Wanda Poltawska, friend and ally of John Paul II, dead at 101

October 27, 2023

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CWN Editor's Note: Wanda Poltawska, the Polish physician and pro-life activist who was a close friend and ally of Pope John Paul II, died in Krakow on October 25 at the age of 101.

A survivor of the Ravensbrück concentration camp, where she was tortured by Nazi doctors, Poltawska worked with the future Pontiff in Krakow, engaged in family counseling and taught at the Pontifical Academy of Theology. Later she lectured at the Pontifical Lateran University in Rome.

In 1962, as a wife and mother of four children, Poltawska was diagnosed with terminal cancer. At the request of then-Bishop Wojtyla, Padre Pio prayed for her, and her miraculous healing was part of the process that to the canonization of Padre Pio by Pope John Paul II in 2002.

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