The biopic Have No Fear: The Life of Pope John Paul II explains in biographical

Biography

A biography is a detailed description or account of someone's life. More than a list of basic facts , biography also portrays the subject's experience of those events...

 form the life story of the late head of the Roman Catholic church, Pope John Paul II

Pope John Paul II

Blessed Pope John Paul II , born Karol Józef Wojtyła , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church and Sovereign of Vatican City from 16 October 1978 until his death on 2 April 2005, at of age. His was the second-longest documented pontificate, which lasted ; only Pope Pius IX ...

.

Plot

The plot of the film begins with the pope's visit to Jerusalem, a stop on his 91st trip abroad, which occurred between 20 March and 26 March, 2000.

At the Western Wall

Western Wall

The Western Wall, Wailing Wall or Kotel is located in the Old City of Jerusalem at the foot of the western side of the Temple Mount...

, he asked God to forgive the sins of the church, before retreating alone to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre

Church of the Holy Sepulchre

The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, also called the Church of the Resurrection by Eastern Christians, is a church within the walled Old City of Jerusalem. It is a few steps away from the Muristan....

.

At an early age, he lost his mother and his brother Edmund. Pope John Paul lived through the Nazi occupation of his homeland, Poland

Poland

Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...

 during World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

. Through all these hardships, he maintained his love for Jesus

Jesus

Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...

 of Nazareth

Nazareth

Nazareth is the largest city in the North District of Israel. Known as "the Arab capital of Israel," the population is made up predominantly of Palestinian Arab citizens of Israel...

 and the virgin Mary.

He became an ordained priest, and eventually the archbishop

Archbishop

An archbishop is a bishop of higher rank, but not of higher sacramental order above that of the three orders of deacon, priest , and bishop...

 of Cracow, where he began his fight against Communism

Communism

Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...

 and oppression. On 16 October, 1978 Karol Wojtyla became the 264th pope of the Roman Catholic Church, and now called himself John Paul II.

The "Polish Pope" himself made history with the second longest papacy in history. He survived the assassination attempt by Ali Agca

Mehmet Ali Agca

Mehmet Ali Ağca is a Turkish assassin who murdered left-wing journalist Abdi İpekçi on February 1, 1979 and later shot and wounded Pope John Paul II on May 13, 1981, after escaping from a Turkish prison. After serving 19 years of imprisonment in Italy, he was deported to Turkey, where he served a...

 and used his influence to help bring communism to its knees.

On 2 April 2005 Pope John Paul II died.

Background

With respect to Catholics, the ABC

American Broadcasting Company

The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...

 film took the theme differently than was critically expected. Here it was not attempted to recite the Holy Scriptures, but rather to centralize on the devotion of John Paul to his faith.

Production took place in Lithuania

Lithuania

Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...

 and partly in Rome

Rome

Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...

. Because Benedict XVI had already given Vatican filming rights to the CBS

CBS

CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...

 for the portrayal of the life of Pope John Paul II, production for the film scenes which play in the Vatican were done on sets.

Actor/Actress Actor An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...	Role
Thomas Kretschmann Thomas Kretschmann Thomas Kretschmann is a German actor best known for playing Leutnant Hans Von Witzland in the 1993 film Stalingrad, Hauptmann Wilm Hosenfeld in The Pianist, Hermann Fegelein in Der Untergang, and Captain Englehorn in the 2005 remake of King Kong.-Early life:Kretschmann was born in Dessau, former...	John Paul II
Bruno Ganz Bruno Ganz Bruno Ganz is a Swiss actor, known for his roles as Damiel in Wings of Desire and Adolf Hitler in Downfall.- Early life :Bruno Ganz was born in Zürich to a Swiss mechanic father and a northern Italian mother. He had decided to pursue an acting career by the time he entered university...	Cardinal Wyszyński
Sebastian Knapp	Mehmet Ali Ağca Mehmet Ali Agca Mehmet Ali Ağca is a Turkish assassin who murdered left-wing journalist Abdi İpekçi on February 1, 1979 and later shot and wounded Pope John Paul II on May 13, 1981, after escaping from a Turkish prison. After serving 19 years of imprisonment in Italy, he was deported to Turkey, where he served a...
Jasper Harris Jasper Harris Jasper Harris is a British television and film actor. He was born in London, UK.Harris, who earlier received two small supporting roles in BBC productions, had his leading role debut in the religious drama Have No Fear: The Life of Pope John Paul II, in which he plays the 10-year-old Karol...	the 10 year-old Wojtyla
Survila Ignas	the 12 year-old Wojtyla
Ignatavicius Paulius	Edmund Wojtyla
Petar Goranov	Karol's father
Salauskaite Inga	Emilia Wojtyla
Michael Klesic Michael Klesic Michael Vladimir Klesic is an American actor.Klesic was born in Tarzana, California. He was raised mostly in Los Angeles and attended Beverly Hills High School in Beverly Hills, California...	Stanislaw Starowieyski
Richard Rees	Wojciech Jaruzelski Wojciech Jaruzelski Wojciech Witold Jaruzelski is a retired Polish military officer and Communist politician. He was the last Communist leader of Poland from 1981 to 1989, Prime Minister from 1981 to 1985 and the country's head of state from 1985 to 1990. He was also the last commander-in-chief of the Polish People's...
Charles Kay Charles Kay Charles Kay is an English actor.Kay was born in Coventry, West Midlands, the son of Frances and Charles Beckingham Piff....	Paul VI Pope Paul VI Paul VI , born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church from 21 June 1963 until his death on 6 August 1978. Succeeding Pope John XXIII, who had convened the Second Vatican Council, he decided to continue it...
John Albasiny	Stanisław Dziwisz
Roland Oliver	Adam Stefan Sapieha Adam Stefan Sapieha Prince Adam Stefan Stanisław Bonifacy Józef Sapieha was a Polish cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church who served as Archbishop of Kraków. Between 1922–1923 he was a senator of the Second Rzeczpospolita. In 1946, Pope Pius XII created him Cardinal....
Joaquim de Almeida Joaquim de Almeida Joaquim António Portugal Baptista de Almeida is a Portuguese-born American actor. He began his acting doing some theater. During the 1980s, he started his film career appearing on the 1982 action film The Soldier, and later achieved recognition for playing Andrea Bonanno in the 1987 Italian film...	Archbishop Óscar Romero Óscar Romero Óscar Arnulfo Romero y Galdámez was a bishop of the Catholic Church in El Salvador. He became the fourth Archbishop of San Salvador, succeeding Luis Chávez. He was assassinated on 24 March 1980....
Sabrina Javor Sabrina Javor Sabrina Javor is an American-born Hungarian-British actress.-Early life:She was born in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles in the Cedars Sinai Hospital. Her mother is the American actress Deborah Kim Javor and her father, George Jávor is Hungarian. She was born in Los Angeles, California...	Ginka