Portal:Christianity/Selected biography/March 2006

  Pope John Paul II (Latin: Ioannes Paulus PP. II ), born Karol Józef Wojtyła (May 18, 1920 – April 2, 2005) reigned as pope of the Roman Catholic Church for almost 27 years, from October 16, 1978 until his death, making his the second-longest pontificate. On May 9, 2005, Pope Benedict XVI, John Paul II's successor, waived the five year waiting period for a cause for beatification to be opened. He was the first Polish pope and the first non-Italian pope since the 16th century. His early reign was marked by his opposition to Communism, and he is often credited as one of the forces which brought about its fall. In the later part of his pontificate, he was notable for speaking against consumerism, unrestrained capitalism, cultural relativism and what he deemed as the "culture of death".

During his reign, the pope travelled extensively, visiting over 100 countries, more than any of his predecessors. He was said to have canonized more people than all popes before him put together (though early records are incomplete). He was Pope during a period in which Catholicism's influence declined in developed countries but expanded in the Third World.

Pope John Paul II was extremely popular worldwide, attracting the largest crowds in history (at times attracting crowds of over one million people in a single venue and over four million people at the World Youth Day in Manila), and being respected by many even outside of the Catholic Church, despite strident criticism from some quarters. John Paul II was fluent in numerous languages: his native Polish, Italian, French, German, English, Spanish, Russian, Portuguese and Latin.

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