
	The roots of the Pope's ardent devotion to the Virgin Mary and what she has meant to him throughout his life

	Assessments from friends, scholars and journalists who have studied and analyzed his life and papacy

	An exploration into its sources, many layers and singular intensity

	Four deeply personal and moving stories about losing, seeking, or encountering religious faith

	Reports on the Church's positions on gays and women, including a videotaped roundtable discussion

	An in-depth inquiry into his life and legacy by the co-writers and producer of this FRONTLINE report

discussion \| interviews \| his faith \| testimonies on faith \| the church and sexuality \| the pope and communism biography \| anecdotes \| his poems \| "abba pater" \| encyclicals \| video excerpt \| tapes & transcripts \| synopsis \| press \| teachers' guide FRONTLINE \| pbs online \| wgbh web site copyright WGBH educational foundation published sept. 1999

FRONTLINE's "Pope John Paul II-The Millennial Pope," a bold and innovative new biography on this controversial world leader, is a journey through the 20th century to the sources of John Paul II's character and beliefs and the passionate reaction to him. It's a journey that says as much about us as it does about him.

John Paul II: The Millennial Pope

FRONTLINE presents a comprehensive biography on the world leader who has emerged as a man at war with the twentieth century itself. In the two decades John Paul II has commanded the world stage, re-invigorating the Catholic Church in much of the world, he has defined himself by his opposition to many of the dominant secular ideologies and passions of our time: communism, feminism, capitalism and consumerism.

The program draws on hundreds of interviews--from intimates of the Pope, to those whose lives have intersected with his. Their stories are evocative of major themes in the Pope's life: the shaping influence of his youth in Poland, his remarkable relationship with Jews, his part in the fall of communism in Eastern Europe, his battle with liberation theology, his repudiation of the ordination of women, and his relentless exhortation to faith.

The film is a journey through the 20th century to the sources of Pope John Paul II's character and beliefs, and a journey into the passionate reaction to him. It's a journey that says as much about us as it does about him.

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