Lolek was an excellent student ever since he joined elementary school for boys on Sept 5, 1926. His best grades continued in the secondary school, which he joined in 1930.

But Lolek was unlucky in one sense. He lost his mother in 1929, barely a month short of his ninth birthday. She died of heart and kidney problems.

His childhood saw more personal losses. In December 1932, his brother Edmund, who was a physician at Prowszechny Hospital in Bielsko, died at the age of 26.

It was a world of father and son. Lolek's father dedicated himself to caring for his young son, instilling in him the desire to devote his life to priesthood.

The Pope greets the crowd in Mexico on February 7, 1979. Inset: the Pope at the Open Air Mass in Coventry during the papal tour of the United Kingdom.

Photographs: Central Press/Getty Images

Also See: The Pope at 25