Stefania Wojtyła (1891–1962): The Future Pope’s Aunt

Andrzej DERDZIUK

Katedra Teologii Moralnej Społecznej, Instytut Nauk Teologicznych, Wydział Teologii, Katolicki Uniwersytet Lubelski Jana Pawła II, Al. Racławickie 14, 20-950 Lublin, Poland , Poland

Abstract

Based on archival research, the author of the paper presents a biography of the stepsister of Karol Wojtyła Sr., the father of the future Pope John Paul II, as well as an outline of her public activity. Stefania Wojtyła was born on 16 December 1891 in Biała, near Bielsko. Having received a proper education for the job, she began working as a primary school teacher. She was deeply committed to teaching children and continued her work in a number of elementary schools. She did not marry, but she kept in close touch with her relatives in Wadowice. She frequently visited them and, after the passing of her stepbrother’s wife, made every effort to support him. During the Second World War, she began teaching in a German grade school, which required from her to register with the Volksliste (German People’s List) and, after the war, made it impossible for her to continue her teaching job in the district of Biała. However, she successfully applied for a teaching position in Stodoły, near Rybnik, in the Recovered Territories, where Fr. Karol Wojtyła, her nephew, would visit her repeatedly. Finally, she joined him in Cracow, where she was his housekeeper at 21, Kanonicza Street. She passed away on 24 May 1962 and was buried in the same tomb as her nephew’s mother.

Translated by Dorota Chabrajska

Keywords:

Karol Wojtyła, Stefania Wojtyła, the Wojtyła family