A BACKGROUND SURVEY OF KAROL WOJTYLA’S ORTHODOXY IN THE LIGHT OF HIS PRE-PAPAL ETHICAL TEACHINGS

Abstract

Karol Wojtyla, who later became Pope John Paul II, made significant contributions to ethical teachings and theories, emphasizing the inseparability of orthodoxy from scholarship. His ethical reasonings are rooted in personalism and Thomistic philosophy thereby validating the dignity of human person, freedom, and responsibility. A survey of Wojtyla’s background to underscore a pre-papal orthodoxy in his ethical teachings; to demonstrate how he integrated faith and reason based on truth and freedom into his ethics of the human person; to show the harmony between his beliefs and empirical applications leading to moral truth; and, to affirm that his cohesive vision and praxis aligned to sustain human dignity and common good are some of the objectives of the study. Phenomenology and analytic methods were adopted in this research. To achieve these objectives, the researcher approached the discourse from the following outlines: Karol Wojtyla’s biography, education, specific historical events, early publications, and his ethical teachings. The research in its findings indicated that a good number of scholars agreed that Karol Wojtyla’s ethical teachings proceeded from the background of his orthodoxy; an affirmation of the positive impacts of his work on society; and his immense contributions to knowledge, especially ethical themes on responsible freedom, human rights, moral truths, and human solidarity. At the end, the study concludes that the background of orthodoxy was instrumental to the ethical teachings of Karol Wojtyla.