Pope John Paul II's family home given to Church
A Polish businessman has bought the house in which Pope John Paul II grew up, and donated it to the Church The Pope's parents rented two rooms and a kitchen in the three storey house in Wadowice shortly before John Paul II was born in 1920. The young Karol Wojtyla lived there for the first 18 years of his life. Ryszard Krauze, 49, a wealthy businessman, paid an undisclosed sum to the owner, a New York doctor, Ron Balamuth, who inherited it from his Polish-Jewish ancestors. The house now contains a museum dedicated to Pope John Paul II which attracts about 5,000 visitors a day.