This year marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of one of the most famous Poles in the world. Karol Wojtyła is the first Pole to become Pope. On this occasion the National Bank of Poland issued a coin commemorating our extraordinary Christian. Karol Józef Wojtyła was born on 18 May 1920 in Wadowice. Those were particularly difficult times in Polish history. His youth fell on World War II (1939-1945) and the period of German occupation of the country. In 1946, Karol Wojtyła was ordained a priest, in 1958 he was appointed bishop, in 1964 archbishop of Krakow, and in 1967 cardinal. On October 16, 1978, he was elected Pope. The Pontificate of John Paul II was one of the longest and most fruitful. John Paul II died on April 2, 2005. His beatification was performed by Benedict XVI, who succeeded him on May 1, 2011, while another Pope, Francis, canonized him on April 27, 2014, including him among the saints of the Catholic Church. On the obverse of this gold coin there is a fragment of Jerzy Kossak's painting The Miracle on the Vistula River, while on the reverse of the coin there is a picture of Saint John Paul II praying at the baptismal font in the Basilica of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Wadowice.