PBS Specials

The Secrets of Saint John Paul (2016x15)

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Pope John Paul II, born Karol Józef Wojtyla, was ordained in 1946, and in 1978, became the first Polish pope and first non-Italian Pope in more than 400 years. He served as head of the Catholic Church until his passing in 2005. Beatified by Pope Benedict XVI in 2011, he was canonized by Pope Francis in 2014. That same year, BBC broadcaster Edward Stourton was ushered into a room in one of Europe’s most celebrated libraries. Watched over by its director, he was shown a pile of papers so sensitive that only a handful of staff knew of their existence. He was looking at a collection of hundreds of personal letters between one of the 20th century’s great public figures—Pope John Paull II—and a Polish American woman, Anna-Theresa Tymieniecka. The letters reveal a deeply intimate friendship that lasted for decades and show the private side of a man who was known and beloved around the world.