Karol Wojtyła (senior)

Servant of God

Karol Wojtyła
Servant of God; Karol Wojtyła
Nickname(s)	Karol
Born	18 July 1879; Lipnik, Galicia and Lodomeria, Austria-Hungary
Died	18 February 1941 (aged 61); Kraków, General Government
Allegiance	Austria-Hungary; Second Polish Republic
Service/branch	Austro-Hungarian Army; Polish Army
Rank	Porucznik
Unit	56th Infantry Regiment; 12th Infantry Regiment
Battles/wars	World War I Gorlice–Tarnów Offensive;
Awards	Military Merit Cross
Spouse(s)	Emilia Wojtyła
Children	3 including Pope John Paul II, Dr Edmund Wojtyła [pl]

Karol Wojtyła (18 July 1879 – 18 February 1941) was a Polish military officer who was a non-commissioned officer of the Austro-Hungarian Army and a lieutenant of the Polish Armed Forces' administration. He was the father and namesake of Karol Józef Wojtyła, who became Pope John Paul II in 1978, and the father of Polish doctor Edmund Wojtyła. He died from what is believed to be a heart attack in 1941 while his son was away, an event considered to have influenced his son's decision to join the seminary.

Biography

Karol Wojtyła was born on 18 July 1879, in Lipnik,^[1] the son of Polish tailor Maciej Wojtyła (1 February 1852 in Czaniec – 23 September 1923 in Wadowice^[2]) and his first wife Anna Marianna Przeczek (1853–1881, born and died in Lipnik). His mother died when he was 2 years old.

He married Emilia Kaczorowska on 10 February 1906. The wedding took place in Kraków, in Saints Peter and Paul Church, Kraków. They had three children: Edmund Wojtyła (1906–1932), Olga Maria (died soon after birth on 7 July 1916),^[3]^[4] Karol Józef (1920–2005).

He was a tailor by trade.^[5] In 1900, he was called up for the Austro-Hungarian Army. He spent a total of 27 years in the army.^[5] He was a non-commissioned officer. During World War I he was transferred to Hranice in Moravia, and he fought in the Gorlice–Tarnów Offensive in May 1915. In August 1915, he was appointed as an officer of the military registrar. On 1 September 1915, he was a noncommissioned officer of the 56th Infantry Regiment. He worked in the Wadowice County Supplementary Command until 1918.^[6]^[7]^[8]^[9] Before 1917 he was awarded the Military Cross of Merit with a crown.

After Poland regained its independence, he was admitted to the Polish Army and was an officer of the 12th Infantry Regiment from Wadowice. He was promoted to the rank of lieutenant in the corps of professional administrative officers of the office department.^[10] In 1924, he served in the Wadowice County Supplementary Command.^[10] He had retired by 1928.^[11] In 1934, as a retired lieutenant, he remained in the records of the Poviat Supplementary Command Wadowice.^[12]

In 1929, as a result of myocarditis and kidney failure, his wife died, and three years later, his eldest son, Edmund, died of scarlet fever. In 1938, he moved from Wadowice, together with his adolescent son Karol, to Kraków. He died there on 18 February 1941.^[13]^[14] He was buried in the military cemetery on Prandoty Street in Kraków.

Commemoration

The role of Karol Wojtyła Senior was played by Olgierd Łukaszewicz^[15] in the film Karol: A Man Who Became Pope and Robert Mazurkiewicz in the Pope John Paul II miniseries.^[16] Alfred Burke played him in the film Pope John Paul II.^[17]

In 2018, one of the streets in Lublin was named for him and for his wife.^[18] The Wojtyls are also patrons of a street in Wadowice.^[19]

On 11 March 2020 Marek Jędraszewski, Archbishop of Kraków, announced the beginning of the process of beatification of Karol and Emilia Wojtyła;^[20] The process of beatification of John Paul II's parents began officially on 7 May 2020 in Wadowice.^[21]