
90 minutes
2/24/2006
The eventful life of a humble Polish priest who once decried the pomp of the Catholic Church "a circus" and labeled the Pope a "prisoner of the Vatican" before ascending to the papal throne to usher Catholicism into the 21st century. Born in Poland and forced to carry on following the untimely death of his family, Karol Wojtyla endured both personal hardships and the rape of his homeland by the Third Reich to spread the word of God through the Catholic Church. Later, as Pope John Paul II, Wojtyla was beloved by millions of Catholics worldwide. From the sexual-abuse scandal that shook the American Catholic Church in the later-20th century to the murder of Salvadoran Archbishop Oscar Romero and the near-fatal assassination attempt made on his own life, Pope John Paul II endured to bridge the gap between various faiths until his death resulting from Parkinson's disease in April of 2005.

Thomas Kretschmann
as Pope John Paul II

Bruno Ganz
as Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski

Joaquim de Almeida
as Archbishop Oscar Romero

John Albasiny
as Father Stanislaw Dziwisz

Charles Kay
as Pope Paul VI
Sabrina Jàvor
as Ginka

Jasper Harris
as Young Karol Wojtyla
Peter Goranov
as Karol's Father
Roland Oliver
as Archbishop Adam Sapieha

Richard Rees
as General Wojciech Jaruzelski

Michael Klesic
as Stanislaw Starowleyski
David Barras
as Party Official
Sebastian Knapp
as Ali Agca

Inga Šalkauskaitė
as Karol's Mother
Sebastien Szumilas
as Young Karol Wojtyla (voice)

Dainius Kazlauskas
as Dr. Francesco Crucitti
Aleksandras Kleinas
Eric Olive
as Delegate
Giedrius Arbačiauskas
as Officer
Simon Burzynski
as Polish Man

Arvydas Dapšys
as Cardinal
Kiril Glušajev
as Student

Paulius Ignatavičius
as Edmund
Petras Liskauskas
as Polish Officer
Lorenzo Minoli
as Bishop

John Paul I.
as Self (archival footage) (uncredited)
Clayton Richard-Long
as Self

Donatas Šimukauskas
as Priest

Sakalas Uždavinys
as Bodyguard
Liudvikas Vilimas
as Young Priest

Sonata Visockaitė
as Nun

Lech Wałęsa
as Self (archival footage) (uncredited)

Šarūnas Zenkevičius
as Altar Boy