Karol Wojtyła’s 1948 doctoral defense at the Angelicum, conducted under the mentorship of the Thomist Dominican Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange, marks a decisive stage in the intellectual formation of the future John Paul II. Garrigou-Lagrange influenced Wojtyła’s choice to study faith in the writings of Saint John of the Cross and helped shape a theological vision rooted in Thomism and attentive to modern secular challenges. George Weigel’s two-volume biography is valued for viewing John Paul II from the inside, interpreting his public mission through the interior life of faith rather than reducing him to a political or intellectual figure. The theological framework presented centers on the human person as created in the image of God and called to conformity with that image: naturally through intellectual capacity, through grace in the justified, and in glory in the saints. Faith, hope, and charity transform this vocation and explain the Pope’s global action as the life of a converted disciple. The account links Wojtyła’s formation to his later concern with faith and reason, including Fides et Ratio, and portrays Saint Thomas Aquinas as a model for their harmony. Understanding John Paul II thus requires attention to grace, theological virtue, and discipleship as the foundation of his thought and service.