He reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church and Sovereign of the State of the Vatican City from October 16, 1978, until his death more than 26 years later, making his the second-longest pontificate in modern times after Pius IX's 31-year reign. He is the only Polish pope, and was the first non-Italian pope since the Dutch Adrian VI in the 1520s. He is one of only four people to have been named to the Time 100 for both the 20th century and for a year in the 21st. His title was: Bishop of Rome, Vicar of Jesus Christ, Successor of Saint Peter, Head of the College of Bishops, Supreme Pontiff of the Universal Church, Patriarch of the West (this title was recently removed from the papal list of titles by the reigning pope, Benedict XVI), Primate of Italy, Archbishop and Metropolitan of the Roman Province, Sovereign of the City State of the Vatican, Servant of the Servants of God Pope John Paul II. His early reign was marked by his opposition to communism, and he is often credited as one of the forces which contributed to its collapse in Eastern Europe. In the later part of his pontificate, he was notable for speaking against war, fascism, dictatorship, materialism, abortion, contraception, relativism, unrestrained capitalism, and what he deemed the "culture of death". John Paul II was Pope during a period in which Catholicism's influence declined in developed countries but expanded in the Third World. During his reign, the pope traveled extensively, visiting over 100 countries, more than any of his predecessors. He remains one of the most-traveled world leaders in history. He was fluent in numerous languages: his native Polish and also Italian, French, German, English, Spanish, Croatian, Portuguese, Russian and Latin. As part of his special emphasis on the universal call to holiness, he canonized a great number of people.
Born in Wadowice, Poland, on May 18, 1920, Karol Josef Wojtyla was the son of a retired army officer and a school teacher. He studied literature and philosophy and later was a playwright and poet. Wojtyla secretly studied theology during the Nazi occupation of Poland. By the age of 36, he had two doctorate degreess and was a professor of ethics. He became a cardinal at age 47 and led the only moral and social force in Poland that could counter communism. In October 1978, Wojtyla became the first Slavic pope ever and the first non-Italian pope in 455 years. He took the name John Paul II. Within months of his election, the pope went home to Poland for a June 1979 papal visit that some historians say helped end the Cold War. He gave his blessing to an underground labor movement called Solidarity that would later emerge to reshape Poland. While Pope John Paul II was circling St. Peter's Square before his Wednesday general audience at the Vatican in May 1981, a Turkish gunman named Mehmet Ali Agca opened fire on the pontiff. The pope spent more than two months recovering in a Rome hospital. The gunman had also stalked John Paul during a visit to Turkey in 1979. In December 1983, the pope offered forgiveness to Agca during an arranged meeting in prison. During the trial, Agca had claimed that East European communist agents had helped him set up the attack on the pope, but he later recanted. By the 1980s, Pope John Paul II had reaffirmed the church's position on controversial issues such as abortion, birth control and the ordination of women. He could communicate his message in eight languages, and traveled widely throughout his papacy.