John Paul II
Karol Wojtyła
- Lived
- 1920–2005
- Era
- Twentieth century and after
- Where
- Poland and Rome
- Tradition
- Roman Catholic
The first non-Italian pope in 455 years
A Polish priest who had worked in a quarry under the German occupation and studied for ordination in an underground seminary, became archbishop of Kraków under a communist state, and was elected pope in 1978.
Why it matters
His first visit home in 1979 drew crowds a third of the country attended and is widely credited with making Solidarity possible; his part in the end of communism in eastern Europe is disputed only in degree. He travelled more than every previous pope combined, apologised formally for Catholic wrongs against Jews, Muslims, Orthodox and others, and prayed at the Western Wall. He held firmly against any change on contraception, women's ordination and clerical celibacy. The failure to act on clerical sexual abuse during his pontificate is the gravest charge against him and is not answered by the rest.
In the record
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1962–1965 AD Council
Second Vatican Council
Attended as a young bishop, and spent his pontificate interpreting it
All the figures, from the apostolic age to the present, or the timeline they stand in.