists flock here to the home where the Pope grew up.

He was raised in this home right behind me, and years later, it's easy to underestimate just how popular he was.

The first non-Italian Pope in more than 450 years visited 129 countries during his reign.

5000000 people attended an open-air church service he conducted in Manila in the Philippines in 1995.

As a teenager, I made my own pilgrimage to see and hear Pope John Paul II.

5 days before his 61st birthday, while he was greeting a crowd in St.

Peter's Square in the Vatican City, he was shot 4 times by a 23-year-old Turkish man.

Just 2 years later, the Pope met with that same would-be assassin in prison, calling him, "...my brother, whom I have sincerely forgiven." The gunman served 20 years of a life sentence in Italy before being released and deported to Turkey, where he served more prison time on other charges.

In 2014 he returned to the Vatican and visited John Paul II's tomb.

As not only a church leader but also a head of state, John Paul II had a major political impact on the world.

He was responsible for regime change in several different countries and has been credited with bringing about the demise of European communism in the early 1990s.

His support for Poland's Solidarity Movement, led by Lech Wałęsa, weakened communism in Poland and throughout Europe.

Bush presented John Paul II with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, he said that John Paul's principled stand for peace and freedom has inspired millions and helped to topple communism and tyranny.

He met with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev in 1989, shortly before the fall of communism.

Gorbachev said later, the collapse of the Iron Curtain would have been impossible without John Paul II.

As Pope, Poland's favorite son was considered to be the successor of St.

And while he was loved and respected by many people all around the world during his reign, 500 or so years ago he might have been viewed rather differently.

Go deep into the prophecies of the book of Revelation with this week's free offer.

Visit us online at www.itiswritten.com or call us on 800-253-3000.

It's absolutely free and you will be blessed by this resource which will grow your understanding of God's Word.

Today I'd like to ask you to help It Is Written Open the Eyes of the Blind.

India has more blind people than any country on Earth, but simple cataract surgery can make the difference between seeing and not seeing for many people.

Eyes for India is a project that's providing cataract surgery for people in desperate need of the gift of sight.

You can also donate online at itiswritten.com.

Please call 800-253-3000 or write to PO Box 6, Chattanooga, Tennessee 37401.

Thanks for joining me on It is Written, I'm John Bradshaw.

Before he became Pope John Paul II, Karol Wojtyła was the Archbishop here in Krakow, Poland for 14 years.

Krakow was the capital of the Kingdom of Poland for 500 years.

The historic center of the city is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The parks surrounding the old town follow the paths of the city walls that surrounded Old Krakow in medieval times.

Wawel Castle was built in the 14th century, the 1300s.

For hundreds of years it was the residence of Polish kings.

Beside Wawel Castle stands Wawel Cathedral.

About 3 dozen Polish kings and queens have been crowned here, and a number of Polish monarchs are buried here.

The first cathedral constructed on this site was built in the 11th century.

The 1 there now has been standing for about 700 years.

Wawel Cathedral is the seat of the Archdiocese of Krakow.

It's where John Paul II served as Archbishop for 14 years.

Before World War II began in 1939, between 60 and 80, 000 Jews lived in Krakow.

When the Krakow Ghetto was formed, 15, 000 people were pressed into an area designed to accommodate 3, 000.

There are still some small sections of the wall built around the Krakow Ghetto standing today.

The plaque on the old ghetto wall reads, here they lived, suffered and perished at the hands of Hitler's executioners.

The vast majority of Krakow's Jews perished in the Holocaust.

Just across the Vistula River from Krakow's Old Town are 2 museums housed in what used to be an enamelware factory operated by a man named Oskar Schindler.

Steven Spielberg's Academy Award winning movie Schindler's List was filmed here in Krakow.

The 1, 100 Jews saved by Schindler worked in this very building.

Karol Wojtyla became the Archbishop of Krakow 32 years after World War II ended.

Peter's in the Vatican City was an enormous affair.

It was attended by kings and queens, by more than 70 heads of state, including the President of the United States and 2 former presidents.

The people of Krakow are immensely proud of him, especially that now he is known as St.

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