View source for Pope John Paul II

{{Short description|Head of the Catholic Church from 1978 to 2005}}
{{Redirect-several|John Paul II|Pope John Paul II|Saint John Paul II|JP2|Karol Wojtyla}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2022}}
{{Use Oxford spelling|date=January 2017}}
{{Pp-move}}{{Pp|small=yes}}
{{Infobox Christian leader
| type = Pope
| honorific-prefix = [[List of popes|Pope]] [[List of canonised popes|Saint]]
| name = John Paul II
| title = [[Pope|Bishop of Rome]]
| image = ADAMELLO - PAPA - Giovanni Paolo II - panoramio (cropped).jpg
| caption = John Paul in 1988
| church = [[Catholic Church]]
| term_start = 16 October 1978
| term_end = 2 April 2005
| predecessor = [[John Paul I]]
| successor = [[Benedict XVI]]
| previous_post = {{indented plainlist|
* [[Titular Bishop]] of [[Kom Ombo|Ombi]] (1958{{nbnd}}1964)
* [[Auxiliary Bishop]] of [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Kraków|Kraków]] (1958{{nbnd}}1964)
* [[Archbishop of Kraków]] (1964{{nbnd}}1978)
* Cardinal Priest of [[San Cesareo in Palatio]] (1967{{nbnd}}1978)}}
| ordination = 1 November 1946
| ordained_by = [[Adam Stefan Sapieha]]
| consecration = 28 September 1958
| consecrated_by = [[Eugeniusz Baziak]]
| cardinal = 26 June 1967
| created_cardinal_by = [[Paul VI]]
| rank = [[Cardinal priest]]
| birth_name = Karol Józef Wojtyła
| birth_date = {{birth date|1920|05|18|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Wadowice]], Poland
| death_date = {{death date and age|2005|04|02|1920|05|18|df=y}}
| death_place = [[Apostolic Palace]], Vatican City
| buried = Chapel of St. Sebastian, [[St. Peter's Basilica]]
| education = {{indented plainlist|
* [[Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas]] (PhL, [[Doctor of Philosophy|PhD]])
* [[Jagiellonian University]] ([[Doctor of Sacred Theology|STD]])}}
| motto = {{langnf|la|[[Totus tuus]]|Totally yours|break=yes}}
| signature = Signature of John Paul II.svg{{!}}class=skin-invert
| coat_of_arms = Coat of arms of Ioannes Paulus II.svg
| feast_day = 22 October
| venerated = Catholic Church
| beatified_date = 1 May 2011
| beatified_place = [[St. Peter's Square]], Vatican&nbsp;City
| beatified_by = Pope Benedict XVI
| canonized_date = 27 April 2014
| canonized_place = St. Peter's Square, Vatican&nbsp;City
| canonized_by = [[Pope Francis]]
| attributes = {{plainlist|
* Papal vestments
* [[Papal ferula]]}}
| patronage = {{indented plainlist|
* [[Poland]]
* [[Archdiocese of Kraków]]
* [[World Youth Day]] (co-patron)
* [[World Meeting of Families]] 2015 (co-patron)
* Young Catholics
* Families<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.microsofttranslator.com/bv.aspx?from=pl&to=en&a=http%3A%2F%2Fkanonizacja.niedziela.pl%2Fartykul%2F229%2FJan-Pawel-II-patronem-rodzin |title=St. John Paul II, the patron saint of families |date=27 April 2014 |access-date= 2 May 2014}}</ref>
* [[Świdnica]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.microsofttranslator.com/bv.aspx?from=pl&to=en&a=http%3A%2F%2Fum.swidnica.pl%2Fpages%2Fposts%2Fjan-pawel-ii-ogloszony-patronem-swidnicy-323.php |title=John Paul II proclaimed the patron saint of Świdnica |date=9 May 2012 |access-date=2 May 2014}}</ref>
* [[Trecastelli]]<ref>{{cite web|last1=Leone |first1=Carlo |url=http://www.centropagina.it/senigallia/trecastelli-celebra-suo-patrono-ricordando-giovanni-paolo-ii/|title=Trecastelli celebra il suo patron ricordando Giovanni Paolo II|work=CentroPagina - Cronaca e notizie dalle Marche |date=21 October 2017|publisher=Centro Pagina|access-date=31 March 2018}}</ref>
* Borgo Mantovano<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.tuttitalia.it/lombardia/91-borgo-mantovano/|title=Comune di Borgo Mantovano (MN)|publisher=Tuttitalia|access-date=31 March 2018}}</ref>
* [[Rivignano Teor]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://messaggeroveneto.gelocal.it/udine/cronaca/2015/04/11/news/il-santo-patrono-del-nuovo-comune-e-giovanni-paolo-ii-1.11219806|title=Il santo patrono del nuovo commune è Giovanni Paolo II|publisher=Messaggero Veneto|date=11 April 2015|access-date=31 March 2018}}</ref>
* Paradahan, Tanza, Cavite (major patron)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.philmass.com/Asia/Philippines/Cavite/Tanza/Roman-Catholic-Churches/St.-John-Paul-II-Parish/mass-schedule.html|title= Mass Schedule for St. John Paul II Parish|date=3 February 2020|access-date=3 February 2020}}</ref>}}
| module = {{Infobox philosopher|embed=yes
| era = [[20th-century philosophy]]
| region = [[Western philosophy]]
| school_tradition = {{plainlist|
* [[Personalism]]
* [[Lublin Thomism]]}}
| notable_works = {{indented plainlist|
* ''[[Love and Responsibility]]''
* ''[[Theology of the Body]]''
* ''[[1983 Code of Canon Law]]'' (promulgated)
* ''[[Catechism of the Catholic Church]]'' (promulgated)
* ''[[Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches]]'' (promulgated)
* ''[[Fides et ratio]]''
* ''[[Memory and Identity]]''}}
| notable_ideas = {{plainlist|
* [[Culture of life]] and [[culture of death|death]]
* [[Mysteries of light]]{{efn|The luminous mysteries seem to have their origin (although in a slightly different form) in the writings of [[Saint George Preca]]}}
* [[Social mortgage]]
* [[Theology of the Body]]}}}}
| module2 = {{Ordination|embed=yes|denomination=Catholic
|ordained deacon by           = [[Adam Stefan Sapieha]]
|date of diaconal ordination  = 20 October 1946
|ordained priest by           = [[Adam Stefan Sapieha]]
|date of priestly ordination  = 1 November 1946
|place of priestly ordination = Chapel of the Kraków Archbishop's residence
|consecrated by               = [[Eugeniusz Baziak]]
|co-consecrators              = {{ubl|[[Franciszek Jop]]|[[Bolesław Kominek]]}}
|date of consecration         = 28 September 1958
|place of consecration        = [[Wawel Cathedral]], Kraków
|elevated by                  = [[Pope Paul VI]]
|date of elevation            = 26 June 1967
|bishop 1                     = [[Piotr Longin Bednarczyk]]
|consecration date 1          = 21 April 1968
|bishop 2                     = [[Józef Rozwadowski]]
|consecration date 2          = 24 November 1968
|bishop 3                     = [[Stanislaw Smolenski]]
|consecration date 3          = 5 April 1970
|bishop 4                     = [[Albin Małysiak]]
|consecration date 4          = 5 April 1970
|bishop 5                     = [[Paweł Socha (bishop)|Paweł Socha]]
|consecration date 5          = 26 December 1973
|bishop 6                     = [[Józef Marek]]
|consecration date 6          = 27 December 1973
|bishop 7                     = [[Franciszek Macharski]]
|consecration date 7          = 6 January 1979
|bishop 8                     = [[Justo Mullor García]]
|consecration date 8          = 27 May 1979
|bishop 9                     = [[Alfio Rapisarda]]
|consecration date 9          = 27 May 1979
|bishop 10                    = [[Achille Silvestrini]]
|consecration date 10         = 27 May 1979
|bishop 11                    = [[Samuel Seraphimov Djoundrine]]
|consecration date 11         = 27 May 1979
|bishop 12                    = [[Rubén López Ardón]]
|consecration date 12         = 27 May 1979
|bishop 13                    = [[Paulino Lukudu Loro]]
|consecration date 13         = 27 May 1979
|bishop 14                    = [[Vincent Mojwok Nyiker]]
|consecration date 14         = 27 May 1979
|bishop 15                    = [[Armido Gasparini]]
|consecration date 15         = 27 May 1979
|bishop 16                    = [[Michael Hughes Kenny]]
|consecration date 16         = 27 May 1979
|bishop 17                    = [[William Russell Houck]]
|consecration date 17         = 27 May 1979
|bishop 18                    = [[José Cardoso Sobrinho]]
|consecration date 18         = 27 May 1979
|bishop 19                    = [[Gerhard Ludwig Goebel]]
|consecration date 19         = 27 May 1979
|bishop 20                    = [[Décio Pereira]]
|consecration date 20         = 27 May 1979
|bishop 21                    = [[Fernando José Penteado]]
|consecration date 21         = 27 May 1979
|bishop 22                    = [[Girolamo Grillo]]
|consecration date 22         = 27 May 1979
|bishop 23                    = [[Paciano Aniceto]]
|consecration date 23         = 27 May 1979
|bishop 24                    = [[Alan Basil de Lastic]]
|consecration date 24         = 27 May 1979
|bishop 25                    = [[William Thomas Larkin]]
|consecration date 25         = 27 May 1979
|bishop 26                    = [[John Joseph O'Connor (cardinal)|John Joseph O'Connor]]
|consecration date 26         = 27 May 1979
|bishop 27                    = [[Jean-Marie Lafontaine]]
|consecration date 27         = 27 May 1979
|bishop 28                    = [[Ladislau Biernaski]]
|consecration date 28         = 27 May 1979
|bishop 29                    = [[Newton Holanda Gurgel]]
|consecration date 29         = 27 May 1979
|bishop 30                    = [[Matthew Harvey Clark]]
|consecration date 30         = 27 May 1979
|bishop 31                    = [[Alejandro Goić Karmelić]]
|consecration date 31         = 27 May 1979
|bishop 32                    = [[Pedro de Guzman Magugat]]
|consecration date 32         = 27 May 1979
|bishop 33                    = [[Ramón López Carrozas]]
|consecration date 33         = 27 May 1979
|bishop 34                    = [[Jozef Tomko]]
|consecration date 34         = 15 September 1979
|bishop 35                    = [[Myroslav Ivan Lubachivsky]]
|consecration date 35         = 12 November 1979
|bishop 36                    = [[Giovanni Coppa]]
|consecration date 36         = 6 January 1980
|bishop 37                    = [[Carlo Maria Martini]]
|consecration date 37         = 6 January 1980
|bishop 38                    = [[Christian Wiyghan Tumi]]
|consecration date 38         = 6 January 1980
|bishop 39                    = [[Marcel Bam'ba Gongoa]]
|consecration date 39         = 4 May 1980
|bishop 40                    = [[Louis Nkinga Bondala]]
|consecration date 40         = 4 May 1980
|bishop 41                    = [[Laurent Monsengwo Pasinya]]
|consecration date 41         = 4 May 1980
|bishop 42                    = [[Paride Taban]]
|consecration date 42         = 4 May 1980
|bishop 43                    = [[Roger Mpungu]]
|consecration date 43         = 4 May 1980
|bishop 44                    = [[Michel-Joseph-Gérard Gagnon]]
|consecration date 44         = 4 May 1980
|bishop 45                    = [[Dominique Kimpinde Amando]]
|consecration date 45         = 4 May 1980
|bishop 46                    = [[Joseph Nduhirubusa]]
|consecration date 46         = 4 May 1980
|bishop 47                    = [[Vicente Joaquim Zico]]
|consecration date 47         = 6 January 1981
|bishop 48                    = [[Sergio Goretti]]
|consecration date 48         = 6 January 1981
|bishop 49                    = [[Giulio Sanguineti]]
|consecration date 49         = 6 January 1981
|bishop 50                    = [[Francesco Voto]]
|consecration date 50         = 6 January 1981
|bishop 51                    = [[Gregory Obinna Ochiagha]]
|consecration date 51         = 6 January 1981
|bishop 52                    = [[Anicetus Bongsu Antonius Sinaga]]
|consecration date 52         = 6 January 1981
|bishop 53                    = [[Lucas Luis Dónnelly Carey]]
|consecration date 53         = 6 January 1981
|bishop 54                    = [[Filippo Giannini]]
|consecration date 54         = 6 January 1981
|bishop 55                    = Ennio Appignanesi
|consecration date 55         = 6 January 1981
|bishop 56                    = [[Martino Scarafile]]
|consecration date 56         = 6 January 1981
|bishop 57                    = [[Alessandro Plotti]]
|consecration date 57         = 6 January 1981
|bishop 58                    = [[Stanisław Szymecki]]
|consecration date 58         = 12 April 1981
|bishop 59                    = [[Charles Louis Joseph Vandame]]
|consecration date 59         = 6 January 1982
|bishop 60                    = [[John Bulaitis]]
|consecration date 60         = 6 January 1982
|bishop 61                    = [[Traian Crişan]]
|consecration date 61         = 6 January 1982
|bishop 62                    = [[Charles Kweku Sam]]
|consecration date 62         = 6 January 1982
|bishop 63                    = [[Thomas J. O'Brien (bishop)|Thomas Joseph O'Brien]]
|consecration date 63         = 6 January 1982
|bishop 64                    = [[Antônio Alberto Guimarães Rezende]]
|consecration date 64         = 6 January 1982
|bishop 65                    = [[Francis George Adeodatus Micallef]]
|consecration date 65         = 6 January 1982
|bishop 66                    = [[Anthony Michael Milone]]
|consecration date 66         = 6 January 1982
|bishop 67                    = [[Salim Sayegh]]
|consecration date 67         = 6 January 1982
|bishop 68                    = [[Virgilio Noè]]
|consecration date 68         = 6 March 1982
|bishop 69                    = [[Antonio Vitale Bommarco]]
|consecration date 69         = 6 January 1983
|bishop 70                    = [[José Sebastián Laboa Gallego]]
|consecration date 70         = 6 January 1983
|bishop 71                    = [[Karl-Josef Rauber]]
|consecration date 71         = 6 January 1983
|bishop 72                    = [[Francesco Monterisi]]
|consecration date 72         = 6 January 1983
|bishop 73                    = [[Kevin Joseph Aje]]
|consecration date 73         = 6 January 1983
|bishop 74                    = [[John Olorunfemi Onaiyekan]]
|consecration date 74         = 6 January 1983
|bishop 75                    = [[Pietro Rossano]]
|consecration date 75         = 6 January 1983
|bishop 76                    = [[Anacleto Sima Ngua]]
|consecration date 76         = 6 January 1983
|bishop 77                    = [[Ildefonso Obama Obono]]
|consecration date 77         = 6 January 1983
|bishop 78                    = [[Jaroslav Škarvada]]
|consecration date 78         = 6 January 1983
|bishop 79                    = [[Dominik Hrušovský]]
|consecration date 79         = 6 January 1983
|bishop 80                    = [[Luigi del Gallo Roccagiovine]]
|consecration date 80         = 6 January 1983
|bishop 81                    = [[Zenon Grocholewski]]
|consecration date 81         = 6 January 1983
|bishop 82                    = [[Juliusz Paetz]]
|consecration date 82         = 6 January 1983
|bishop 83                    = [[Alfons Maria Stickler]]
|consecration date 83         = 1 November 1983
|bishop 84                    = [[Paolo Romeo]]
|consecration date 84         = 6 January 1984
|bishop 85                    = [[Paul Kim Tchang-ryeol]]
|consecration date 85         = 6 January 1984
|bishop 86                    = [[Polycarp Pengo]]
|consecration date 86         = 6 January 1984
|bishop 87                    = [[Nicolas Okioh]]
|consecration date 87         = 6 January 1984
|bishop 88                    = [[Eugenio Binini]]
|consecration date 88         = 6 January 1984
|bishop 89                    = [[Ernest Kombo]]
|consecration date 89         = 6 January 1984
|bishop 90                    = [[Jan Pieter Schotte]]
|consecration date 90         = 6 January 1984
|bishop 91                    = [[Mathai Kochuparampil]]
|consecration date 91         = 6 January 1984
|bishop 92                    = [[Domenico Pecile]]
|consecration date 92         = 6 January 1984
|bishop 93                    = [[Bernard Patrick Devlin]]
|consecration date 93         = 6 January 1985
|bishop 94                    = [[Kazimierz Górny]]
|consecration date 94         = 6 January 1985
|bishop 95                    = [[Aloysius Balina]]
|consecration date 95         = 6 January 1985
|bishop 96                    = [[Afonso Nteka]]
|consecration date 96         = 6 January 1985
|bishop 97                    = [[Pellegrino Tomaso Ronchi]]
|consecration date 97         = 6 January 1985
|bishop 98                    = [[Fernando Sáenz Lacalle]]
|consecration date 98         = 6 January 1985
|bishop 99                    = [[Jorge Arturo Agustín Medina Estévez]]
|consecration date 99         = 6 January 1985
|bishop 100                   = [[Justin Francis Rigali]]
|consecration date 100        = 14 September 1985
|bishop 101                   = [[Pier Luigi Celata]]
|consecration date 101        = 6 January 1986
|bishop 102                   = [[Franjo Komarica]]
|consecration date 102        = 6 January 1986
|bishop 103                   = [[Walmir Alberto Valle]]
|consecration date 103        = 6 January 1986
|bishop 104                   = [[Norbert Wendelin Mtega]]
|consecration date 104        = 6 January 1986
|bishop 105                   = [[John Bosco Manat Chuabsamai]]
|consecration date 105        = 6 January 1986
|bishop 106                   = [[Donald William Wuerl]]
|consecration date 106        = 6 January 1986
|bishop 107                   = [[Felipe González González]]
|consecration date 107        = 6 January 1986
|bishop 108                   = [[Józef Michalik]]
|consecration date 108        = 16 October 1986
|bishop 109                   = [[Gilberto Agustoni]]
|consecration date 109        = 6 January 1987
|bishop 110                   = [[Franc Perko]]
|consecration date 110        = 6 January 1987
|bishop 111                   = [[Dino Monduzzi]]
|consecration date 111        = 6 January 1987
|bishop 112                   = [[Joseph Sangval Surasarang]]
|consecration date 112        = 6 January 1987
|bishop 113                   = [[Giorgio Biguzzi]]
|consecration date 113        = 6 January 1987
|bishop 114                   = [[Benedict Dotu Sekey]]
|consecration date 114        = 6 January 1987
|bishop 115                   = [[Julio Edgar Cabrera Ovalle]]
|consecration date 115        = 6 January 1987
|bishop 116                   = [[William Jerome McCormack]]
|consecration date 116        = 6 January 1987
|bishop 117                   = [[Emmanuel Alex Mapunda]]
|consecration date 117        = 6 January 1987
|bishop 118                   = [[Dominic Su Haw Chiu]]
|consecration date 118        = 6 January 1987
|bishop 119                   = [[John Magee (bishop)|John Magee]]
|consecration date 119        = 17 March 1987
|bishop 120                   = [[Beniamino Stella]]
|consecration date 120        = 5 September 1987
|bishop 121                   = [[René Pierre Louis Joseph Séjourné]]
|consecration date 121        = 5 September 1987
|bishop 122                   = [[Giulio Nicolini]]
|consecration date 122        = 5 September 1987
|bishop 123                   = [[Giovanni Battista Re]]
|consecration date 123        = 7 November 1987
|bishop 124                   = [[Michel Sabbah]]
|consecration date 124        = 6 January 1988
|bishop 125                   = [[Marian Oles]]
|consecration date 125        = 6 January 1988
|bishop 126                   = [[Emery Kabongo Kanundowi]]
|consecration date 126        = 6 January 1988
|bishop 127                   = [[Luís d'Andrea]]
|consecration date 127        = 6 January 1988
|bishop 128                   = [[Victor Adibe Chikwe]]
|consecration date 128        = 6 January 1988
|bishop 129                   = [[Athanasius Atule Usuh]]
|consecration date 129        = 6 January 1988
|bishop 130                   = [[José Raúl Vera López]]
|consecration date 130        = 6 January 1988
|bishop 131                   = [[Srećko Badurina]]
|consecration date 131        = 6 January 1988
|bishop 132                   = [[Luigi Belloli]]
|consecration date 132        = 6 January 1988
|bishop 133                   = [[John Gavin Nolan]]
|consecration date 133        = 6 January 1988
|bishop 134                   = [[Audrys Juozas Bačkis]]
|consecration date 134        = 4 October 1988
|bishop 135                   = [[Giovanni Lajolo]]
|consecration date 135        = 6 January 1989
|bishop 136                   = [[Pasquale Macchi]]
|consecration date 136        = 6 January 1989
|bishop 137                   = [[Francesco Marchisano]]
|consecration date 137        = 6 January 1989
|bishop 138                   = [[Justin Tetmu Samba]]
|consecration date 138        = 6 January 1989
|bishop 139                   = [[John Mendes]]
|consecration date 139        = 6 January 1989
|bishop 140                   = [[Leon Augustine Tharmaraj]]
|consecration date 140        = 6 January 1989
|bishop 141                   = [[Tarcisius Ngalalekumtwa]]
|consecration date 141        = 6 January 1989
|bishop 142                   = [[Raffaele Calabro]]
|consecration date 142        = 6 January 1989
|bishop 143                   = [[Francisco José Arnáiz Zarandona]]
|consecration date 143        = 6 January 1989
|bishop 144                   = [[Ramón Benito de La Rosa y Carpio]]
|consecration date 144        = 6 January 1989
|bishop 145                   = [[Cipriano Calderón Polo]]
|consecration date 145        = 6 January 1989
|bishop 146                   = [[Alvaro Leonel Ramazzini Imeri]]
|consecration date 146        = 6 January 1989
|bishop 147                   = [[Andrea Maria Erba]]
|consecration date 147        = 6 January 1989 
|bishop 148                   = [[Józef Kowalczyk]]
|consecration date 148        = 6 January 1989  
|bishop 149                   = [[Edmond Farhat]]
|consecration date 149        = 6 January 1989
|bishop 150                   = [[Janusz Bolonek]]
|consecration date 150        = 6 January 1989 
|bishop 151                   = [[Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz (archbishop)|Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz]]
|consecration date 151        = 6 January 1989
|bishop 152                   = [[Giovanni Tonucci]]
|consecration date 152        = 6 January 1990
|bishop 153                   = [[Ignazio Bedini]]
|consecration date 153        = 6 January 1990
|bishop 154                   = [[Mario Milano]]
|consecration date 154        = 6 January 1990  
|bishop 155                   = [[Giovanni Ceirano]]
|consecration date 155        = 6 January 1990 
|bishop 156                   = [[Oscar Rizzato]]
|consecration date 156        = 6 January 1990
|bishop 157                   = [[Antonio Ignacio Velasco Garcia]]
|consecration date 157        = 6 January 1990
|bishop 158                   = [[Paul Runangaza Ruzoka]]
|consecration date 158        = 6 January 1990
|bishop 159                   = [[Marian Błażej Kruszyłowicz]]
|consecration date 159        = 6 January 1990  
|bishop 160                   = [[Pierre François Marie Joseph Duprey]]
|consecration date 160        = 6 January 1990
|bishop 161                   = [[Domenico Umberto D'Ambrosio]]
|consecration date 161        = 6 January 1990
|bishop 162                   = [[Edward Dajczak]]
|consecration date 162        = 6 January 1990
|bishop 163                   = [[Benjamin Almoneda]]
|consecration date 163        = 6 January 1990 
|bishop 164                   = [[Francesco Gioia]]
|consecration date 164        = 5 April 1990
|bishop 165                   = [[Edward Nowak]]
|consecration date 165        = 5 April 1990
|bishop 166                   = [[Giacinto Berloco]]
|consecration date 166        = 5 April 1990 
|bishop 167                   = [[Erwin Josef Ender]]
|consecration date 167        = 5 April 1990  
|bishop 168                   = [[Jean-Louis Tauran]]
|consecration date 168        = 6 January 1991
|bishop 169                   = [[Vinko Puljic]]
|consecration date 169        = 6 January 1991
|bishop 170                   = [[Marcello Costalunga]]
|consecration date 170        = 6 January 1991
|bishop 171                   = [[Osvaldo Padilla]]
|consecration date 171        = 6 January 1991
|bishop 172                   = [[Francisco Javier Errázuriz Ossa]]
|consecration date 172        = 6 January 1991
|bishop 173                   = [[Bruno Pius Ngonyani]]
|consecration date 173        = 6 January 1991
|bishop 174                   = [[Francis Emmanuel Ogbonna Okobo]]
|consecration date 174        = 6 January 1991
|bishop 175                   = [[Andrea Gemma]]
|consecration date 175        = 6 January 1991
|bishop 176                   = [[Joseph Habib Hitti]]
|consecration date 176        = 6 January 1991
|bishop 177                   = [[Jacinto Guerrero Torres]]
|consecration date 177        = 6 January 1991
|bishop 178                   = [[Álvaro del Portillo]]
|consecration date 178        = 6 January 1991
|bishop 179                   = [[Julián Herranz Casado]]
|consecration date 179        = 6 January 1991
|bishop 180                   = [[Bruno Bertagna]]
|consecration date 180        = 6 January 1991
|bishop 181                   = [[Ernesto Maria Fiore]]
|consecration date 181        = 6 January 1992
|bishop 182                   = [[Rino Passigato]]
|consecration date 182        = 6 January 1992
|bishop 183                   = [[Juan Matogo Oyana]]
|consecration date 183        = 6 January 1992
|bishop 184                   = [[Gastone Simoni]]
|consecration date 184        = 6 January 1992
|bishop 185                   = [[Iñaki Mallona Txertudi]]
|consecration date 185        = 6 January 1992
|bishop 186                   = [[Philippe Nkiere Keana]]
|consecration date 186        = 6 January 1992
|bishop 187                   = [[Benjamin de Jesus]]
|consecration date 187        = 6 January 1992
|bishop 188                   = [[John Joseph Glynn]]
|consecration date 188        = 6 January 1992
|bishop 189                   = [[Petar Šolić]]
|consecration date 189        = 6 January 1992
|bishop 190                   = [[Michael Louis Fitzgerald]]
|consecration date 190        = 6 January 1992
|bishop 191                   = [[Henri Salina]]
|consecration date 191        = 6 January 1992
|bishop 192                   = [[Crescenzio Sepe]]
|consecration date 192        = 26 April 1992
|bishop 193                   = [[Antonio Franco (diplomat)|Antonio Franco]]
|consecration date 193        = 26 April 1992
|bishop 194                   = [[Carlo Maria Viganò]]
|consecration date 194        = 26 April 1992
|bishop 195                   = [[Luigi Travaglino]]
|consecration date 195        = 26 April 1992
|bishop 196                   = [[Tadeusz Rakoczy]]
|consecration date 196        = 26 April 1992
|bishop 197                   = [[Tadeusz Pieronek]]
|consecration date 197        = 26 April 1992
|bishop 198                   = [[Enzo Dieci]]
|consecration date 198        = 26 April 1992
|bishop 199                   = [[Nerses Der Nersessian]]
|consecration date 199        = 17 November 1992
|bishop 200                   = [[Diego Causero]]
|consecration date 200        = 6 January 1993
|bishop 201                   = [[Charles G. Palmer-Buckle]]
|consecration date 201        = 6 January 1993
|bishop 202                   = [[Elio Sgreccia]]
|consecration date 202        = 6 January 1993
|bishop 203                   = [[Henryk Tomasik]]
|consecration date 203        = 6 January 1993
|bishop 204                   = [[Henry Joseph Mansell]]
|consecration date 204        = 6 January 1993
|bishop 205                   = [[Jan Kopiec]]
|consecration date 205        = 6 January 1993
|bishop 206                   = [[Alojz Uran]]
|consecration date 206        = 6 January 1993
|bishop 207                   = [[Luigi Sposito]]
|consecration date 207        = 6 January 1993
|bishop 208                   = [[Norbert Klemens Strotmann Hoppe]]
|consecration date 208        = 6 January 1993
|bishop 209                   = [[Elmo Noel Joseph Perera]]
|consecration date 209        = 6 January 1993
|bishop 210                   = [[Csaba Ternyák]]
|consecration date 210        = 6 January 1993
|bishop 211                   = [[Franco Illia]]
|consecration date 211        = 25 April 1993
|bishop 212                   = [[Rrok Kola Mirdita]]
|consecration date 212        = 25 April 1993
|bishop 213                   = [[Robert Ashta]]
|consecration date 213        = 25 April 1993
|bishop 214                   = [[Zef Simoni]]
|consecration date 214        = 25 April 1993
|bishop 215                   = [[Peter Paul Prabhu]]
|consecration date 215        = 6 January 1994
|bishop 216                   = [[Peter Stephan Zurbriggen]]
|consecration date 216        = 6 January 1994
|bishop 217                   = [[Jean-Paul Gobel]]
|consecration date 217        = 6 January 1994
|bishop 218                   = [[Julien Mawule Kouto]]
|consecration date 218        = 6 January 1994
|bishop 219                   = [[Edward James Slattery]]
|consecration date 219        = 6 January 1994
|bishop 220                   = [[Uriah Adolphus Ashley Maclean]]
|consecration date 220        = 6 January 1994
|bishop 221                   = [[Emiliano Antonio Cisneros Martínez]]
|consecration date 221        = 6 January 1994
|bishop 222                   = [[Américo do Couto Oliveira]]
|consecration date 222        = 6 January 1994
|bishop 223                   = [[Christo Proykov]]
|consecration date 223        = 6 January 1994
|bishop 224                   = [[Ramon Arguelles]]
|consecration date 224        = 6 January 1994
|bishop 225                   = [[Ricardo Valenzuela Rios]]
|consecration date 225        = 6 January 1994
|bishop 226                   = [[Paolo Gillet]]
|consecration date 226        = 6 January 1994
|bishop 227                   = [[Antoni Józef Długosz]]
|consecration date 227        = 6 January 1994
|bishop 228                   = [[Bruno Musarò]]
|consecration date 228        = 6 January 1995
|bishop 229                   = [[Petko Jordanov Christov]]
|consecration date 229        = 6 January 1995
|bishop 230                   = [[Antonio Napoletano]]
|consecration date 230        = 6 January 1995
|bishop 231                   = [[Zacharias Cenita Jimenez]]
|consecration date 231        = 6 January 1995
|bishop 232                   = [[Raymond Leo Burke]]
|consecration date 232        = 6 January 1995
|bishop 233                   = [[Pierfranco Pastore]]
|consecration date 233        = 6 January 1995
|bishop 234                   = [[Stanislav Shyrokoradiuk]]
|consecration date 234        = 6 January 1995
|bishop 235                   = [[Paweł Cieślik (bishop)|Paweł Cieślik]]
|consecration date 235        = 6 January 1995
|bishop 236                   = [[Stefan Regmunt]]
|consecration date 236        = 6 January 1995
|bishop 237                   = [[José Paulino Ríos Reynoso]]
|consecration date 237        = 6 January 1996
|bishop 238                   = [[Riccardo Fontana]]
|consecration date 238        = 6 January 1996
|bishop 239                   = [[Claudio Maria Celli]]
|consecration date 239        = 6 January 1996
|bishop 240                   = [[Jaime Vieira Rocha]]
|consecration date 240        = 6 January 1996
|bishop 241                   = [[Kurt Koch]]
|consecration date 241        = 6 January 1996
|bishop 242                   = [[Ārvaldis Andrejs Brumanis]]
|consecration date 242        = 6 January 1996
|bishop 243                   = [[Antons Juts]]
|consecration date 243        = 6 January 1996
|bishop 244                   = [[Francisco Pérez González]]
|consecration date 244        = 6 January 1996
|bishop 245                   = [[Richard Anthony Burke]]
|consecration date 245        = 6 January 1996
|bishop 246                   = [[Marko Sopi]]
|consecration date 246        = 6 January 1996
|bishop 247                   = [[Rafael Ramón Conde Alfonzo]]
|consecration date 247        = 6 January 1996
|bishop 248                   = [[Riccardo Ruotolo]]
|consecration date 248        = 6 January 1996
|bishop 249                   = [[Antal Majnek]]
|consecration date 249        = 6 January 1996
|bishop 250                   = [[Stanisław Ryłko]]
|consecration date 250        = 6 January 1996
|bishop 251                   = [[Luigi Pezzuto]]
|consecration date 251        = 6 January 1997
|bishop 252                   = [[Paolo Sardi]]
|consecration date 252        = 6 January 1997
|bishop 253                   = [[Varkey Vithayathil]]
|consecration date 253        = 6 January 1997
|bishop 254                   = [[Delio Lucarelli]]
|consecration date 254        = 6 January 1997
|bishop 255                   = [[Ignace Baguibassa Sambar-Talkena]]
|consecration date 255        = 6 January 1997
|bishop 256                   = [[Luciano Pacomio]]
|consecration date 256        = 6 January 1997
|bishop 257                   = [[Angelo Massafra]]
|consecration date 257        = 6 January 1997
|bishop 258                   = [[Florentin Crihălmeanu]]
|consecration date 258        = 6 January 1997
|bishop 259                   = [[Jean-Claude Périsset]]
|consecration date 259        = 6 January 1997
|bishop 260                   = [[Piotr Libera]]
|consecration date 260        = 6 January 1997
|bishop 261                   = [[Basílio do Nascimento]]
|consecration date 261        = 6 January 1997
|bishop 262                   = [[Hil Kabashi]]
|consecration date 262        = 6 January 1997
|bishop 263                   = [[Mario Francesco Pompedda]]
|consecration date 263        = 6 January 1998
|bishop 264                   = [[Marco Dino Brogi]]
|consecration date 264        = 6 January 1998
|bishop 265                   = [[Peter Kwaku Atuahene]]
|consecration date 265        = 6 January 1998
|bishop 266                   = [[Filippo Strofaldi]]
|consecration date 266        = 6 January 1998
|bishop 267                   = [[Wiktor Paweł Skworc]]
|consecration date 267        = 6 January 1998
|bishop 268                   = [[Franco Dalla Valle]]
|consecration date 268        = 6 January 1998
|bishop 269                   = [[Angelito Lampon]]
|consecration date 269        = 6 January 1998
|bishop 270                   = [[Tomislav Koljatic Maroevic]]
|consecration date 270        = 6 January 1998
|bishop 271                   = [[Francesco Saverio Salerno]]
|consecration date 271        = 6 January 1998
|bishop 272                   = [[James Michael Harvey]]
|consecration date 272        = 19 March 1998
|bishop 273                   = [[Stanisław Dziwisz]]
|consecration date 273        = 19 March 1998
|bishop 274                   = [[Piero Marini]]
|consecration date 274        = 19 March 1998
|bishop 275                   = [[Alessandro D'Errico]]
|consecration date 275        = 6 January 1999
|bishop 276                   = [[Salvatore Pennacchio]]
|consecration date 276        = 6 January 1999
|bishop 277                   = [[Alain Paul Lebeaupin]]
|consecration date 277        = 6 January 1999
|bishop 278                   = [[Cesare Mazzolari]]
|consecration date 278        = 6 January 1999
|bishop 279                   = [[Pierre Trần Ðình Tứ]]
|consecration date 279        = 6 January 1999
|bishop 280                   = [[Rafael Cob García]]
|consecration date 280        = 6 January 1999
|bishop 281                   = [[Mathew Moolakkatt]]
|consecration date 281        = 6 January 1999
|bishop 282                   = [[Diarmuid Martin]]
|consecration date 282        = 6 January 1999
|bishop 283                   = [[José Luis Redrado Marchite]]
|consecration date 283        = 6 January 1999
|bishop 284                   = [[Józef Wesołowski]]
|consecration date 284        = 6 January 2000
|bishop 285                   = [[Giacomo Guido Ottonello]]
|consecration date 285        = 6 January 2000
|bishop 286                   = [[George Panikulam]]
|consecration date 286        = 6 January 2000
|bishop 287                   = [[Alberto Bottari de Castello]]
|consecration date 287        = 6 January 2000
|bishop 288                   = [[Ivo Baldi Gaburri]]
|consecration date 288        = 6 January 2000
|bishop 289                   = [[Gabriel Mbilingi]]
|consecration date 289        = 6 January 2000
|bishop 290                   = [[David Laurin Ricken]]
|consecration date 290        = 6 January 2000
|bishop 291                   = [[Anton Coșa]]
|consecration date 291        = 6 January 2000
|bishop 292                   = [[András Veres]]
|consecration date 292        = 6 January 2000
|bishop 293                   = [[Péter Erdő]]
|consecration date 293        = 6 January 2000
|bishop 294                   = [[Giuseppe Pasotto]]
|consecration date 294        = 6 January 2000
|bishop 295                   = [[Franco Croci]]
|consecration date 295        = 6 January 2000
|bishop 296                   = [[Fernando Filoni]]
|consecration date 296        = 19 March 2001
|bishop 297                   = [[Henryk Józef Nowacki]]
|consecration date 297        = 19 March 2001
|bishop 298                   = [[Timothy Broglio]]
|consecration date 298        = 19 March 2001
|bishop 299                   = [[Domenico Sorrentino]]
|consecration date 299        = 19 March 2001
|bishop 300                   = [[Tomasz Peta]]
|consecration date 300        = 19 March 2001
|bishop 301                   = [[Marcelo Sánchez Sorondo]]
|consecration date 301        = 19 March 2001
|bishop 302                   = [[Marc Ouellet]]
|consecration date 302        = 19 March 2001
|bishop 303                   = [[Giampaolo Crepaldi]]
|consecration date 303        = 19 March 2001
|bishop 304                   = [[Đura Džudžar]]
|consecration date 304        = 19 March 2001
|bishop 305                   = [[Giuseppe Pinto]]
|consecration date 305        = 6 January 2002
|bishop 306                   = [[Claudio Gugerotti]]
|consecration date 306        = 6 January 2002
|bishop 307                   = [[Adolfo Tito Yllana]]
|consecration date 307        = 6 January 2002
|bishop 308                   = [[Giovanni d'Aniello]]
|consecration date 308        = 6 January 2002
|bishop 309                   = [[Daniel Mizonzo]]
|consecration date 309        = 6 January 2002
|bishop 310                   = [[Louis Portella Mbuyu]]
|consecration date 310        = 6 January 2002
|bishop 311                   = [[Marcel Utembi Tapa]]
|consecration date 311        = 6 January 2002
|bishop 312                   = [[Franco Agostinelli]]
|consecration date 312        = 6 January 2002
|bishop 313                   = [[Amândio José Tomás]]
|consecration date 313        = 6 January 2002
|bishop 314                   = [[Vittorio Lanzani]]
|consecration date 314        = 6 January 2002
|bishop 315                   = [[Paul Tschang In-Nam]]
|consecration date 315        = 6 January 2003
|bishop 316                   = [[Celestino Migliore]]
|consecration date 316        = 6 January 2003
|bishop 317                   = [[Pierre Nguyên Van Tot]]
|consecration date 317        = 6 January 2003
|bishop 318                   = [[Pedro López Quintana]]
|consecration date 318        = 6 January 2003
|bishop 319                   = [[Angelo Amato]]
|consecration date 319        = 6 January 2003
|bishop 320                   = [[Calogero La Piana]]
|consecration date 320        = 6 January 2003
|bishop 321                   = [[René-Marie Ehouzou]]
|consecration date 321        = 6 January 2003
|bishop 322                   = [[Ján Babjak]]
|consecration date 322        = 6 January 2003
|bishop 323                   = [[Andraos Abouna]]
|consecration date 323        = 6 January 2003
|bishop 324                   = [[Milan Šašik]]
|consecration date 324        = 6 January 2003
|bishop 325                   = [[Giuseppe Nazzaro]]
|consecration date 325        = 6 January 2003
|bishop 326                   = [[Brian Farrell (bishop)|Brian Farrell]]
|consecration date 326        = 6 January 2003}}
}}

'''Pope <!--See [[WT:WikiProject Catholicism/Archive 2013#Papal article consistency]], re use of "Pope" in the lead sentence--> John Paul II'''{{efn|{{langx|la|Ioannes Paulus II}}; {{langx|it|Giovanni Paolo II}}; {{langx|pl|Jan Paweł II}}}} (born '''Karol Józef Wojtyła''';{{efn|{{IPA|pl|ˈkarɔl ˈjuzɛv‿vɔjˈtɨwa|small=no}}; in isolation, ''Józef'' is pronounced {{IPA|pl|ˈjuzɛf|}}.}} 18 May 1920{{spnd}}2 April 2005) was head of the [[Catholic Church]] and sovereign of [[Vatican City]] from 16 October 1978 until [[Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II|his death]] in 2005. He was the first non-Italian pope since [[Adrian VI]] in the 16th century, as well as the [[Pope#Longest-reigning popes|third-longest-serving pope]] in history, after [[Pius IX]] and [[St. Peter]].{{efn|John Paul II is also the only pope since 1523 to have no documented Italian ancestry, as his successors [[Benedict XVI]], [[Pope Francis|Francis]], and [[Leo XIV]] all have Italian ancestors, though none have been Italian citizens.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://en.radiovaticana.va/articolo.asp?c=536395 |title=Vatican Radio – Pope Benedict: proud to be part of Tyrol a "land made by Angels" |publisher=En.radiovaticana.va |date=9 November 2011 |access-date=17 February 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130517123128/http://en.radiovaticana.va/articolo.asp?c=536395 |archive-date=17 May 2013 }}</ref><ref name="20250611NYT">{{cite news |last1=Gates |first1=Henry Louis |title=Noblemen, enslaved people, freedom fighters, slaveholders: what the complex family tree of the first American pontiff reveals. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2025/06/11/magazine/pope-leo-xiv-ancestry-family-tree.html |access-date=15 June 2025 |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=11 June 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |author=Loup Besmond de Senneville |url=https://international.la-croix.com/religion/death-of-the-pope-from-jorge-mario-bergoglio-to-francis-an-account-of-his-argentine-years |website=international.la-croix.com |title=Death of the pope: From Jorge Mario Bergoglio to Francis, an account of his Argentine years |date=21 April 2025 |publisher=[[La Croix International]] |access-date=21 April 2025 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250421153934/https://international.la-croix.com/religion/death-of-the-pope-from-jorge-mario-bergoglio-to-francis-an-account-of-his-argentine-years |archive-date=21 April 2025}}</ref>}}

In his youth, Wojtyła dabbled in stage acting. He graduated with excellent grades from an [[All-boys school|all-boys]] high school in [[Wadowice]], Poland, in 1938, soon after which [[World War II]] broke out. During the war, to avoid being kidnapped and sent to a [[Forced labour under German rule during World War II|German forced labour camp]], he signed up for work in harsh conditions in a quarry. Wojtyła eventually took up acting and developed a love for the profession and participated at a local theatre. The linguistically skilled Wojtyła wanted to study [[Polish language|Polish]] at university. Encouraged by a conversation with [[Adam Stefan Sapieha]], he decided to study theology and become a priest. Eventually, Wojtyła rose to the position of [[Archbishop of Kraków]] and then a [[Cardinal (Catholic Church)|cardinal]], both positions held by his mentor. Wojtyła was elected pope on the third day of the [[October 1978 conclave]], becoming one of the youngest popes in history. The conclave was called after the death of [[John Paul I]], who served only 33 days as pope. Wojtyła adopted the name of his predecessor in tribute to him.<ref>{{cite web|title=John Paul the Great Catholic University|url=http://www.jpcatholic.com|publisher=John Paul the Great Catholic University|access-date=28 January 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120122052707/http://www.jpcatholic.com/|archive-date=22 January 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref>

John Paul II attempted to improve the Catholic Church's relations with [[Judaism]], [[Islam]], and the [[Eastern Orthodox Church]] in the spirit of [[ecumenism]], holding [[atheism]] as the greatest threat. He maintained the Church's previous positions on such matters as abortion, [[artificial contraception]], the [[ordination of women]], and a celibate clergy, and although he supported the reforms of the [[Second Vatican Council]], he was seen as generally conservative in their interpretation.<ref>{{cite news |url= https://www.cbsnews.com/news/john-pauls-conservative-legacy/|title=John Paul's Conservative Legacy|work = CBS News|date = 3 April 2005|access-date=1 January 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.beliefnet.com/faiths/2000/02/the-riddle-of-john-paul-ii.aspx|title=The Riddle of John Paul II|website= Beliefnet |access-date=18 May 2018}}</ref> He put emphasis on family and identity, while questioning consumerism, hedonism and the pursuit of wealth. He was one of the most-travelled world leaders in history, visiting 129&nbsp;countries during his [[pontificate]]. As part of his special emphasis on the [[universal call to holiness]], John Paul&nbsp;II [[List of people beatified by Pope John Paul II|beatified 1,344 people]],<ref>{{cite web|url = https://www.vatican.va/news_services/liturgy/saints/ns_lit_doc_list_blesseds-jp-ii_en.html |title = Beatifications By Pope John Paul II, 1979–2000|publisher= Office of Papal Liturgical Celebrations|access-date=1 January 2023}}</ref> and [[List of saints canonized by Pope John Paul II|canonised 483 saints]], more than the combined tally of his predecessors during the preceding five centuries. By the time of his death, he had named most of the [[College of Cardinals]], consecrated or co-consecrated many of the world's bishops, and ordained many priests.<ref>{{Catholic-hierarchy|bishop|bwojtyla|Pope John Paul II (St. Karol Józef Wojtyła)|31 October 2014}}</ref> John Paul&nbsp;II died on 2 April 2005, and was succeeded by [[Benedict XVI]]. 

John Paul&nbsp;II has been credited with fighting against dictatorships and with helping to end [[communist rule]] in his native Poland and the rest of Europe.<ref>Lenczowski, John (2002). "Public Diplomacy and the Lessons of the Soviet Collapse". [https://www.jstor.org/stable/26925348 JSTOR review].</ref> Under John Paul II, the Catholic Church greatly expanded its influence in Africa and Latin America and retained its influence in Europe and the rest of the world. On 19 December 2009, he was proclaimed [[venerable]] by Benedict XVI, and on 1 May 2011 ([[Divine Mercy Sunday]]) he was [[beatified]]. On 27 April 2014, [[Canonization of Pope John XXIII and Pope John Paul II|John Paul&nbsp;II was canonised]] by [[Pope Francis|Francis]], alongside [[John XXIII]].<ref name="BBC 2013">{{cite news |title=Report: Pope Francis Says John Paul II to Be Canonized April 27 |date=3 September 2013 |url=http://www.ncregister.com/daily-news/report-pope-francis-says-john-paul-ii-to-be-canonized-april-27/ |work=National Catholic Register |access-date=6 September 2013 |archive-date=5 November 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131105220855/http://www.ncregister.com/daily-news/report-pope-francis-says-john-paul-ii-to-be-canonized-april-27/ |url-status=dead}}</ref> [[Criticism of Pope John Paul II|He has been criticised]] for allegedly, as archbishop under [[Polish People's Republic|Communist Poland]], having been insufficiently harsh in acting against the sexual abuse of children by priests.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Lepiarz |first=Jacek |date=March 15, 2023 |title=Poland: John Paul II abuse cover-up claims divide a nation |url=https://www.dw.com/en/poland-john-paul-ii-abuse-cover-up-claims-divide-a-nation/a-64995045 |access-date=March 16, 2023 |website=[[Deutsche Welle]] |language=en}}</ref> After his canonisation, he has been referred to by some Catholics as '''Pope St. John Paul the Great''', though that title is not official.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jpcatholic.com/about/about.php|title=John Paul the Great Catholic University|access-date=13 February 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160205184931/http://www.jpcatholic.com/about/about.php|archive-date=5 February 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Under John Paul II, two of the most important documents of the contemporary Catholic Church were drafted and promulgated: the [[1983 Code of Canon Law]], which revised and updated the [[1917 Code of Canon Law]], and the ''[[Catechism of the Catholic Church]]'', the first universal catechism to be issued since the [[Roman Catechism]].

== Early life ==
{{Main|Early life of Pope John Paul II}}

[[File:Emilia and Karol Wojtyla wedding portrait.jpg|thumb|upright|The wedding portrait of John Paul&nbsp;II's parents, Emilia and Karol Wojtyła Sr.|left]]

Karol Józef Wojtyła was born in the Polish town of [[Wadowice]].<ref name="A&E" /><ref name="ShortBio" /> He was the youngest of three children born to [[Karol Wojtyła (senior)|Karol Wojtyła]] (1879–1941), an [[ethnic Pole]], and [[Emilia Kaczorowska]] (1884–1929), who was of distant Lithuanian heritage.<ref name="CNN6" /> Emilia, who was a schoolteacher, died from a heart attack and kidney failure in 1929<ref name="CBN" /> when Wojtyła was eight years old.{{sfn|Stourton|2006|p=11}} His elder sister Olga had died before his birth, but he was close to his brother Edmund, nicknamed Mundek, who was 13 years his senior. Edmund's work as a physician eventually led to his death from [[scarlet fever]], a loss that affected Wojtyła deeply.<ref name="CNN6" />{{sfn|Stourton|2006|p=11}}

[[File:Karol Wojtyla-1st comunnion.jpg|thumb|upright=.7|Wojtyła on the day of his [[first communion]]|left]]

Wojtyła was [[Sacraments of the Catholic Church#Baptism|baptized]] a month after his birth, made his [[First Communion]] at the age of 9, and was [[Confirmation in the Catholic Church|confirmed]] at the age of 18.<ref>{{cite web |title=St. Pope John Paul II |url=https://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=6996 |website=Saints & Angels |publisher=Catholic Online |access-date=11 November 2020}}</ref> As a boy, Wojtyła was athletic, often playing [[association football]] as [[Goalkeeper (association football)|goalkeeper]].{{sfn|Stourton|2006|p=25}} During his childhood, Wojtyła had contact with the large Jewish community of [[Wadowice]].<ref>{{cite news | url = https://www.vatican.va/jubilee_2000/magazine/documents/ju_mag_01111997_p-46_en.html | title = The Jewish "Roots" of Karol Wojtyła | access-date = 3 July 2013 | last = Svidercoschi | first = Gian Franco | publisher = Vatican.va}}</ref> School football games were often organised between teams of Jews and Catholics, and Wojtyła often played on the Jewish side.<ref name="CNN6" />{{sfn|Stourton|2006|p=25}} In 2005, he recalled: "I remember that at least a third of my classmates at elementary school in Wadowice were Jews. At secondary school there were fewer. With some I was on very friendly terms. And what struck me about some of them was their Polish patriotism."{{sfn|Pope John Paul II|2005|p=99}} It was around this time that the young Karol had his first serious relationship with a girl. He became close to a girl called Ginka Beer, described as "a Jewish beauty, with stupendous eyes and jet black hair, slender, a superb actress."{{sfn|Stourton|2006|p=32}}

In mid-1938, Wojtyła and his father left Wadowice and moved to [[Kraków]], where he enrolled at the [[Jagiellonian University]]. While studying such topics as [[philology]] and various languages, he worked as a volunteer librarian and though required to participate in [[compulsory military training]] in the [[36th Infantry Regiment (Poland)|Academic Legion]], he refused to fire a weapon. He performed with various theatrical groups and worked as a playwright.<ref name="Kuhiwczak" /> During this time, his talent for language blossomed, and he learned as many as 15 languages – Polish, [[Latin]], Italian, English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, German, [[Luxembourgish]], Dutch, Ukrainian, [[Serbo-Croatian]], [[Czech language|Czech]], [[Slovak language|Slovak]], and [[Esperanto]],<ref>{{cite book |last=Grosjean |first=François |title=Life With Two Languages |url=https://archive.org/details/lifewithtwolangu0000gros |url-access=registration |access-date=6 July 2013 |year=1982 |publisher=Harvard University Press |location=United States |isbn=978-0-674-53092-8 |edition=8 |page=[https://archive.org/details/lifewithtwolangu0000gros/page/286 286]}}</ref> nine of which he used extensively as pope.

In 1939, after invading Poland, [[Nazi Germany]]'s [[Occupation of Poland (1939–1945)|occupation forces]] closed the university.<ref name="A&E" /> Able-bodied males were required to work, so from 1940 to 1944 Wojtyła variously worked as a messenger for a restaurant, a manual labourer in a limestone quarry and for the [[Solvay (company)|Solvay]] chemical factory, to avoid deportation to Germany.<ref name="ShortBio" /><ref name="Kuhiwczak" /> In February 1940, he met [[Jan Tyranowski]] who introduced him to the [[Carmelite]] spirituality and the "[[Living Rosary]]" youth groups.<ref>Weigel, George. Witness to Hope: The Biography of Pope John Paul II (p. 44). HarperCollins. Kindle Edition.</ref> In that same year he had two major accidents, suffering a fractured skull after being struck by a tram and sustaining injuries which left him with one shoulder higher than the other and a permanent stoop after being hit by a lorry in the quarry.<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/world/2005/apr/01/catholicism.religion3 The Guardian, "History of the Pope's health problems", 1 April 2005]. Retrieved 26 March 2015.</ref> His father, a former [[Austro-Hungarian]] [[non-commissioned officer]] and later officer in the [[Polish Army]], died of a heart attack in 1941,<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.catholic.org/pope/jp2/genealogy.php |title=Family Genealogy of Blessed Pope John Paul II |publisher=Catholic Online |year=2012 |quote=Family Genealogy of Blessed Pope John Paul II |access-date=3 February 2012}}</ref> leaving the young adult Wojtyła an orphan and the immediate family's only surviving member.<ref name="CNN6" /><ref name="CBN" />{{sfn|Stourton|2006|p=60}} Reflecting on these times of his life, nearly 40 years later he said: "I was not at my mother's death, I was not at my brother's death, I was not at my father's death. At twenty, I had already lost all the people I loved."{{sfn|Stourton|2006|p=60}}

[[File:Baudienst, Kraków, Karol Wojtyła.jpg|thumb|left|Wojtyła (second from right) in a [[Baudienst]] forced labour work crew during the [[occupation of Poland (1939–1945)]], {{Circa|1941}}]]

After his father's death, he started thinking seriously about the priesthood.{{sfn|Stourton|2006|p=63}} In October 1942, while [[World War II]] continued, he knocked on the door of the [[Bishop's Palace, Kraków|Bishop's Palace]], and asked to study for the priesthood.{{sfn|Stourton|2006|p=63}} Soon after, he began courses in the [[Education in Poland during World War II|clandestine underground seminary]] run by the [[Archbishop of Kraków]], the future Cardinal [[Adam Stefan Sapieha]].<ref>{{Cite book |title=Social memory and history: anthropological perspectives |date=2002 |publisher=AltaMira Press |isbn=978-0-7591-0177-7 |editor-last=Climo |editor-first=Jacob |location=Walnut Creek, CA |pages=280 |editor-last2=Cattell |editor-first2=Maria G.}}</ref> On 29 February 1944, Wojtyła was hit by a German truck. German [[Wehrmacht]] [[Officer (armed forces)|officers]] tended to him and sent him to a hospital. He spent two weeks there recovering from a severe [[concussion]] and a shoulder injury. It seemed to him that this accident and his survival was a confirmation of his vocation. On 6 August 1944, a day known as "Black Sunday",{{sfn|Weigel|2001b|p=71}} the [[Gestapo]] rounded up young men in Kraków to curtail [[Kraków Uprising (1944)|the uprising there]],{{sfn|Weigel|2001b|p=71}} similar to the recent [[Warsaw Uprising|uprising in Warsaw]].{{sfn|Davies|2004|pp=253–254}}{{sfn|Weigel|2001b|pp=71–21}} Wojtyła escaped by hiding in the basement of his uncle's house at 10 Tyniecka Street, while the German troops searched above.{{sfn|Stourton|2006|p=63}}{{sfn|Davies|2004|pp=253–254}}{{sfn|Weigel|2001b|pp=71–21}} More than 8,000 men and boys were taken that day, while Wojtyła escaped to the Archbishop's residence,{{sfn|Stourton|2006|p=63}}{{sfn|Weigel|2001b|p=71}}{{sfn|Davies|2004|pp=253–254}} where he remained until after the Germans had left.<ref name="CNN6" />{{sfn|Stourton|2006|p=63}}{{sfn|Davies|2004|pp=253–254}}

On the night of 17 January 1945, the [[Vistula–Oder Offensive|Germans fled the city]], and the students reclaimed the ruined [[seminary]]. Wojtyła and another seminarian volunteered for the task of clearing away piles of frozen excrement from the toilets.{{sfn|Weigel|2001b|p=75}} Wojtyła also helped a 14-year-old Jewish refugee girl named Edith Zierer,<ref name="EdithZ" /> who had escaped from a Nazi [[labour camp]] in [[Częstochowa]].<ref name="EdithZ" /> Edith had collapsed on a railway platform, so Wojtyła carried her to a train and stayed with her throughout the journey to Kraków. She later credited Wojtyła with saving her life that day.<ref name="CNNLive" /><ref name="archive" /><ref name="IHT" /> [[B'nai B'rith]] and other authorities have said that Wojtyła helped protect many other [[Polish Jews]] from the Nazis. During the [[Nazi occupation of Poland]], a Jewish family sent their son, Stanley Berger, to be hidden by a [[Gentile]] Polish family. Berger's biological Jewish parents were killed in [[the Holocaust]], and after the war Berger's new Christian parents asked Karol Wojtyła to baptise the boy. Wojtyła refused, saying that the child should be raised in the Jewish faith of his birth parents and nation, not as a Catholic.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://ekai.pl/wydarzenia/x9122/jan-pawel-ii-sprawiedliwym-wsrod-narodow-swiata/ |title=Jan Paweł II Sprawiedliwym wśród Narodów Świata? |language=pl |trans-title=John Paul II Righteous Among the Nations? |publisher=Ekai.pl |date=5 April 2005 |access-date=22 October 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141222053631/http://ekai.pl/wydarzenia/x9122/jan-pawel-ii-sprawiedliwym-wsrod-narodow-swiata/ |archive-date=22 December 2014}}</ref> He did everything he could to ensure that Berger leave Poland to be raised by his Jewish relatives in the United States.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.kosciol.pl/article.php?story=20030926144011902 |title=Papież sprawiedliwym wśród narodów świata |language=pl |trans-title=Pope righteous among the nations of the world |publisher=Kosciol.pl |date=26 September 2003 |access-date=22 October 2014 |archive-date=1 July 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150701052401/http://www.kosciol.pl/article.php?story=20030926144011902 |url-status=dead}}</ref> In April 2005, shortly after John Paul II's death, the Israeli government created a commission to honour the legacy of John Paul II. One of the honorifics proposed by a head of Italy's Jewish community, Emmanuele Pacifici was the medal of the [[Righteous Among the Nations]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://m.onet.pl/wiadomosci/swiat,m7r7s |title=Papież otrzyma honorowy tytuł "Sprawiedliwy wśród Narodów Świata"? |language=pl |trans-title=The Pope will receive the honorary title of "Righteous Among the Nations"? |publisher=Onet.pl |date=4 April 2005 |access-date=22 October 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141023061706/http://m.onet.pl/wiadomosci/swiat%2Cm7r7s |archive-date=23 October 2014}}</ref> In Wojtyła's last book, ''[[Memory and Identity]]'', he described the 12 years of the Nazi régime as "[[wikt:bestiality|bestiality]]",{{sfn|Pope John Paul II|2005|p=16}} quoting from the Polish theologian and philosopher [[Konstanty Michalski]].<ref>{{cite book |title=Między Heroizmem a Beatialstwem |trans-title=Between Heroism and Bestiality |publisher=Częstochowa |year=1984}}</ref>

== Priesthood ==
[[File:Karol Wojtyla-wikary w Niegowici.jpg|thumb|upright|Wojtyła (centre) in 1949]]
[[File:Karol Wojtyla image (cropped).jpg|thumb|upright|Wojtyła in 1958]]
After finishing his studies at the seminary in Kraków, Wojtyła was [[ordained]] as a priest on [[All Saints' Day]], 1 November 1946,<ref name="CBN" /> by the Archbishop of Kraków, Cardinal Adam Stefan Sapieha.<ref name="ShortBio" />{{sfn|Stourton|2006|p=71}}<ref name="Vatican2" /> Sapieha sent Wojtyła to Rome's Pontifical International Athenaeum ''Angelicum'', the future [[Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas]], to study under the French [[Dominican Order|Dominican]] friar [[Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange]] beginning on 26 November 1946. He resided in the [[Belgian Pontifical College]] during this time, under rectorship of [[Maximilien de Furstenberg]].<ref>{{cite web| url=http://vaticancity.diplomatie.belgium.be/nl/belgen-in-rome| title=Belgen in Rome| date=4 April 2016| access-date=30 March 2017| archive-date=31 March 2017| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170331025239/http://vaticancity.diplomatie.belgium.be/nl/belgen-in-rome| url-status=dead}}</ref> Wojtyła earned a [[Licentiate of Sacred Theology|licence]] in July 1947, passed his doctoral exam on 14 June 1948, and successfully defended his doctoral thesis titled ''Doctrina de fide apud S. Ioannem a Cruce'' (The Doctrine of Faith in St. [[John of the Cross]]) in philosophy on 19 June 1948.<ref>{{cite news |title= His Holiness John Paul II, Biography, Pre-Pontificate| url = https://www.vatican.va/news_services/press/documentazione/documents/santopadre_biografie/giovanni_paolo_ii_biografia_prepontificato_en.html#1948 |access-date=6 October 2012}} Even though his doctoral work was unanimously approved in June 1948, he was denied the degree because he could not afford to print the text of his dissertation in accordance with the ''Angelicum'' rules. In December 1948 a revised text of his dissertation was approved by the theological faculty of [[Jagiellonian University]] in Kraków, and Wojtyła was finally awarded his doctoral degree.</ref> The ''Angelicum'' preserves the original copy of Wojtyła's typewritten thesis.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pust.it/index.php?start=5&lang=en|title=Karol Wojtyla: A Pope Who Hails from the Angelicum (Città Nuova, Roma 2009)|publisher=Pust.it|access-date=23 October 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140407161736/http://www.pust.it/index.php?start=5&lang=en|archive-date=7 April 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref> Among other courses at the ''Angelicum'', Wojtyła studied Hebrew with the Dutch Dominican Peter G. Duncker, author of the ''Compendium grammaticae linguae hebraicae biblicae''.<ref>"30Giorni" 11 December 2002, http://www.30giorni.it/in_breve_id_numero_14_id_arg_32125_l1.htm Accessed 19 February 2013</ref>

[[File:Facade of the main entrance of the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas (Angelicum) (19May07).jpg|thumb|left|upright|The [[Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas (Angelicum)|Pontifical International Athenaeum ''Angelicum'']] in Rome, Italy]]

According to Wojtyła's fellow student, the future Austrian cardinal [[Alfons Stickler]], in 1947 during his sojourn at the ''Angelicum'', Wojtyła visited [[Padre Pio]], who heard his confession and told him that one day he would ascend to "the highest post in the Church".<ref>{{cite book| last=Kwitny | first=Jonathan | title=Man of the Century: The Life and Times of Pope John Paul II | publisher=Henry Holt and Company | date=March 1997 | location=New York City | page=768 | isbn=978-0-8050-2688-7 | url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780805026887 | url-access=limited}}</ref> Stickler added that Wojtyła believed that the prophecy was fulfilled when he became a cardinal.<ref>{{cite news | last=Zahn | first=Paula | author-link=Paula Zahn | title=Padre Pio Granted Sainthood | work=CNN | date=17 June 2002 | url=http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0206/17/ltm.04.html | access-date=19 January 2008}}</ref>

Wojtyła returned to Poland in the summer of 1948 for his first [[pastoral]] assignment in the village of [[Niegowić]], {{convert|15|mi|km|order=flip|abbr=off}} from Kraków, at the Church of the Assumption. He arrived at Niegowić at harvest time, where his first action was to kneel and kiss the ground.{{sfn|Maxwell-Stuart|2006|p=233}} He repeated this gesture, which he adopted from [[John Vianney]],{{sfn|Maxwell-Stuart|2006|p=233}} throughout his papacy.

In March 1949, Wojtyła was transferred to the parish of [[St. Florian's Church|Saint Florian]] in Kraków. He taught ethics at Jagiellonian University and subsequently at the [[Catholic University of Lublin]]. While teaching, he gathered a group of about 20&nbsp;young people, who began to call themselves ''Rodzinka'', the "little family". They met for prayer, philosophical discussion, and to help the blind and the sick. The group eventually grew to approximately 200&nbsp;participants, and their activities expanded to include annual [[skiing]] and [[kayak]]ing trips.<ref name="USCCB_Bio" />

In 1953, Wojtyła's habilitation thesis was accepted by the Faculty of Theology at the Jagiellonian University. In 1954, he earned a [[Doctor of Sacred Theology|Doctorate in Sacred Theology]],{{sfn|Stourton|2006|p=97}} writing a dissertation titled "Reevaluation of the possibility of founding a Catholic ethic on the ethical system of [[Max Scheler]]"<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.vatican.va/news_services/press/documentazione/documents/santopadre_biografie/giovanni_paolo_ii_biografia_prepontificato_en.html#1948 |title=Highlights on the life of Karol Wojtiła |publisher=Holy See Press Office |access-date=23 June 2013}}</ref> ({{langx|pl|Ocena możliwości zbudowania etyki chrześcijańskiej przy założeniach systemu Maksa Schelera}}).<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2QunKUmsM4kC&q=Ocena+&pg=PA153 |title=Destined for Liberty: The Human Person in the Philosophy of Karol Wojtyla/John Paul II |publisher=CUA Press |access-date=23 June 2013 |isbn=978-0-8132-0985-2 |year=2000}}</ref> Scheler was a German philosopher who founded a broad [[philosophical movement]] that emphasised the study of conscious experience. The [[Polish People's Republic|Polish Communist]] authorities abolished the Faculty of Theology at the Jagiellonian University, thereby preventing him from receiving the degree until 1957.<ref name="Vatican2" /> Wojtyła developed a theological approach, called [[phenomenological Thomism]], that combined traditional Catholic [[Thomism]] with the ideas of [[personalism]], a philosophical approach deriving from phenomenology, which was popular among Catholic intellectuals in Kraków during Wojtyła's intellectual development. He translated Scheler's ''Formalism and the Ethics of Substantive Values''.<ref>{{cite book|last=Walsh |first=Michael |title=John Paul II: A Biography |year=1994 |publisher=HarperCollins |location=London |isbn=978-0-00-215993-7 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/johnpaulii0000wals/page/20 20–21] |url=https://archive.org/details/johnpaulii0000wals/page/20}}</ref> In 1961, he coined "Thomistic Personalism" to describe Aquinas's philosophy.<ref>Wojtyla, Karol. "Thomistic Personalism." In ''Person and Community.'' Translated by Theresa Sandok, OSM. Pages 165–175. New York: Peter Lang, 1993. Originally published 1961 in Polish</ref>

[[File:Karol Wojtyla-splyw.jpg|thumb|upright|Wojtyła pictured during a [[kayaking]] trip to the countryside with a group of students, c. 1960]]

During this period, Wojtyła wrote a series of articles in Kraków's Catholic newspaper, ''[[Tygodnik Powszechny]]'' (''Universal Weekly''), dealing with contemporary church issues.<ref name="Zenit5" /> He focused on creating original [[literary work]] during his first dozen years as a priest. War, life in the [[Polish People's Republic]], and his pastoral responsibilities all fed his poetry and plays. Wojtyła published his work under two pseudonyms, ''Andrzej Jawień'' and ''Stanisław Andrzej Gruda'',<ref name="Kuhiwczak" /><ref name="Zenit5" /> to distinguish his literary from his religious writings (issued under his own name), and also so that his literary works would be considered on their own merits.<ref name="Kuhiwczak" /><ref name="Zenit5" /> In 1960, Wojtyła published the influential theological book ''[[Love and Responsibility]]'', a defence of traditional church teachings on marriage from a new philosophical standpoint.<ref name="Kuhiwczak" />{{sfn|Wojtyła|1981}}

The aforementioned students regularly joined Wojtyła for hiking, skiing, bicycling, camping and kayaking, accompanied by prayer, outdoor Masses, and theological discussions. In Stalinist-era Poland, it was not permitted for priests to travel with groups of students. Wojtyła asked his younger companions to call him "Wujek" (Polish for "Uncle") to prevent outsiders from deducing he was a priest. The nickname gained popularity among his followers. In 1958, when Wojtyła was named [[auxiliary bishop]] of Kraków, his acquaintances expressed concern that this would cause him to change. Wojtyła responded to his friends, "Wujek will remain Wujek", and he continued to live a simple life, shunning the trappings that came with his position as bishop. This beloved nickname stayed with Wojtyła for his entire life and continues to be affectionately used, particularly by the Polish people.<ref>Witness to Hope; The Biography of Pope John Paul II, by George Weigel. New York: Cliff Street Books/Harper Collins, 1999. p. 992.</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=They Call Him "Wujek". |newspaper=St Louis Post-Dispatch |date=24 January 1999 |last=Rice |first=Patricia}}</ref>

== Episcopate and cardinalate ==

=== Call to the episcopate ===
[[File:Krakow - 06.jpg|thumb|left|19 [[Kanonicza Street, Kraków|Kanonicza Street]] in [[Kraków]], Poland, where John Paul II lived as a priest and bishop (now an [[Archdiocesal Museum in Kraków|Archdiocese Museum]])]]

On 4 July 1958,<ref name="Vatican2" /> while Wojtyła was on a kayaking holiday in the lakes region of northern Poland, [[Pope Pius XII]] appointed him as an [[auxiliary bishop]] of Kraków. He was consequently summoned to [[Warsaw]] to meet the [[Primate (bishop)|Primate]] of Poland, Cardinal [[Stefan Wyszyński]], who informed him of his appointment.<ref name="Rise" />{{sfn|Stourton|2006|p=103}} Wojtyła accepted the appointment as auxiliary bishop to Kraków's Archbishop [[Eugeniusz Baziak]], and he received episcopal consecration (as [[titular bishop]] of [[Ombi]]) on 28 September 1958, with Baziak as the principal consecrator and as co-consecrators Bishop [[Bolesław Kominek]] (titular bishop of [[Sophene]]), auxiliary of the Catholic [[Archdiocese of Wrocław]], and [[Franciszek Jop]], [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Sandomierz|Auxiliary Bishop of Sandomierz]] (Titular Bishop of [[Daulia]]). Kominek was to become Cardinal [[Archbishop of Wrocław]] and Jop was later Auxiliary Bishop of Wrocław and then Bishop of [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Opole|Opole]].<ref name="Vatican2" /> At the age of 38, Wojtyła became the youngest bishop in Poland.

In 1959, Wojtyła began an annual tradition of saying a [[Midnight Mass]] on Christmas Day in an open field at [[Nowa Huta]], the so-called model workers' town outside Kraków that was without a church building.<ref>Weigel, George. Witness to Hope: The Biography of Pope John Paul II (p. 151). HarperCollins. Kindle Edition.</ref> Baziak died in June 1962 and on 16 July, Wojtyła was selected as ''[[Vicar Capitular]]'' ''(temporary administrator)'' of the Archdiocese until an [[archbishop]] could be appointed.<ref name="A&E" /><ref name="ShortBio" />

=== Participation in Vatican II and subsequent events ===
From October 1962, Wojtyła took part in the [[Second Vatican Council]] (1962–1965),<ref name="A&E" /><ref name="Vatican2" /> where he made contributions to two of its most historic and influential products, the ''Decree on Religious Freedom'' (in Latin, ''[[Dignitatis humanae]]'') and the ''Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World'' (''[[Gaudium et spes]]'').<ref name="Vatican2" /> Wojtyła and the Polish bishops contributed a draft text to the Council for ''Gaudium et spes''. According to the [[Jesuit]] historian [[John W. O'Malley]], the draft text ''Gaudium et spes'' that Wojtyła and the Polish delegation sent "had some influence on the version that was sent to the council fathers that summer but was not accepted as the base text".<ref>{{cite book|last=O'Malley |first=John W. |title=What Happened at Vatican II |year=2008 |publisher=Harvard University Press |location=Cambridge, Massachusetts |isbn=978-0-674-03169-2 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/whathappenedatva00omal/page/204 204–205] |url=https://archive.org/details/whathappenedatva00omal/page/204}}</ref> According to [[John F. Crosby (philosopher)|John F. Crosby]], as pope, John Paul II used the words of ''Gaudium et spes'' later to introduce his own views on the nature of the human person in relation to God: man is "the only creature on earth that God has wanted for its own sake", but man "can fully discover his true self only in a sincere giving of himself".<ref>{{cite book |last=Crosby |first=John F. |year=2000 |chapter=John Paul II's Vision of Sexuality and Marriage: The Mystery of "Fair Love" |title=The Legacy of Pope John Paul II: His Contribution to Catholic Thought |page=54 |publisher=Crossroad |isbn=978-0-8245-1831-8 |editor-last=Gneuhs |editor-first=Geoffrey}}</ref>

Wojtyła also participated in the assemblies of the [[Synod]] of Bishops.<ref name="A&E" /><ref name="ShortBio" /> On 13 January 1964, [[Pope Paul VI]] appointed him [[Archbishop of Kraków]].<ref name="VaticanNewsService" /> On 26 June 1967, Paul VI announced Wojtyła's promotion to the [[College of Cardinals]].<ref name="Vatican2" /><ref name="VaticanNewsService" /> Wojtyła was named [[cardinal priest]] of the [[titular church]] of [[San Cesareo in Palatio]].

[[File:Karol Wojtyla's cardinal proclamation.jpg|thumb|left|[[Pope Paul VI]] imposing the cardinal biretta on Wojtyła in 1967]]

In 1967, he was instrumental in formulating the [[encyclical]] ''[[Humanae vitae]]'', which dealt with the same issues that forbid abortion and [[artificial birth control]].<ref name="Vatican2" /><ref name="Memory" /><ref name="HV" />

According to a contemporary witness, Wojtyła was against the distribution of a letter around Kraków in 1970, stating that the Polish Episcopate was preparing for the 50th anniversary of the [[Polish–Soviet War]].<ref>{{cite book |last= Graczyk |first= Roman |date=2011 |title=Cena przetrwania: SB wobec Tygodnika Powszechnego |trans-title= |language=pl |location=Warsaw |publisher=Wydawnictwo Czerwone i Czarne | page =204 |isbn=978-83-7700-015-1}}</ref>

In 1973, Wojtyła met philosopher [[Anna-Teresa Tymieniecka]], the wife of [[Hendrik S. Houthakker]], professor of economics at [[Stanford University]] and [[Harvard University]], and member of President [[Richard Nixon]]'s [[Council of Economic Advisers]]<ref name="Stourton">{{Cite news|last=Stourton|first=Ed|title = The secret letters of Pope John Paul II – BBC News|url = https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-35552997|website = BBC News|access-date = 15 February 2016|date=15 February 2016}}</ref><ref name="Guardian-letters">{{cite news|last1=Kirchgaessner|first1=Stephanie|title=Pope John Paul II letters reveal 32-year relationship with woman|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/feb/15/pope-john-paul-ii-letters-reveal-32-year-relationship-with-woman|newspaper=The Guardian|access-date=16 February 2016|date=15 February 2016}}</ref><ref name="Telegraph 2016" /> Tymieniecka collaborated with Wojtyła on a number of projects including an English translation of Wojtyła's book [[Pope John Paul II bibliography|''Osoba i czyn'']] (''Person and Act''). ''Person and Act'', one of John Paul II's foremost literary works, was initially written in Polish.<ref name="Guardian-letters" /> Tymieniecka produced the English-language version.<ref name="Guardian-letters" /> They corresponded over the years, and grew to be good friends.<ref name="Guardian-letters" /><ref name="Panarama" /> When Wojtyła visited New England in the summer of 1976, Tymieniecka put him up as a guest in her family home.<ref name="Guardian-letters" /><ref name="Panarama" /> Wojtyła enjoyed his holiday in [[Pomfret, Vermont]], kayaking and enjoying the outdoors, as he had done in his beloved Poland.<ref name="Guardian-letters" />{{sfn|Stourton|2006|p=103}}

During 1974–1975, Wojtyła served [[Pope Paul VI]] as consultor to the [[Pontifical Council for the Laity]], as recording secretary for the 1974 synod on evangelism and by participating extensively in the original drafting of the 1975 [[apostolic exhortation]], ''[[Evangelii nuntiandi]]''.<ref>Moreira Neves, Lucas Cardinal. "EVANGELII NUNTIANDI: PAUL VI'S PASTORAL TESTAMENT TO THE CHURCH". Eternal Word Television Network.</ref>

==Papacy==

=== Election ===
{{Main|October 1978 papal conclave}}
[[File:Habemus papam Ioannes Paulus II.jpg|thumb|left|First appearance of Pope John Paul II following his election on 16 October 1978]]

In August 1978, following the death of Pope Paul VI, Wojtyła voted in [[August 1978 papal conclave|the papal conclave]], which elected [[John Paul I]]. John Paul I died after only 33 days as pope, triggering another [[conclave]].<ref name="ShortBio" /><ref name="Vatican2" /><ref name="Time1978" />

The second conclave of 1978 started on 14 October, ten days after the funeral. It was split between two strong [[Papabile|candidates for the papacy]]: Cardinal [[Giuseppe Siri]], the conservative [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Genoa|Archbishop of Genoa]], and Cardinal [[Giovanni Benelli]], the liberal [[Archbishop of Florence]] and a close friend of John Paul I.<ref name="Time1978b" />

[[File:Coat of arms of Ioannes Paulus II.svg|thumb|upright|The [[coat of arms]] of John Paul&nbsp;II displaying the ''[[Marian Cross]]'' with the letter M signifying the [[Blessed Virgin Mary]], the mother of Jesus]]

Supporters of Benelli were confident that he would be elected, and in early [[ballot]]s, Benelli came within nine votes of success.<ref name="Time1978b" /> However, both men faced sufficient opposition for neither to be likely to prevail. [[Giovanni Colombo]], the [[Archbishop of Milan]], was considered as a compromise candidate among the Italian cardinal-electors, but when he started to receive votes, he announced that, if elected, he would decline to accept the papacy.<ref>{{cite book |title=Inside the Vatican: The Politics and Organization of the Catholic Church |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FYMKOgA5lSAC |first=Thomas J. |last=Reese |publisher=Harvard University Press |year=1998 |isbn=978-0-674-93261-6 |pages=91, 99}}</ref> Cardinal [[Franz König]], [[Archbishop of Vienna]], suggested Wojtyła as another compromise candidate to his fellow electors.<ref name="Time1978b" /> Wojtyła won on the eighth ballot on the third day (16 October).

Among those cardinals who rallied behind Wojtyła were supporters of Giuseppe Siri, [[Stefan Wyszyński]], most of the American cardinals (led by [[John Krol]]), and other moderate cardinals. He accepted his election with the words: "With obedience in faith to Christ, my Lord, and with trust in the Mother of Christ and the Church, in spite of great difficulties, I accept".{{sfn|Stourton|2006|p=171}}<ref name="NewPope" /> The Pope, in tribute to his immediate predecessor, then took the [[papal name]] of ''John Paul II'',<ref name="Vatican2" /><ref name="Time1978b" /> also in honour of the late Popes Paul VI and John XXIII, and the traditional white smoke informed the crowd gathered in [[St. Peter's Square]] that a pope had been chosen. There had been rumours that the new pope wished to be known as ''Pope Stanislaus'' in honour of [[Stanislaus of Szczepanów|the Polish saint of the name]], but was convinced by the cardinals that it was not a Roman name.<ref name="Time1978" /> When the new pontiff appeared on the balcony, he broke tradition by addressing the gathered crowd:{{sfn|Stourton|2006|p=171}}

<blockquote>"Dear brothers and sisters, we are saddened at the death of our beloved Pope John Paul I, and so the cardinals have called for a new bishop of Rome. They called him from a faraway land—far and yet always close because of our communion in faith and Christian traditions. I was afraid to accept that responsibility, yet I do so in a spirit of obedience to the Lord and total faithfulness to Mary, our most Holy Mother. I am speaking to you in your—no, our Italian language. If I make a mistake, please {{sic|''corrict''}}{{efn|In his speech, John Paul deliberately chose to mispronounce the Italian word for 'correct'.}} <!-- ATTENTION! Please leave this word as 'corrict'. This is how it is written in the source --> me."{{sfn|Stourton|2006|p=171}}<ref>Agasso, Renzo. [https://books.google.com/books?id=jUkrNOuindcC&pg=PA23 ''Caro Karol'']. Effata Editrice IT, 2011. p. 23.</ref><ref name="Bottum" /><ref>[https://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/speeches/1978/documents/hf_jp-ii_spe_19781016_primo-saluto_it.html First Greetings and First Blessing to the Faithful: Address of John Paul II, Monday, October 16, 1978] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131018234821/https://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/speeches/1978/documents/hf_jp-ii_spe_19781016_primo-saluto_it.html |date=18 October 2013}}. [[Holy See|Vatican]]. ''Vatican.va''.</ref></blockquote>

Wojtyła became the 264th pope according to the chronological [[list of popes]], and the first non-Italian in 455 years.<ref name="upi" /> At only 58 years of age, he was the youngest pope since [[Pope Pius IX]] in 1846, who was 54.<ref name="Vatican2" /> Like his predecessor, John Paul&nbsp;II dispensed with the traditional [[papal coronation]] and instead received ecclesiastical [[investiture]] with a simplified [[papal inauguration]] on 22 October 1978. During his [[Papal inauguration of Pope John Paul II|inauguration]], when the cardinals were to kneel before him to take their vows and kiss his ring, he stood up as the Polish prelate, Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński knelt down, stopped him from kissing the ring, and simply embraced him.<ref name="Vatican-bio-en" />

=== Pastoral journeys ===
{{Main|List of pastoral visits of Pope John Paul II outside Italy}}
[[File:Papież Jan Paweł II i kardynał Stefan kardynał Wyszyński w drodze na plac Zwycięstwa w dniu 2 czerwca 1979.jpg|thumb|John Paul's first papal trip to Poland in June 1979]]

During his pontificate, John Paul II made journeys to 129 countries,{{sfn|Maxwell-Stuart|2006|p=234}} travelling more than {{convert|1100000|km}} while doing so. He consistently attracted large crowds, some among the largest ever assembled in [[human history]], such as the Manila [[World Youth Day 1995]], which gathered up to four million people, the largest papal gathering ever, according to the Vatican.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bs-xpm-1995-01-16-1995016078-story.html |title=Biggest Papal Gathering &#124; Millions Flock to Papal Mass in Manila, Gathering is Called the Largest the Pope Has Seen at a Service |agency=The New York Times News Service |work=The Baltimore Sun |year=2012 |access-date=29 January 2012 |archive-date=24 September 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120924125252/http://articles.baltimoresun.com/1995-01-16/news/1995016078_1_pope-philippines-papal |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="AsiaNews" /> John Paul II's earliest official visits were to the Dominican Republic and Mexico in January 1979.<ref name="CBN2" /> While some of his journeys (such as to the United States and the [[Holy Land]]) were to places previously visited by Pope Paul VI, John Paul II became the first pope to visit the [[White House]] in October 1979, where he was [[List of meetings between the pope and the president of the United States|greeted warmly]] by President [[Jimmy Carter]]. He was the first pope ever to visit several countries in one year, starting in 1979 with Mexico<ref name="Mexico" /> and [[Pope John Paul II's visit to Ireland|Ireland]].<ref name="Ireland" /> He was the first reigning pope to [[Pope John Paul II's visit to the United Kingdom|travel to the United Kingdom]], in 1982, where he met [[Elizabeth II|Queen Elizabeth II]], the [[Supreme Governor of the Church of England]]. While in Britain he also visited [[Canterbury Cathedral]] and knelt in prayer with [[Robert Runcie]], the [[Archbishop of Canterbury]], at the spot where [[Thomas Becket]] had been killed,<ref>{{cite news |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/may/29/newsid_4171000/4171657.stm |title=BBC on This Day &#124; 29 &#124; 1982: Pope makes historic visit to Canterbury |work=BBC News |date= 29 May 1982 |access-date=23 June 2013}}</ref> as well as holding several large-scale open air Masses, including one at [[Wembley Stadium (1923)|Wembley Stadium]], which was attended by some 80,000 people.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thepapalvisit.org.uk/Visit-Background/A-Retrospective-of-the-1982-Visit|title=A Retrospective of the 1982 Visit |website=The Papal Visit|access-date=16 August 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161012084655/http://www.thepapalvisit.org.uk/Visit-Background/A-Retrospective-of-the-1982-Visit|archive-date=12 October 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref>

[[File:Visita ufficiale del Presidente della Repubblica Sandro Pertini a Sua Santità il Papa Giovanni Paolo II (6).jpg|thumb|left|John Paul II with [[Sandro Pertini]], [[President of Italy]], in 1984]]

He travelled to Haiti in 1983, where he spoke in [[Haitian Creole|Creole]] to thousands of impoverished Catholics gathered to greet him at the airport. His message, "things must change in Haiti", referring to the disparity between the wealthy and the poor, was met with thunderous applause.<ref name="Haiti: The Duvalier Years" /> In 2000, he was the first modern pope to visit Egypt,<ref name="PopeEgypt" /> where he met with the [[Coptic Orthodox Church|Coptic pope]], [[Pope Shenouda III of Alexandria|Pope Shenouda&nbsp;III]],<ref name="PopeEgypt" /> and the [[Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Alexandria]].<ref name="PopeEgypt" /> He was the first Catholic pope to visit and pray in an Islamic mosque, in [[Damascus]], Syria, in 2001. He visited the [[Umayyad Mosque]], a former Christian church where [[John the Baptist]] is believed to be interred,<ref name="Mosque" /> where he made a speech calling for Muslims, Christians and Jews to live together.<ref name="Mosque" />

On 15 January 1995, during the X World Youth Day, he offered [[Catholic Mass|Mass]] to an estimated crowd of between five and seven million in [[Luneta Park]],<ref name="AsiaNews" /> [[Manila]], Philippines, which was considered to be the largest single gathering in [[Christian history]].<ref name="AsiaNews" /> In March 2000, while visiting [[Jerusalem]], John Paul became the first pope in history to visit and pray at the [[Western Wall]].<ref name="BBCIsrael" /><ref name="ADL2006" /> In September 2001, amid post-[[11 September attacks|11 September]] concerns, he travelled to Kazakhstan, with an audience largely consisting of Muslims, and to Armenia, to participate in the celebration of 1,700&nbsp;years of [[Armenian Apostolic Church|Armenian Christianity]].<ref name="NewYorkTimes3" />

In June 1979, John Paul II travelled to Poland, where ecstatic crowds constantly surrounded him.<ref name="OnThisDay" /> This first papal trip to Poland and the enthusiastic response to it contributed to the formation of the [[Solidarity (Polish trade union)|Solidarity]] movement in 1980, which later played a major role in the [[Revolutions of 1989|end of socialism]] in Poland.<ref name="Memory" /> Leaders of the [[Polish United Workers' Party]] intended to use the Pope's visit to show the people that although the Pope was Polish, it did not alter their capacity to govern, oppress, and distribute the goods of society. They also hoped that if the Pope abided by the rules they set, the Polish people would see his example and follow them as well. If the Pope's visit inspired a riot, the Communist leaders of Poland were prepared to crush the uprising and blame the suffering on the Pope.<ref name="Angelo M. Codevilla 2008">Angelo M. Codevilla, "Political Warfare: A Set of Means for Achieving Political Ends", in Waller, ed., ''Strategic Influence: Public Diplomacy, Counterpropaganda and Political Warfare'' (IWP Press, 2008.)</ref>

{{blockquote|The Pope won that struggle by transcending politics. His was what [[Joseph Nye]] calls '[[soft power]]' — the power of attraction and repulsion. He began with an enormous advantage, and exploited it to the utmost: He headed the one institution that stood for the polar opposite of the Communist way of life that the Polish people hated. He was a Pole, but beyond the regime's reach. By identifying with him, Poles would have the chance to cleanse themselves of the compromises they had to make to live under the regime. And so they came to him by the millions. They listened. He told them to be good, not to compromise themselves, to stick by one another, to be fearless, and that God is the only source of goodness, the only standard of conduct. 'Be not afraid,' he said. Millions shouted in response, 'We want God! We want God! We want God!' The regime cowered. Had the Pope chosen to turn his soft power into the hard variety, the regime might have been drowned in blood. Instead, the Pope simply led the Polish people to desert their rulers by affirming solidarity with one another. The Communists managed to [[Martial law in Poland|hold on as despots]] a decade longer. But as political leaders, they were finished. Visiting his native Poland in 1979, Pope John Paul II struck what turned out to be a mortal blow to its Communist regime, to the Soviet Empire, [and] ultimately to Communism.<ref name="Angelo M. Codevilla 2008" />
}}

<blockquote>"When Pope John Paul II kissed the ground at the Warsaw airport he began the process by which Communism in Poland — and ultimately elsewhere in Europe — would come to an end."<ref>[[John Lewis Gaddis]], ''The Cold War: A New History'', p. 193, Penguin Books (2006), {{ISBN|978-0-14-303827-6}}</ref></blockquote>

On later trips to Poland, he gave tacit support to the Solidarity organisation.<ref name="Memory" /> These visits reinforced this message and contributed to the collapse of East European Communism that took place between 1989 and 1990 with the reintroduction of democracy in Poland, and which then spread through Eastern Europe (1990–1991) and South-Eastern Europe (1990–1992).<ref name="Bottum" />{{sfn|Maxwell-Stuart|2006|p=234}}<ref name="OnThisDay" /><ref name="CBCNews" /><ref name="Gorbachev" />

===World Youth Days===
[[File:JohnPaulIICardinalSin1995WYD.jpg|thumb|Pope John Paul II (right) with [[Jaime Sin|Jaime Cardinal Sin]], [[Archbishop of Manila]] (left), addressing the crowd attending the closing Mass of the tenth [[World Youth Day 1995|World Youth Day]] at [[Luneta Park]], 1995]]

As an extension of his successful work with youth as a young priest, John Paul II pioneered the international [[World Youth Day]]s. John Paul II presided over nine of them: [[Rome]] (1985 and 2000), [[Buenos Aires]] (1987), [[Santiago de Compostela]] (1989), [[Częstochowa]] (1991), [[Denver]] (1993), [[Manila]] (1995), [[Paris]] (1997), and [[Toronto]] (2002). Total attendance at these signature events of the pontificate was in the tens of millions.<ref name="ReferenceA">Weigel, George. The End and the Beginning: Pope John Paul II – The Victory of Freedom, the Last Years, the Legacy. The Crown Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.</ref>

===Dedicated years===

Keenly aware of the rhythms of time and the importance of anniversaries in the Catholic Church's life, John Paul II led nine "dedicated years" during the twenty-six and a half years of his pontificate: the Holy Year of the Redemption in 1983–84, the [[Marian Year]] in 1987–88, the Year of the Family in 1993–94, the three Trinitarian years of preparation for the [[Great Jubilee]] of 2000, the Great Jubilee itself, the Year of the Rosary in 2002–03, and the [[Year of the Eucharist]], which began on 17 October 2004, and concluded six months after the Pope's death.<ref name="ReferenceA" />

===Music albums===
John Paul II recorded music albums. In 1979, his album ''Pope John Paul II sings at the Festival of Sacrosong'' was recorded by [[Infinity Records]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,916921,00.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080408085903/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,916921,00.html|url-status=dead|title=Pope John Paul II|publisher=Time|date=October 15, 1979|archive-date=April 8, 2008|accessdate=October 16, 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://archivesspace.library.nd.edu/repositories/2/archival_objects/1815735|title=Pope John Paul II sings at the Festival of Sacrosong [Infinity Records INF 9899][for cover see PAVX 70514], 1979|publisher=University of Notre Dame|accessdate=October 16, 2024}}</ref> In 1994 he released a music album title ''The Rosary''.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-11-27-mn-1865-story.html|title=Pope Soaring to Top of Music Charts|agency=Reuters|work=Los Angeles Times|date=November 27, 1994|accessdate=October 16, 2024}}</ref> In 1999, John Paul II released another music album titled ''[[Abba Pater]]''.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1999-mar-20-me-19179-story.html|title=Newest Music Star: The Pope|first=Larry B.|last=Stammer|work=Los Angeles Times|date=March 20, 1999|accessdate=October 16, 2024}}</ref>

===Great Jubilee of 2000===
The [[Great Jubilee]] of 2000 was a call to the church to become more aware and to embrace her missionary task for the work of [[New evangelization|evangelization]]:

<blockquote>From the beginning of my Pontificate, my thoughts had been on this Holy Year 2000 as an important appointment. I thought of its celebration as a providential opportunity during which the Church, thirty-five years after the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, would examine how far she had renewed herself, in order to be able to take up her evangelising mission with fresh enthusiasm.<ref>Novo Millenio Inuente §2</ref></blockquote>

John Paul II also made a pilgrimage to the [[Holy Land]] for the Great Jubilee of 2000.<ref name="Vatican3" /> During his visit to the Holy Land, John Paul II visited many sites of the [[Rosary]], including the following locations: [[Al-Maghtas|Bethany Beyond the Jordan (Al-Maghtas)]], at the [[Jordan River]], where [[John the Baptist]] baptized Jesus; [[Manger Square]] and the [[Church of the Nativity]] in the town of [[Bethlehem]], the location of Jesus' birth; and the [[Church of the Holy Sepulchre]] in [[Jerusalem]], the site of Jesus' burial and resurrection.<ref name="Vatican5" /><ref name="Vatican6" /><ref name="Vatican7" />

== Teachings ==
{{Main|Theology of Pope John Paul II}}

{{Catholic philosophy |expanded=all}}
As pope, John Paul II wrote [[List of encyclicals of Pope John Paul II|14 papal encyclicals]] and taught regularly in his general [[Audience (meeting)#Holy See|audiences]].<ref>Holy See, [https://www.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/audiences.index.html#audiences John Paul II: Audiences], accessed on 19 February 2025</ref>

Some key elements of his strategy to "reposition the Catholic Church" were encyclicals such as ''[[Ecclesia de Eucharistia]]'', ''[[Reconciliatio et paenitentia]]'' and ''[[Redemptoris Mater]]''. In his ''At the beginning of the new millennium'' (''[[Novo Millennio Ineunte]]''), he emphasised the importance of "starting afresh from Christ": "No, we shall not be saved by a formula but by a Person." In ''The Splendour of the Truth'' (''[[Veritatis Splendor]]''), he emphasised the dependence of man on God and His Law ("Without the Creator, the creature disappears") and the "dependence of freedom on the truth". He warned that man "giving himself over to relativism and scepticism, goes off in search of an illusory freedom apart from truth itself". In ''[[Fides et Ratio]]'' (''On the Relationship between Faith and Reason'') John Paul promoted a renewed interest in philosophy and an autonomous pursuit of truth in theological matters. Drawing on many different sources (such as Thomism), he described the mutually supporting relationship between [[faith and reason]], and emphasised that theologians should focus on that relationship. John Paul II wrote extensively about workers and the [[Catholic social teaching|social doctrine]] of the church, which he discussed in three encyclicals: ''[[Laborem exercens]]'', ''[[Sollicitudo rei socialis]]'', and ''[[Centesimus annus]]''. Through his encyclicals and many [[General epistles|Apostolic Letters]] and Exhortations, John Paul II talked about the [[dignity]] and the equality of women.<ref>{{Cite book|author=Pope John Paul II|title=Mulieris Dignitatem: Apostolic Letter on the Dignity and Vocation of Women|publisher=Libreria Editrice Vaticana|year=1988|url=http://www.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/apost_letters/1988/documents/hf_jp-ii_apl_19880815_mulieris-dignitatem.html}}</ref> He argued for the importance of the family for the future of humanity.<ref name="Memory" /> He taught about sexuality in what is referred as the "[[Theology of the Body]]". Other encyclicals include ''The Gospel of Life'' (''[[Evangelium Vitae]]'') and ''[[Ut unum sint]]'' (''That They May Be One''). Though critics accused him of inflexibility in explicitly re-asserting Catholic moral teachings against abortion and [[euthanasia]] that have been in place for well over a thousand years, he urged a more nuanced view of [[Catholic Church and capital punishment|capital punishment]].<ref name="Memory" /> In his second encyclical, ''[[Dives in misericordia]]'', he stressed that [[divine mercy]] is the greatest feature of God, needed especially in modern times.

==Promulgation of 1983 Code of Canon Law and 1992 Catechism of the Catholic Church==
{{Main|Canon law (Catholic Church)}}
John Paul II completed a full-scale reform of the Catholic Church's legal system, Latin and Eastern, and a reform of the Roman Curia.

On 18 October 1990, when promulgating the ''[[Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches]]'', John Paul II stated
{{blockquote|By the publication of this Code, the canonical ordering of the whole Church is thus at length completed, following as it does...the "[[Pastor Bonus|''Apostolic Constitution on the Roman Curia'']]" of 1988, which is added to both Codes as the primary instrument of the Roman Pontiff for 'the communion that binds together, as it were, the whole Church'<ref>Ap. Const. ''Sacri Canones''. Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches, Latin-English Edition, New English Translation (Canon Law Society of America, 2001), page xxv. Cf. ''[[Pastor Bonus]]'' n. 2</ref>}}

In 1998, John Paul II issued the [[motu proprio]] ''[[Ad tuendam fidem]]'', which amended two canons (750 and 1371) of the 1983 Code of Canon Law and two canons (598 and 1436) of the 1990 Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches.

=== 1983 ''Code of Canon Law'' ===
{{Main|1983 Code of Canon Law}}
On 25 January 1983, with the [[apostolic constitution]] ''[[Sacrae disciplinae leges]]'' John Paul II promulgated the current code of canon law for all members of the Catholic Church who belonged to the [[Latin Church]]. It entered into force the first Sunday of the following [[Advent]],<ref name="sacrae">Ap. Const. ''Sacræ Disciplineæ Leges''</ref> which was 27 November 1983.<ref>NYTimes.com, "[https://www.nytimes.com/1983/11/27/us/new-canon-law-code-in-effect-for-catholics.html New Canon Law Code in Effect for Catholics]", 27 November 1983, accessed June-25-2013</ref> John Paul II described the new code as "the last document of Vatican II".<ref name="sacrae" /> [[Edward N. Peters]] has referred to the 1983 ''Code'' as the "Johanno-Pauline Code"<ref>[http://www.canonlaw.info/masterpage1983.htm Master Page on the Johanno-Pauline Code of 1983], CanonLaw.info, accessed 17 March 2016</ref> (''Johannes Paulus'' is [[Latin]] for "John Paul"), parallelling the [[1917 Code of Canon Law|"Pio-Benedictine" 1917 code]] that it replaced.

=== ''Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches'' ===
{{Main|Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches}}
John Paul II promulgated the ''[[Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches]]'' (CCEO) on 18 October 1990, by the document ''Sacri Canones''.<ref>''AAS''82 (1990) pp. 1033–1063</ref> The CCEO came into force of law on 1 October 1991.<ref>Thomas Kuzhinapurath, ''Salvific Law: Salvific Character of CCEO, An Historical Overview'', Malankara Seminary Publications, Trivandrum, 2008, p.79</ref> It is the [[Codification (law)|codification]] of the common portions of the [[Canon law of the Catholic Church|canon law]] for the 23 of the 24 ''[[sui iuris]]'' churches in the [[Catholic Church]] that are the [[Eastern Catholic Churches]]. It is divided into 30 titles and has a total of 1540 [[Canon (canon law)|canons]].<ref>Pete Vere & Michael Trueman, "Surprised by Canon Law, Vol. 2" (Cincinnati, Ohio: Servant Books, 2007); pg. 123</ref>

=== ''Pastor bonus'' ===
{{Main|Pastor bonus}}
John Paul II promulgated the apostolic constitution ''[[Pastor bonus]]'' on 28 June 1988. It instituted a number of reforms in the process of running the [[Roman Curia]]. ''Pastor bonus'' laid out in considerable detail the organisation of the Roman Curia, specifying precisely the names and composition of each dicastery, and enumerating the competencies of each [[dicastery]]. It replaced the previous special law, ''Regimini Ecclesiæ universæ'', which was promulgated by Paul VI in 1967.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.ncregister.com/blog/jimmy-akin/is-pope-francis-about-to-rip-up-the-vatican-constitution-12-things-to-know/ |title=Akin, Jimmy. "Is Pope Francis about to "rip up" the Vatican constitution? 12 things to know and share", ''National Catholic Register'', 2 October 2013 |access-date=18 March 2016 |archive-date=8 April 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160408222800/http://www.ncregister.com/blog/jimmy-akin/is-pope-francis-about-to-rip-up-the-vatican-constitution-12-things-to-know/ |url-status=dead}}</ref>

===''Catechism of the Catholic Church''===
{{Main|Catechism of the Catholic Church}}
On 11 October 1992, in his apostolic constitution ''[[Fidei depositum]]'' (''The Deposit of Faith''), John Paul ordered the publication of the ''[[Catechism of the Catholic Church]]''.<ref>{{cite web |title=JOHN PAUL II, BISHOP SERVANT OF THE SERVANTS OF GOD FOR EVERLASTING MEMORY |url=https://www.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/apost_constitutions/documents/hf_jp-ii_apc_19921011_fidei-depositum.html |website=The Holy See |access-date=September 7, 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Catechism of the Catholic Church |url=https://ourladyofhopegrafton.org/cathecism-of-the-catholic-church |website=Ourladyofhopegrafton.org |access-date=September 7, 2024}}</ref>

He declared the publication to be "a sure norm for teaching the faith … a sure and authentic reference text for teaching Catholic doctrine and particularly for preparing local catechisms". It was "meant to encourage and assist in the writing of new local catechisms [both applicable and faithful]" rather than replacing them.<ref>{{cite web |title=Catechism of the Catholic Church: III. The Doctrinal Value of the Text |url=https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/catechism/index.cfm?recnum=78 |website=www.catholicculture.org |access-date=29 June 2025}}</ref>

==Political views and activity==

{{Main|Pope John Paul II's political views}}

===Anti-communism===
{{Main|Holy See–Soviet Union relations}}
[[File:President Ronald Reagan and Pope John Paul II.jpg|thumb|US President [[Ronald Reagan]] meeting with Pope John Paul II during a visit to the [[Vatican City]], 1982]]

====Role as spiritual inspiration and catalyst====
By the late 1970s, the [[dissolution of the Soviet Union]] had been [[predictions of the collapse of the Soviet Union|predicted by some observers]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://bailey83221.livejournal.com/80804.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060502123923/http://bailey83221.livejournal.com/80804.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=2 May 2006|title=bailey83221: Anticipations of the Failure of Communism (Scholarly list of those who predicted fall|date=2 May 2006|access-date=24 February 2019}}</ref><ref>Daniel Patrick Moynihan, "Will Russia blow up?" Newsweek (19 November 1979): 144,147.</ref> John Paul II has been credited with being instrumental in bringing down Communism in Central and Eastern Europe,<ref name="Memory" /><ref name="Bottum" />{{sfn|Maxwell-Stuart|2006|p=234}}<ref name="CBCNews" /><ref name="Gorbachev" />{{sfn|Domínguez|2005}} by being the spiritual inspiration behind its downfall and catalyst for "a peaceful revolution" in Poland. [[Lech Wałęsa]], the founder of [[Solidarity (Polish trade union)|Solidarity]] and the first [[post-Communist]] [[President of Poland]], credited John Paul&nbsp;II with giving Poles the courage to demand change.<ref name="Memory" /> According to Wałęsa, "Before his pontificate, the world was divided into blocs. Nobody knew how to get rid of Communism. In [[Warsaw]], in 1979, he simply said: 'Do not be afraid', and later prayed: 'Let your Spirit descend and change the image of the land ... this land'."{{sfn|Domínguez|2005}} It has also been widely alleged that the [[Vatican Bank]] covertly funded Solidarity.<ref name="NYTimes" /><ref name="Salinger2005" />

In 1984, the [[foreign policy of the Ronald Reagan administration]] saw opened diplomatic relations with the Vatican [[Holy See–United States relations|for the first time since 1870]]. In sharp contrast to the long history of strong domestic opposition, this time there was very little opposition from Congress, the courts, and Protestant groups.<ref>Andrew M. Essig, and Jennifer L. Moore. "US-Holy See Diplomacy: The Establishment of Formal Relations, 1984." ''Catholic Historical Review'' (2009) 95#4, pp. 741-764741-764. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/27745671 online]</ref> Relations between Reagan and John Paul II were close, especially because of their shared [[anti-communism]] and keen interest in forcing the Soviets out of Poland.<ref>Gayte, Marie (2011). "The Vatican and the Reagan Administration: A Cold War Alliance?" ''Catholic Historical Review''. '''97''' (4): 713–736. {{JSTOR|23053064}}.</ref> John Paul II and Reagan had earlier confided in the Vatican (in 1982) "their conviction that God had spared their lives" from assassination "for the divine purpose of defeating the communist empire."<ref>Paul Kengor, ''A Pope and A President: John Paul II, Ronald Reagan, and the Extraordinary Untold Story of the 20th Century'', p. 8, ISI Books (2017), {{ISBN|9781610171434}}</ref> Reagan's correspondence with the Pope reveals "a continuous scurrying to shore up Vatican support for U.S. policies. Perhaps most surprisingly, the papers show that, as late as 1984, the Pope did not believe the Communist Polish government could be changed."<ref name="nationalreview" />

<blockquote>"No one can prove conclusively that he was a primary cause of the end of communism. However, the major figures on all sides—not just Lech Wałęsa, the Polish Solidarity leader, but also Solidarity's arch-opponent, General [[Wojciech Jaruzelski]]; not just the former American president [[George Bush Senior]] but also the former Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev—now agree that he was. I would argue the historical case in three steps: without the Polish Pope, no Solidarity revolution in Poland in 1980; without Solidarity, no dramatic change in Soviet policy towards eastern Europe under Gorbachev; without that change, no velvet revolutions in 1989."<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2005/apr/04/catholicism.religion13?INTCMP=SRCH |title=The first world leader |newspaper=The Guardian |date=4 April 2005 |access-date=4 November 2013}}</ref></blockquote>

In December 1989, John Paul II met with the Soviet leader [[Mikhail Gorbachev]] at the Vatican and each expressed his respect and admiration for the other. Gorbachev once said: "The collapse of the [[Iron Curtain]] would have been impossible without John Paul II."<ref name="Bottum" /><ref name="CBCNews" /> On John Paul II's death, Gorbachev said: "Pope John Paul II's devotion to his followers is a remarkable example to all of us."<ref name="Gorbachev" />{{sfn|Domínguez|2005}}

[[File:John Paul II George W. Bush Medal of Freedom 2004.jpg|thumb|Pope John Paul II, given the [[Presidential Medal of Freedom]] by US President [[George W. Bush]] in 2004]]

On 4 June 2004, U.S. president [[George W. Bush]] presented the [[Presidential Medal of Freedom]], the United States' highest civilian honour, to John Paul II during a ceremony at the [[Apostolic Palace]]. The president read the citation that accompanied the medal, which recognised "this son of Poland" whose "principled stand for peace and freedom has inspired millions and helped to topple communism and tyranny".<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.cjonline.com/stories/101303/pag_pope.shtml |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040404041319/http://www.cjonline.com/stories/101303/pag_pope.shtml |archive-date=4 April 2004 |title=Poles worried, proud of Pope John Paul II 10/13/03 |agency=Associated Press |work=The Topeka Capital-Journal |date=3 April 2012 |access-date=28 January 2012}}</ref> After receiving the award, John Paul&nbsp;II said, "May the desire for freedom, peace, a more humane world symbolised by this medal inspire men and women of goodwill in every time and place."<ref name="vatican1" />

====Communist attempt to compromise John Paul II====
[[File:Grafiti rijeka 1208.jpg|thumb|Graffiti showing John Paul II with quote "Do not be afraid" in [[Rijeka]], Croatia]]

In 1983, Poland's Communist government unsuccessfully tried to humiliate John Paul II by falsely saying he had fathered an illegitimate child. Section D of [[Służba Bezpieczeństwa]] (SB), the security service, had an action named "Triangolo" to carry out criminal operations against the [[Catholic Church in Poland]]; the operation encompassed all Polish hostile actions against the Pope.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.canadafreepress.com/2006/axis101306.htm |title=Polish secret services played key part in criminal plot to kill John Paul II |newspaper=Canada Free Press |date=13 October 2006 |access-date=23 October 2014}}</ref>{{better source needed|date=April 2019}} Captain Grzegorz Piotrowski, one of the murderers of beatified [[Jerzy Popiełuszko]], was the leader of section D. They drugged Irena Kinaszewska, the secretary of the Kraków-based weekly Catholic magazine ''[[Tygodnik Powszechny]]'' where Wojtyła had worked, and unsuccessfully attempted to make her admit to having had sexual relations with him.<ref name="sbd">{{cite news |url=http://wiadomosci.dziennik.pl/historia/aktualnosci/artykuly/439582,prowokacja-sluzby-bezpieczenstwa-plotki-o-dziecku-papieza.html |title=Nieślubne dziecko Jana Pawła II. Kulisy esbeckiej prowokacji |language=pl |trans-title=Illegitimate Child of John Paul II. A behind-the-scenes SB provocation |newspaper=[[Dziennik]] |date=4 October 2013 |access-date=23 October 2014}}</ref>

The SB then attempted to compromise Kraków priest Andrzej Bardecki, an editor of ''Tygodnik Powszechny'' and one of the closest friends of Cardinal Wojtyła before he became pope, by planting false memoirs in his dwelling; Piotrowski was exposed and the forgeries were found and destroyed before the SB could say to have discovered them.<ref name="sbd" />

===Latin American and Caribbean dictatorships===

John Paul II was variously praised<ref>Jonathan Kwitny, ''Man of the Century: The Life and Times of Pope John Paul II'', p. 592, Henry Holt and Co. (1997), {{ISBN|978-0-8050-2688-7}}</ref> and criticized<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/04/03/world/pinochet-foes-cheered-by-the-pope-s-presence.html |last=Rother |first=Larry |title=Pinochet foes cheered by the Pope's presence |journal=New York Times |date=1987-04-03 |page=3}}</ref> for actions which were perceived as both inspiring resistance<ref>Douglas Bond, Christopher Kruegler, Roger S. Powers, and William B. Vogele, ''Protest, Power, and Change: An Encyclopedia of Nonviolent Action from ACT-UP to Women's Suffrage'', p. 227, Routledge (1997), {{ISBN|978-0-8153-0913-0}}</ref> but also potentially abetting<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/1987/04/03/world/pinochet-foes-cheered-by-the-pope-s-presence.html?src=pm Pionchet's Foes Cheered by the Pope's Presence] ''The New York Times'', 3 April 1987</ref> dictatorships in [[Chile]], [[Haiti]], and [[Paraguay]].

== Relations with other Christian denominations and religions==
{{main|Pope John Paul II and ecumenism|Pope John Paul II's relations with the Eastern Orthodox Church}}

===Christian denominations===

John Paul II was publicly committed to [[ecumenism|improving relationships between Christian communities]] and engaged in numerous dialogues with leaders of other Christian churches, including the [[Eastern Orthodox Church]],<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/letters/1991/documents/hf_jp-ii_let_19910531_relationships-catholics-orthodox.html|title= LETTER TO EUROPEAN BISHOPS ON THE RECENT CHANGES IN CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE}}</ref> [[Oriental Orthodox Church]],<ref>{{cite web |title=The Common Declaration of Pope John Paul II and His Holiness Karekim I Sarkissian (December 13, 1996) John Paul II |url=https://www.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/speeches/1996/december/documents/hf_jp-ii_spe_19961213_dichiarazione-comune.html |website=www.vatican.va}}</ref> [[Assyrian Church of the East]]<ref>{{cite web |title=Common Christological Declaration between the Catholic Church and the Assyrian Church of the East (November 11, 1994) John Paul II |url=https://www.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/speeches/1994/november/documents/hf_jp-ii_spe_19941111_dichiarazione-cristologica.html |website=www.vatican.va}}</ref> the [[Lutheran World Federation]],<ref>{{cite web |title=1997 Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification |url=https://www.christianunity.va/content/unitacristiani/en/dialoghi/sezione-occidentale/luterani/dialogo/documenti-di-dialogo/1999-dichiarazione-congiunta-sulla-dottrina-della-giustificazion/en.html |website=www.christianunity.va}}</ref> and the [[Anglican Communion]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Common declaration of Pope John Paul II and His Grace Robert Runcie, Archbishop of Canterbury (October 2, 1989) {{!}} John Paul II |url=https://www.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/speeches/1989/october/documents/hf_jp-ii_spe_19891002_dichiaraz-comune.html |website=www.vatican.va}}</ref>

===Religions===

====Judaism====

{{Main|Pope John Paul II and Judaism}}
[[Relations between Catholicism and Judaism]] improved dramatically during the pontificate of John Paul II.<ref name="Memory" /><ref name="ADL2006" /> He spoke frequently about the Catholic Church's relationship with the Jewish faith.<ref name="Memory" />

====Animism====
In his book-length interview ''[[Crossing the Threshold of Hope]]'' with the Italian journalist [[Vittorio Messori]] published in 1995, John Paul II draws parallels between [[animism]] and Christianity. He wrote:

<blockquote>"...&nbsp;it would be helpful to recall ... the animist religions which stress ancestor worship. It seems that those who practise them are particularly close to Christianity, and among them, the Church's missionaries also find it easier to speak a common language. Is there, perhaps, in this veneration of ancestors a kind of preparation for the Christian faith in the Communion of Saints, in which all believers—whether living or dead—form a single community, a single body? ... There is nothing strange, then, that the African and Asian animists would become believers in Christ more easily than followers of the great religions of the Far East."<ref>John Paul II. ''Crossing the Threshold of Hope'', p. 82, Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., 1994 {{ISBN|978-0-307-76457-7}}</ref></blockquote>

In 1985, the Pope visited the African country of [[Togo]], where 60 per cent of the population espouses animist beliefs. To honour the Pope, animist religious leaders met him at a Catholic Marian shrine in the forest, much to the pontiff's delight. John Paul II proceeded to call for the need for religious tolerance, praised nature, and emphasised common elements between animism and Christianity, saying:

<blockquote>"Nature, exuberant and splendid in this area of forests and lakes, impregnates spirits and hearts with its mystery and orients them spontaneously toward the mystery of He who is the author of life. It is this religious sentiment that animates you and one can say that animates all of your compatriots."<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/1985/08/10/world/pope-visits-palace-in-togo-then-a-woman-s-mud-hut.html Pope Visits Palace in Togo, Then a Woman's Mud Hut] ''The New York Times'', 10 August 1985</ref></blockquote>

During the investiture of President [[Thomas Boni Yayi]] of [[Benin]] as a titled [[Yoruba people|Yoruba]] [[Nigerian Chieftaincy|chieftain]] on 20 December 2008, the reigning [[Ooni of Ile-Ife]], Nigeria, [[Olubuse II]], referred to John Paul II as a previous recipient of the same royal honour.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://theooni.org/soko.htm |title=His Imperial Majesty, Alayeluwa Oba Okunade Sijuwade, Olubuse ll- The Ooni of Ife |publisher=Theooni.org |date=20 December 2008 |access-date=28 April 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130303202401/http://theooni.org/soko.htm |archive-date=3 March 2013}}</ref>

====Buddhism====
Tenzin Gyatso, the [[14th Dalai Lama]], visited John Paul&nbsp;II eight times. The two men held many similar views and understood similar plights, both coming from nations affected by Communism and both serving as heads of major religious bodies.<ref name="Dalai" /><ref name="Lama" /> As Archbishop of Kraków, long before the 14th Dalai Lama was a world-famous figure, Wojtyła held special Masses to pray for the Tibetan people's non-violent struggle for freedom from [[Maoist China]].<ref>Levi, Mons. Virgilio and Christine Allison. ''John Paul II: A Tribute in Words and Pictures'', p. 165, William Morrow, 1999 {{ISBN|978-0-688-16621-2}}</ref> In 1987, he welcomed participants of the ''East-West Spiritual Exchanges'', an initiative by the [[Monastic Interreligious Dialogue]] (DIMMID) and the Institute for Zen Studies in which Buddhist and Christian monks or nuns take turns residing for one month in each other's monasteries.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=de Béthune |first1=Pierre-François |title=Bethune Experience of Hospitality |journal=Dilatato Corde |date=2022 |volume=XII |issue=2 July – December |url=https://dimmid.org/index.asp?Type=B_BASIC&SEC={2184B240-66D1-41C6-B233-21976A735E16}&DE= |access-date=16 February 2024 |publisher=DIMMID}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=To the participants in the "East-West Spiritual Exchanges" (September 9, 1987) {{!}} John Paul II |url=https://www.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/speeches/1987/september/documents/hf_jp-ii_spe_19870909_religiosi-zen.html |website=www.vatican.va |publisher=Libreria Editrice Vaticana |access-date=16 February 2024}}</ref> During his 1995 visit to [[Sri Lanka]], a country where a majority of the population adheres to [[Theravada Buddhism]], John Paul II expressed his admiration for Buddhism. He said:

<blockquote>"In particular I express my highest regard for the followers of Buddhism, the majority religion in Sri Lanka, with its ... four great values of … loving kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy and equanimity; with its ten transcendental virtues and the joys of the [[Sangha]] expressed so beautifully in the Theragathas. I ardently hope that my visit will serve to strengthen the goodwill between us, and that it will reassure everyone of the Catholic Church's desire for interreligious dialogue and cooperation in building a more just and fraternal world. To everyone I extend the hand of friendship, recalling the splendid words of the [[Dhammapada]]: 'Better than a thousand useless words is one single word that gives peace' ... ."<ref>{{cite web |url = http://old.usccb.org/comm/archives/1997/97-071a.shtml |title = Text of Bishop Brunett's Greetings |author = Brunett, Mons. Alex |publisher = [[United States Conference of Catholic Bishops]] Office of Media Relations |access-date = 30 October 2012 |url-status = dead |archive-url = https://archive.today/20130416054156/http://old.usccb.org/comm/archives/1997/97-071a.shtml |archive-date = 16 April 2013 |df = dmy-all}}</ref></blockquote>

====Islam====
[[File:StJohnInUmmayad.jpg|thumb|John Paul II was the first Pope to enter and pray in a mosque, visiting the tomb of John the Baptist at [[Umayyad Mosque]], Damascus.]]
John Paul&nbsp;II made considerable efforts to improve relations between Catholicism and Islam.<ref name="Crossing the Threshold of Hope" />

He officially supported the project of the [[Mosque of Rome]] and participated in the inauguration in 1995.

On 14 May 1999, at a meeting with Muslim leaders in Syria, he was gifted and then promptly kissed a [[Qur'an]], an act that was controversial with some Catholics.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Marshall |first=Taylor |title=Infiltration: The Plot To Destroy The Church |publisher=Sophia Institute Press |year=2019 |isbn=978-1-622828-470 |pages=178}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Theologian: John Paul II wanted to show respect by kissing the Koran |url=https://english.katholisch.de/artikel/53269-theologian-john-paul-ii-wanted-to-show-respect-by-kissing-the-koran |access-date=2024-08-29 |website=english.katholisch.de |language=de}}</ref>

On 6 May 2001, he became the first Catholic pope to enter and pray in a mosque, namely the [[Umayyad Mosque]] in [[Damascus]], Syria. Respectfully removing his shoes, he entered the former [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine-era]] Christian church dedicated to [[John the Baptist]], who is also revered as a [[prophet of Islam]]. He gave a speech including the statement: "For all the times that Muslims and Christians have offended one another, we need to seek forgiveness from the Almighty and to offer each other forgiveness."<ref name="Mosque" />

In 2004, John Paul&nbsp;II hosted the "[[Papal Concert of Reconciliation]]", which brought together leaders of Islam with leaders of the Jewish community and of the Catholic Church at the Vatican for a concert by the Kraków Philharmonic Choir from Poland, the [[London Philharmonic Choir]] from the United Kingdom, the [[Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra]] from the United States, and the Ankara State Polyphonic Choir of Turkey.<ref name="WQED" /><ref name="Concert" /><ref name="Philharmonic" /><ref name="Gazette" /> The event was conceived and conducted by [[Gilbert Levine]], [[Order of St. Gregory the Great|KCSG]] and was broadcast throughout the world.<ref name="WQED" /><ref name="Concert" /><ref name="Philharmonic" /><ref name="Gazette" />

John Paul&nbsp;II oversaw the publication of the [[Catechism of the Catholic Church]], which makes a special provision for Muslims; therein, it is written, "together with us they adore the one, merciful God, mankind's judge on the last day."<ref name="Catechism" />

====Jainism====
In 1995, John Paul II held a meeting with 21 [[Jains]], organised by the [[Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue]]. He praised [[Mohandas Gandhi]] for his "unshakeable faith in God", assured the Jains that the Catholic Church will continue to engage in dialogue with their religion and spoke of the common need to aid the poor. The Jain leaders were impressed with the Pope's "transparency and simplicity", and the meeting received much attention in the [[Gujarat]] state in western India, home to many Jains.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ucanews.com/story-archive/?post_name=/1995/04/20/pope-impresses-jain-team-with-personal-warmth-encourages-more-dialogue&post_id=47157 |title=Pope Impresses Jain Team with Personal Warmth, Encourages More Dialogue |publisher=Ucanews.com |date=20 April 1995 |access-date=6 December 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141213182603/http://www.ucanews.com/story-archive/?post_name=%2F1995%2F04%2F20%2Fpope-impresses-jain-team-with-personal-warmth-encourages-more-dialogue&post_id=47157 |archive-date=13 December 2014 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

== <span class="anchor" id="Assassination"></span><!-- Attempted assassination of Pope John Paul II hatnote links here--> Assassination attempts and plots ==
{{Main|Attempted assassination of Pope John Paul II|Juan María Fernández y Krohn|Bojinka Plot}}
As he entered [[St. Peter's Square]] to address an audience on 13 May 1981,<ref>{{cite news |title=1981 Year in Review: Pope John Paul II Assassination (sic) Attempt |url=http://www.upi.com/Audio/Year_in_Review/Events-of-1981/Pope-John-Paul-II-Assasination-Attempt/12311754163167-6/ |publisher=United Press International (UPI) |year=1981}}</ref> John Paul II was shot and [[ballistic trauma|critically wounded]] by [[Mehmet Ali Ağca]],<ref name="A&E" />{{sfn|Maxwell-Stuart|2006|p=234}}{{sfn|Dziwisz|2001}} an expert Turkish gunman who was a member of the militant fascist group [[Grey Wolves (organization)|Grey Wolves]].<ref name="SanFrancisco" /> The assassin used a [[Browning Hi-Power|Browning 9&nbsp;mm semi-automatic pistol]],<ref name="upi2" /> shooting the Pope in the abdomen and perforating his [[colon (anatomy)|colon]] and [[small intestine]] multiple times.<ref name="Bottum" /> John Paul II was rushed into the Vatican complex and then to the [[Gemelli Hospital]]. On the way to the hospital, he lost consciousness. Even though the two bullets missed his [[superior mesenteric artery]] and [[abdominal aorta]], he lost nearly three-quarters of his blood. He underwent five hours of surgery to treat his wounds.{{sfn|Time Magazine 1982-01-25|p=1}} Surgeons performed a [[colostomy]], temporarily rerouting the upper part of the [[large intestine]] to let the damaged lower part heal.{{sfn|Time Magazine 1982-01-25|p=1}} When he briefly regained consciousness before being operated on, he instructed the doctors not to remove his [[Brown Scapular]] during the operation.<ref name="scapolare" /> One of the few people allowed in to see him at the Gemelli Clinic was one of his closest friends, philosopher [[Anna-Teresa Tymieniecka]], who arrived on Saturday 16 May and kept him company while he recovered from emergency surgery.<ref name="Telegraph 2016">[https://web.archive.org/web/20160216020844/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/bbc/12157733/What-really-happened-between-Pope-John-Paul-II-and-his-close-friend-Anna-Teresa-Tymienecka.html What really happened between Pope John Paul II and his close friend, Anna-Teresa Tymienecka?] by Edward Stourton, 15 February 2016, ''The Telegraph''</ref> The Pope later stated that the [[Blessed Virgin Mary]] helped keep him alive throughout his ordeal.{{sfn|Maxwell-Stuart|2006|p=234}}{{sfn|Dziwisz|2001}}{{sfn|Bertone|2000–2009}} He said:

<blockquote>"Could I forget that the event in St. Peter's Square took place on the day and at the hour when the first appearance of the Mother of Christ to the poor little peasants has been remembered for over sixty years at [[Our Lady of Fátima|Fátima, Portugal]]? For in everything that happened to me on that very day, I felt that extraordinary motherly protection and care, which turned out to be stronger than the deadly bullet."{{sfn|Pope John Paul II|2005|p=184}}</blockquote>

Ağca was caught and restrained by a nun and other bystanders until police arrived. He was sentenced to [[life imprisonment]]. Two days after Christmas in 1983, John Paul II visited Ağca in prison. John Paul II and Ağca spoke privately for about twenty minutes.{{sfn|Maxwell-Stuart|2006|p=234}}{{sfn|Dziwisz|2001}} John Paul II said, "What we talked about will have to remain a secret between him and me. I spoke to him as a brother whom I have pardoned and who has my complete trust."<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Morrow |first=Lance |date=19 January 1984 |title=Pope John Paul II Forgives His Would-Be Assassin |magazine=Time |url=https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,952295-3,00.html |access-date=4 January 2023 |issn=0040-781X}}</ref>

Numerous theories were advanced to explain the assassination attempt, some of them controversial. One such theory, advanced by [[Michael Ledeen]] and heavily pushed by the United States [[Central Intelligence Agency]] at the time of the assassination but never substantiated by evidence, was that the Soviet Union was behind the attempt on John Paul II's life in retaliation for the Pope's support of Solidarity, the Catholic, pro-democratic Polish workers' movement.<ref name="SanFrancisco" /><ref name="ItalianPanel" /> This theory was supported by the 2006 [[Mitrokhin Commission]], set up by [[Silvio Berlusconi]] and headed by {{lang|it|[[Forza Italia (1994)|Forza Italia]]}} senator [[Paolo Guzzanti]], which alleged that Communist [[Committee for State Security (Bulgaria)|Bulgarian security departments]] were used to prevent the Soviet Union's role from being uncovered, and concluded that [[GRU (Soviet Union)|Soviet military intelligence (''Glavnoje Razvedyvatel'noje Upravlenije'')]], not the [[KGB]], were responsible.<ref name="ItalianPanel" /> Russian [[Foreign Intelligence Service (Russia)|Foreign Intelligence Service]] spokesman Boris Labusov called the accusation "absurd".<ref name="ItalianPanel" /> The Pope declared during a May 2002 visit to Bulgaria that the country's Soviet-bloc-era leadership had nothing to do with the [[assassination attempt]].<ref name="SanFrancisco" /><ref name="ItalianPanel" /> However, his secretary, Cardinal [[Stanisław Dziwisz]], alleged in his book ''A Life with Karol'', that the Pope was convinced privately that the former Soviet Union was behind the attack.<ref name="Retire2" /> It was later discovered that many of John Paul II's aides had foreign-government attachments;<ref name="Thomas2000" /> Bulgaria and Russia disputed the Italian commission's conclusions, pointing out that the Pope had publicly denied the Bulgarian connection.<ref name="ItalianPanel" />

A second assassination attempt was made on 12 May 1982, just a day before the anniversary of the first attempt on his life, in [[Fátima, Portugal]], when a man tried to stab John Paul II with a [[bayonet]].<ref name="Krohn" /><ref name="CBC2" /><ref name="Reuters3" /> He was stopped by security guards. Stanisław Dziwisz later said that John Paul II had been injured during the attempt but managed to hide a non-life-threatening wound.<ref name="Krohn" /><ref name="CBC2" /><ref name="Reuters3" /> The assailant, a [[traditionalist Catholic]] Spanish priest named [[Juan María Fernández y Krohn]],<ref name="Krohn" /> had been ordained as a priest by Archbishop [[Marcel Lefebvre]] of the [[Society of St. Pius X]] and was opposed to the changes made by the [[Second Vatican Council]], saying that the Pope was an agent of Communist Moscow and of the Marxist [[Eastern Bloc]].{{sfn|Hebblethwaite|1995|p=95}} Fernández y Krohn subsequently left the priesthood and served three years of a six-year sentence.<ref name="CBC2" /><ref name="Reuters3" />{{sfn|Hebblethwaite|1995|p=95}} The ex-priest was treated for [[mental illness]] and then expelled from Portugal to become a solicitor in Belgium.{{sfn|Hebblethwaite|1995|p=95}}

The [[Al-Qaeda]]-funded [[Bojinka plot]] planned to kill John Paul II during a visit to the Philippines during World Youth Day 1995 celebrations. On 15 January 1995 a [[suicide bomber]] was planning to dress as a priest and detonate a bomb when the Pope passed in his [[motorcade]] on his way to the [[San Carlos Seminary]] in [[Makati]]. The assassination was supposed to divert attention from the next phase of the operation. However, a chemical fire inadvertently started by the cell alerted police to their whereabouts, and all were arrested a week before the Pope's visit, and confessed to the plot.<ref name="ThePlot" />

In 2009 [[Jack Koehler]], a journalist and former army intelligence officer, published ''Spies in the Vatican: The Soviet Union's Cold War Against the Catholic Church''.<ref name="Koehler2011" /> Mining mostly East German and Polish secret police archives, Koehler claimed the assassination attempts were "KGB-backed".<ref>''Publishers Weekly'', review of 'Spies in the Vatican', 11 May 2009</ref>

== Apologies ==
{{Main|Apologies by Pope John Paul II}}
John Paul II apologised to many groups that had suffered at the hands of the Catholic Church through the years.<ref name="Memory" />{{sfn|Pope John Paul II|2005|p=1}} Before becoming pope he had been a prominent editor and supporter of initiatives such as the [[Letter of Reconciliation of the Polish Bishops to the German Bishops]] from 1965. As pope, he officially made public apologies for over 100 wrongdoings, including:<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2000/mar/13/catholicism.religion |title=Pope says sorry for sins of church |newspaper=The Guardian |date=13 March 2000 | access-date=22 October 2014 |author=Caroll, Rory |location=London}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/christianity/pope/johnpaulii_1.shtml | title= Pope issues apology |work=BBC News | access-date=14 January 2013 | author=BBC News}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/674246.stm | title= Pope apologises for Church sins| work=BBC News |access-date=14 January 2013 | author=BBC News | date=12 March 2000}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.religioustolerance.org/popeapo2.htm | title=Apologies by Pope John Paul II | publisher=Ontario Consultants | date=7 March 2000 | access-date=14 January 2013 | author=Robinson, B. A. | archive-date=14 November 2012 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121114082949/http://www.religioustolerance.org/popeapo2.htm | url-status=usurped}}</ref>
* The legal process on the Italian scientist and philosopher [[Galileo Galilei]], himself a devout Catholic, around 1633 (31 October 1992).<ref name="MsnbcNews2" /><ref name="Adherents" />
* The involvement of Catholics in the [[Atlantic slave trade]] (9 August 1993).
* The church hierarchy's role in [[Death by burning|burnings at the stake]] and the [[religious war]]s that followed the [[Protestant Reformation]] (20 May 1995, in the Czech Republic).
* The injustices committed against women, the violation of [[women's rights]] and the historical denigration of women (10 July 1995, in a letter to "every woman").
* The inactivity and silence of many Catholics during [[the Holocaust]] (see the article [[Religion in Nazi Germany]]) (16 March 1998).

The [[Great Jubilee]] of the year 2000 included a day of Prayer for Forgiveness of the Sins of the Church on 12 March 2000.

On 20 November 2001, from a laptop in the Vatican, John Paul II sent his first e-mail apologising for the [[Catholic sex abuse cases]], the church-backed [[Stolen Generations]] of Aboriginal children in Australia, and to China for the behaviour of Catholic missionaries in [[Colonialism|colonial times]].<ref name="PopeApologises" />

== Health ==
{{Main|Pope John Paul II's health}}
[[File:PapstJPII20040922.jpg|thumb|An ailing John Paul II riding in the [[Popemobile]] in September 2004 in [[St. Peter's Square]]]]
When he became pope in 1978 at the age of 58, John Paul II was an avid sportsman. He remained extremely healthy and active especially in his first years of papacy, jogging in the [[Vatican gardens]], weight training, swimming, and hiking in the mountains. He was fond of football, [[skiing]] and [[swimming]]. The media contrasted the new pope's athleticism and trim figure to the poor health of [[John Paul I]] and [[Paul VI]], the portliness of [[John XXIII]] and the constant claims of ailments of [[Pius XII]]. The only modern pope with a fitness regimen had been [[Pope Pius XI]] (1922–1939), who was an avid mountaineer, conquering summits like [[Monte Rosa]], [[Mont Blanc]] (the highest of the Alps) and [[Matterhorn]].<ref name="Ratti" /><ref name="Ratti2" /> Media occasionally referred to John Paul II's fitness regimen: for example, an ''[[Irish Independent]]'' article in the 1980s labelled him the ''keep-fit pope'', and an Italian newspaper called him ''l'atleta di Dio'' ("God's athlete") in 2005.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Messori |first=Vittorio |date=2005-02-03 |title=Corriere della Sera - La notte dolorosa dell' "Atleta di Dio" |url=https://www.corriere.it/Primo_Piano/Cronache/2005/02_Febbraio/03/messori.shtml |access-date=2025-04-23 |website=www.corriere.it}}</ref>

However, after over 26 years as pope, two assassination attempts, one of which injured him severely, and a number of cancer scares, John Paul's physical health declined. In 2001 he was diagnosed as suffering from [[Parkinson's disease]].<ref name="Parkinsons2001" /> International observers had suspected this for some time, but it was only publicly acknowledged by the Vatican in 2003. Despite difficulty speaking more than a few sentences at a time, trouble [[hearing]], and severe [[osteoarthrosis]], he continued to tour the world although rarely walking in public.

== Death and funeral ==
{{Main|Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II}}

=== Final months ===
John Paul II was hospitalised with breathing problems caused by a bout of [[influenza]] on 1&nbsp;February 2005.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4228059.stm |title=Europe &#124; Pope John Paul rushed to hospital |work=BBC News |date=2 February 2005 |access-date=17 February 2013}}</ref> He left the hospital on 10 February, but was subsequently hospitalised again with breathing problems two weeks later and underwent a [[tracheotomy]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/3198/pope-john-paul-resting;-breathing-on-own-following-tracheotomy |title=Pope John Paul resting; breathing on own following tracheotomy |publisher=[[Catholic News Agency]] |date=25 February 2005 |access-date=17 February 2013}}</ref>

=== Final illness and death ===
[[File:Giovanni Paolo II 0013.JPG|thumb|left|The body of Pope John Paul II [[lying in state]]|243x243px]]
On 31 March 2005, following a [[urinary tract infection]],{{sfn|BBC 2005-04-01}} he developed [[septic shock]], a form of infection with a high fever and low [[blood pressure]], but was not hospitalised. Instead, he was monitored by a team of consultants at his private residence. This was taken as an indication by the Pope, and those close to him, that he was nearing death; it would have been in accordance with his wishes to die in the Vatican.{{sfn|BBC 2005-04-01}} Later that day, Vatican sources announced that John Paul II had been given the [[Anointing of the Sick]] by his friend and secretary Stanisław Dziwisz. The day before his death, one of his closest personal friends, [[Anna-Teresa Tymieniecka]], visited him at his bedside.<ref name="Stourton" /><ref name="Bernstein/Politi" /> During the final days of the Pope's life, the lights were kept burning through the night where he lay in the Papal apartment on the top floor of the [[Apostolic Palace]]. Tens of thousands of people assembled and held vigil in St. Peter's Square and the surrounding streets for two days. Upon hearing of this, the dying pope was said to have stated: "I have searched for you, and now you have come to me, and I thank you."<ref name="LastWords" />

On Saturday, 2 April 2005, at approximately 15:30 [[Central European Summer Time|CEST]], John Paul II spoke his final words in [[Polish language|Polish]], ''"Pozwólcie mi odejść do domu Ojca"'' ("Allow me to depart to the house of the Father"), to his aides, and fell into a coma about four hours later.<ref name="LastWords" /><ref name="BBCLastWords" /> The Mass of the vigil of the Second Sunday of Easter commemorating the [[canonisation]] of [[Faustina Kowalska]] on 30 April 2000, had just been celebrated at his bedside, presided over by Dziwisz and two Polish associates. Present at the bedside was Cardinal [[Lubomyr Husar]] from Ukraine, who served as a priest with John Paul in Poland, along with Polish nuns of the Congregation of the [[Sisters, Servants of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus]], who ran the [[Prefecture of the Pontifical Household|papal household]]. John Paul II died in his private apartment at 21:37 CEST (19:37 [[UTC]]) of heart failure from profound [[hypotension]] and complete [[circulatory collapse]] from septic shock.<ref name="BBCLastWords" /><ref name="Pisa" />{{sfn|Navarro-Valls 2 April 2005}} His death was verified when an electrocardiogram that ran for 20 minutes showed a [[flatline]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Vatican Releases Official Record of Pope John Paul II's Final Days|date=19 September 2005|author=The New York Times|work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/19/world/europe/vatican-releases-official-record-of-pope-john-paul-iis-final.html|access-date=29 January 2018|author-link=The New York Times}}</ref>

He had no close family by the time of his death; his feelings are reflected in his words written in 2000 at the end of his Last Will and Testament.{{sfn|Stourton|2006|p=320}} Dziwisz later said he had not burned the pontiff's personal notes despite the request being part of the will.<ref>{{cite news |title=Pope aide 'has not burned papers' |work=BBC News |date=5 June 2005 |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4610607.stm |access-date=12 August 2013}}</ref>

[[File:JPII on bier.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.15|(l-r) [[George W. Bush]], [[Laura Bush]], [[George H. W. Bush]], [[Bill Clinton]], [[Condoleezza Rice]], and [[Andrew Card]], US dignitaries paying respects to John Paul II on 6 April 2005 at [[St. Peter's Basilica]], [[Vatican City]]]]

=== Aftermath ===
The death of the pontiff set in motion rituals and traditions dating back to medieval times. The Rite of Visitation took place from 4 April 2005 to 7 April 2005 at St. Peter's Basilica. John Paul II's testament, published on 7 April 2005,<ref name="Last Will" /> revealed that he contemplated being buried in his native Poland but left the final decision to the [[College of Cardinals]], which in passing, preferred burial beneath St. Peter's Basilica, honouring the pontiff's request to be placed "in bare earth".

The [[Requiem]] Mass held on 8 April 2005 was said to have set world records both for attendance and number of [[heads of state]] present at a funeral.<ref name="MsnbcNews2" /><ref name="CNN" /><ref name="Independent" /><ref name="BBCMiracle" /> ''(See: [[List of dignitaries at the funeral of Pope John Paul II|List of Dignitaries]].)'' It was the single largest gathering of heads of state up to that time, surpassing the funerals of [[Funeral of Winston Churchill|Winston Churchill]] (1965) and [[Funeral of Josip Broz Tito|Josip Broz Tito]] (1980). Four kings, five queens, at least 70 presidents and prime ministers, and more than 14 leaders of other religions attended.<ref name="CNN" /> An estimated four million mourners gathered in and around Vatican City.<ref name="MsnbcNews2" /><ref name="Independent" /><ref name="BBCMiracle" /><ref name="Beltway" /> Between 250,000 and 300,000 watched the event from within the Vatican's walls.<ref name="BBCMiracle" /> In a historical rarity, [[Protestant]] and [[Eastern Orthodox]] leaders, as well as representatives and heads from Judaism, [[Islam]], [[Druze]]<ref>[https://mfa.gov.il/MFA/AboutIsrael/History/PapalVisit/Pages/Greetings_Pope_Benedict_XVI_religious_leaders_Galilee_14-May-2009.aspx Greetings by Pope Benedict XVI to religious leaders in the Galilee]</ref> and [[Buddhism]], offered their own memorials and prayers as a way of sympathising with the grief of Catholics.

The [[Dean of the College of Cardinals]], Cardinal [[Joseph Ratzinger]], conducted the ceremony. John Paul II was interred in the [[Vatican Grottoes|grottoes under the basilica]], the [[List of extant papal tombs|Tomb of the Popes]]. He was lowered into a tomb created in the same alcove previously occupied by the remains of [[John XXIII]]. The alcove had been empty since John XXIII's remains had been moved into the main body of the basilica after his beatification. The remains of John Paul II were moved to the Chapel of St. Sebastian within the main basilica upon his own beatification in 2011.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-04-25 |title=Pope Francis funeral: A visual guide and timeline |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cq5w9yzy1vpo.amp |access-date=2025-05-01 |website=BBC News |language=en-gb}}</ref>

== Posthumous recognition ==
{{See also|Pope John Paul II in popular culture}}

=== Title "the Great" ===
[[File:Restos Juan Pablo II.jpg|thumb|Old tomb of John Paul II in the [[Vatican Grottoes]] before his beatification]]
Upon the death of John Paul II, a number of clergy at the Vatican and laymen<ref name="Bottum" /><ref name="MsnbcNews2" /><ref name="Arlington" /> began referring to the late pontiff as "John Paul the Great" {{Ndash}}in theory only the fourth pope to be so acclaimed.<ref name="Bottum" /><ref name="Arlington" /><ref name="OReilly-David" /><ref name="Murphy-Brian" /> [[Cardinal Angelo Sodano]] specifically referred to John Paul as "the Great" in his published written [[homily]] for the Pope's funeral [[Funeral of Pope John Paul II|Mass of Repose]].<ref name="FirstSpeech" /><ref name="Homily" /> The South African Catholic newspaper ''[[The Southern Cross (South Africa)|The Southern Cross]]'' has referred to him in print as "John Paul II the Great".<ref name="Southern" /> Some Catholic educational institutions in the US have additionally changed their names to incorporate "the Great", including [[John Paul the Great Catholic University]] and schools called some variant of [[John Paul the Great High School (disambiguation)|John Paul the Great High School]]<!--variants with saint, pope, ii, or catholic-->.
[[File:Vaticano sightseeing (fc31 – edited).jpg|thumb|The tomb of John Paul II in the [[Vatican City|Vatican]] Chapel of Saint Sebastian within [[St. Peter's Basilica]] where it has been since 2011]]
Scholars of [[Canon law (Catholic Church)|canon law]] say that there is no official process for declaring a pope "Great"; the title simply establishes itself through popular and continued usage,<ref name="MsnbcNews2" /><ref name="Noonan" /><ref name="Noonan2" /> as was the case with celebrated secular leaders (for example, Alexander III of Macedon became popularly known as [[Alexander the Great]]). The three popes who today commonly are known as "Great" are [[Pope Leo I|Leo I]], who reigned from 440–461 and persuaded [[Attila the Hun]] to withdraw from Rome; [[Pope Gregory I|Gregory I]], 590–604, after whom the [[Gregorian chant]] is named; and [[Pope Nicholas I]], 858–867, who consolidated the Catholic Church in the Western world in the [[Middle Ages]].<ref name="Arlington" />

John Paul's successor, Benedict XVI, did not use the term directly in public speeches, but made oblique references to "the great Pope John Paul&nbsp;II" in his first address from the [[loggia]] of St. Peter's Basilica, at the 20th [[World Youth Day 2005]] in Germany when he said in Polish: "As the great Pope John Paul&nbsp;II would say: Keep the flame of faith alive in your lives and your people";<ref>Susan Crimp, "The Last Wish of Pope John Paul II: The Life and Messages of Saint Faustina", p92</ref> and in May 2006 during a visit to Poland where he repeatedly made references to "the great John Paul" and "my great predecessor".<ref name="Poland2006" />
[[File:Grób rodziców Jana Pawła II na cmentarzu Rakowickim w Krakowie.jpg|thumb|The tomb of the parents of John Paul&nbsp;II at [[Rakowicki Cemetery]] in [[Kraków]], Poland]]

=== Institutions named after John Paul II ===
* [[Pope John Paul II High School (Tennessee)]]
* [[John Paul II High School (Plano, Texas)]]
* [[John Paul the Great Catholic University]]
* [[John Paul the Great Catholic High School (Indiana)]]
* [[John Paul II Catholic Secondary School|John Paul II Catholic Secondary School (London, Ontario, Canada)]]
* [[John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin]]
* [[Saint John Paul the Great Catholic High School (Virginia)]]
* [[John Paul II High School, Greymouth]]
* [[Karol Wojtyla College]], Lima, [[Peru]]<ref>{{cite web | url=https://kwc.edu.pe/ | title=KWC Home | access-date=19 March 2022 | archive-date=25 September 2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220925163640/http://kwc.edu.pe/ | url-status=dead}}</ref>
*Scoil Eoin Phóil, [[Leixlip]], Ireland
* John Paul II Gymnasium, [[Kaunas]], Lithuania
*Pope John Paul II High School in Olympia, Washington<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.popejp2hs.org/ | title=JPII Home}}</ref>
* Universidad Privada Juan Pablo II, Lima, Peru<ref>{{cite web | url=https://unijuanpablo.edu.pe/2019/09/23/celebracion-dia-de-la-enfermera/ | title=UPJPII Celebración día de la enfermera | access-date=19 March 2022 | archive-date=12 August 2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220812142417/https://unijuanpablo.edu.pe/2019/09/23/celebracion-dia-de-la-enfermera/ | url-status=dead}}</ref>
* Karol Wojtyła building at [[Atma Jaya Catholic University of Indonesia]] in [[Jakarta]], Indonesia<ref>{{cite web |author=Atma Jaya Catholic University of Indonesia |url=https://m.atmajaya.ac.id/web/Info.aspx?gid=info-atma-jaya&cid=peta-denah-kampus-semanggi |title=Campus Map |access-date=30 September 2019 |archive-date=20 May 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200520184627/https://m.atmajaya.ac.id/web/Info.aspx?gid=info-atma-jaya&cid=peta-denah-kampus-semanggi |url-status=dead}}</ref>
*St. John Paul II Chapel and Museum at Pakuwon Mall in Surabaya, Indonesia
*St. John Paul II Minor Seminary, Minor Seminary in Antipolo City, Philippines
*St. John Paul II Parish Community (Lake View, NY)
* [[St. John Paul II High School (Massachusetts)]]
* [[Saint John Paul II Academy]] Boca Raton, FL
* [[St. John Paul II Catholic High School (Alabama)]]
* [[St. John Paul II Catholic High School (Arizona)]]
* [[St. John Paul II Seminary]] (Washington, DC)<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.dcpriest.org/welcome-to-saint-john-paul-ii-seminary | title=Welcome to St. John Paul II Seminary | access-date=25 May 2020 | archive-date=28 July 2020 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200728073013/https://www.dcpriest.org/welcome-to-saint-john-paul-ii-seminary | url-status=dead}}</ref>
* [[Pope Saint John Paul II Major Seminary Awka (Nigeria)]]<ref>{{Cite web|title=Pope John Paul Major Seminary|url=https://pjpsawka.org/|access-date=16 March 2021|website=pjpsawka.org|archive-date=13 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210413221545/https://pjpsawka.org/|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* [[St. John Paul II Catholic Secondary School]], Scarborough, Ontario, Canada
* [[Pope John Paul II High School (Pennsylvania)|Pope John Paul II High School]], [[Royersford]] [[Pennsylvania]], [[USA]]

=== Beatification ===
{{Main|Beatification of Pope John Paul II}}
[[File:Beatification of John Paul II (1).jpg|thumb|upright|Some 1.5&nbsp;million [[St. Peter's Square]] attendees witness the beatification of John Paul II on 1 May 2011 in [[Vatican City]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/vaticancityandholysee/8486488/Pope-John-Paul-II-beatified-in-front-of-audience-of-1.5-million.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220110/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/vaticancityandholysee/8486488/Pope-John-Paul-II-beatified-in-front-of-audience-of-1.5-million.html |archive-date=10 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=Pope John Paul II beatified in front 1.5 million |newspaper=The Telegraph |date=1 May 2011 |access-date=17 February 2013}}{{cbignore}}</ref>]]

Inspired by calls of ''"Santo Subito!''" ("[Make him a] Saint Immediately!") from the crowds gathered during the funeral Mass that he celebrated,<ref name="Moore1" /><ref name="Hollingshead" /><ref name="Hooper1" /><ref name="Hope" /> Benedict XVI began the beatification process for his predecessor, bypassing the normal restriction that five years must pass after a person's death before beginning the beatification process.<ref name="Hollingshead" /><ref name="Hooper1" /><ref name="Canonisation" /><ref name="Metro" /> In an audience with Pope Benedict XVI, [[Camillo Ruini]], Vicar General of the Diocese of Rome, who was responsible for promoting the cause for canonisation of any person who died within that diocese, cited "exceptional circumstances", which suggested that the waiting period could be waived.<ref name="ShortBio" /><ref name="MsnbcNews2" /><ref name="Zenit3" /> This decision was announced on 13 May 2005, the Feast of [[Our Lady of Fátima]] and the 24th anniversary of the assassination attempt on John Paul II at St. Peter's Square.<ref name="catholicnewsagency" />

In early 2006, it was reported that the Vatican was investigating a possible [[miracle]] associated with John Paul II. [[Sister Marie Simon-Pierre]], a French nun and member of the Congregation of Little Sisters of Catholic Maternity Wards, confined to her bed by Parkinson's disease,<ref name="Hooper1" /><ref name="Vicariato" /> was reported to have experienced a "complete and lasting cure after members of her community prayed for the intercession of Pope John Paul II".<ref name="NYTimes" /><ref name="MsnbcNews2" /><ref name="Moore1" /><ref name="Hooper1" /><ref name="ABC" /><ref name="Trinity" /> {{As of|2008|5}}, Sister Marie Simon-Pierre, then 46,<ref name="Moore1" /><ref name="Hooper1" /> was working again at a [[Obstetrics|maternity hospital]] run by her [[religious institute]].<ref name="Metro" /><ref name="Vicariato" /><ref name="Miracle-americancatholic" /><ref name="Willan" />

"I was sick and now I am cured," she told reporter Gerry Shaw. "I am cured, but it is up to the church to say whether it was a miracle or not."<ref name="Vicariato" /><ref name="Miracle-americancatholic" />

On 28 May 2006, Pope Benedict XVI celebrated Mass before an estimated 900,000 people in John Paul II's native Poland. During his [[homily]], he encouraged prayers for the early canonisation of John Paul II and stated that he hoped canonisation would happen "in the near future".<ref name="Vicariato" /><ref name="Homily-Blonie-Park" />

[[File:Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe - Wiki Loves Pyramids tour 018.jpg|thumb|upright|left|Statue of John Paul II outside the [[Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe]], Tepeyac, [[Mexico City]]]]
In January 2007, Cardinal [[Stanisław Dziwisz]] announced that the interview phase of the beatification process, in Italy and Poland, was nearing completion.<ref name="MsnbcNews2" /><ref name="Vicariato" /><ref name="Westcott" /> In February 2007, [[Relics#Classification and prohibitions in the Catholic Church|second class relics]] of John Paul II—pieces of white papal [[cassock]]s he used to wear—were freely distributed with prayer cards for the cause, a typical pious practice after a saintly Catholic's death.<ref name="MMoore" /><ref name="Cause" /> On 8 March 2007, the [[Cardinal Vicar|Vicariate of Rome]] announced that the diocesan phase of John Paul's cause for beatification was at an end. Following a ceremony on 2 April 2007—the second anniversary of the Pontiff's death—the cause proceeded to the scrutiny of the committee of lay, clerical, and episcopal members of the Vatican's [[Congregation for the Causes of Saints]], to conduct a separate investigation.<ref name="Hollingshead" /><ref name="Vicariato" /><ref name="Westcott" /> On the fourth anniversary of John Paul II's death, 2 April 2009, Cardinal Dziwisz, told reporters of a presumed miracle that had recently occurred at the former pope's tomb in St. Peter's Basilica.<ref name="Miracle-americancatholic" /><ref name="ncregister" /><ref name="Catholic" /> A nine-year-old Polish boy from [[Gdańsk]], who was suffering from kidney cancer and was completely unable to walk, had been visiting the tomb with his parents. On leaving St. Peter's Basilica, the boy told them, "I want to walk," and began walking normally.<ref name="ncregister" /><ref name="Catholic" /><ref name="Miracle-catholicnews" /> On 16 November 2009, a panel of reviewers at the Congregation for the Causes of Saints voted unanimously that John Paul&nbsp;II had lived a life of heroic virtue.<ref name="abcNews" /><ref name="Catholic Culture" /> On 19 December 2009, Pope Benedict XVI signed the first of two decrees needed for beatification and proclaimed John Paul II "Venerable", asserting that he had lived a heroic, virtuous life.<ref name="abcNews" /><ref name="Catholic Culture" /> The second vote and the second signed decree certified the authenticity of the first miracle, the curing of Sister Marie Simon-Pierre, a French nun, from Parkinson's disease. Once the second decree is signed, the ''position'' (the report on the cause, with documentation about his life and writings and with information on the cause) is complete.<ref name="Catholic Culture" /> He can then be beatified.<ref name="abcNews" /><ref name="Catholic Culture" /> Some speculated that he would be beatified sometime during (or soon after) the month of the 32nd anniversary of his 1978 election, in October 2010. As Monsignor Oder said, this course would have been possible if the second decree were signed in time by Benedict XVI, stating that a posthumous miracle directly attributable to his intercession had occurred, completing the positio.

[[File:John Paul II Monument Gdansk-Zaspa.jpg|thumb|right|[[Candle]]s around monument to John Paul II in [[Zaspa]], Gdańsk, at the time of his death]]
The Vatican announced on 14 January 2011 that Pope Benedict XVI had confirmed the miracle involving Sister Marie Simon-Pierre and that John Paul II was to be beatified on 1 May, the Feast of Divine Mercy.<ref name="BBC-beatify" /> 1 May is commemorated in former Communist countries, such as Poland, and some Western European countries as [[May Day]], and John Paul&nbsp;II was well known for his contributions to Communism's relatively peaceful demise.<ref name="Bottum" /><ref name="CBCNews" /> In March 2011 the Polish mint issued a gold 1,000 [[Polish złoty]] coin (equivalent to US$350), with the Pope's image to commemorate his beatification.<ref name="yahoo" />

On 29 April 2011, John Paul&nbsp;II's coffin was disinterred from the grotto beneath St. Peter's Basilica ahead of his beatification, as tens of thousands of people arrived in Rome for one of the biggest events since his funeral.<ref name="Pope John Paul II's body exhumed ahead of beatification" /><ref>{{Cite news|last=Willey|first=David|date=1 May 2011|title=Celebration as John Paul beatified|language=en-GB|work=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-13254148|access-date=11 May 2020}}</ref> John Paul II's remains, which were not exposed, were placed in front of the Basilica's main altar, where believers could pay their respect before and after the beatification Mass in St. Peter's Square on 1 May 2011. On 3 May 2011 his remains were interred in the marble altar in Pier Paolo Cristofari Chapel of [[St. Sebastian]], where [[Pope Innocent XI]] was buried. This more prominent location, next to the Chapel of the Pietà, the Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament, and statues of Popes Pius XI and Pius XII was intended to allow more pilgrims to view his memorial. John Paul II's body is located near the bodies of [[Pope Pius X]] and [[Pope John XXIII]], whose bodies were reinterred in the Basilica after their own beatifications and together are three of the five popes beatified in the last century. The two popes who were not exhumed and reinterred after becoming a blessed in the last century were [[Pope Paul VI]] and [[Pope John Paul I]], who both remain entombed in the papal grottos.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Visiting the Tomb of John Paul II in St Peter´s Basilica in the Vatican|url=https://www.vaticancityguide.org/visit-tomb-john-paul/|date=23 August 2013|website=Vatican City Travel Guide|language=en-US|access-date=11 May 2020}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Pope Innocent XI's remains make way for John Paul II|url=https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/22313/pope-innocent-xis-remains-make-way-for-john-paul-ii|last=Kerr|first=David|website=Catholic News Agency|language=en|access-date=11 May 2020}}</ref>

In July 2012, a Colombian man, Marco Fidel Rojas, the former mayor of [[Huila, Colombia]], testified that he was "miraculously cured" of [[Parkinson's disease]] after a trip to Rome where he met John Paul II and prayed with him. Antonio Schlesinger Piedrahita, a renowned [[neurologist]] in Colombia, certified Fidel's healing. The documentation was then sent to the Vatican office for sainthood causes.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/25303/healing-of-colombian-man-could-pave-way-for-john-paul-ii-canonization |title=Healing of Colombian man could pave way for John Paul II canonization |publisher=[[Catholic News Agency]] |access-date=4 August 2012}}</ref>

In September 2020, Poland unveiled a sculpture of him, designed by {{ill|Jerzy Kalina|pl}} and installed outside the [[National Museum, Warsaw]], holding up a [[meteorite]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.euronews.com/2020/09/24/new-pope-john-paul-ii-sculpture-unveiled-in-warsaw |title=New Pope John Paul II sculpture unveiled in Warsaw |website=euronews.com |date=24 September 2020}}</ref> In the same month, a relic containing his blood was stolen from the [[Spoleto Cathedral]] in Italy.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.9news.com.au/national/relic-containing-pope-john-paul-ii-blood-stolen-from-cathedral-in-italy/090f6169-66fc-451e-998a-ce8194a0030d |title=Relic holding Pope John Paul II's blood stolen from Italian cathedral |website=9news.com |date=25 September 2020}}</ref>

=== Canonisation ===
{{Main|Canonization of Pope John XXIII and Pope John Paul II}}
[[File:Canonization 2014- The Canonization of Saint John XXIII and Saint John Paul II (14036852944).jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.15|The canonisation of John Paul II and John XXIII]]

To be eligible for canonisation (being declared a saint) by the Catholic Church, two miracles must be attributed to a candidate.

The first miracle attributed to John Paul was the above mentioned healing of a nun's Parkinson's disease, which was recognised during the beatification process. According to an article on the Catholic News Service (CNS) dated 23 April 2013, a Vatican commission of doctors concluded that a healing had no natural (medical) explanation, which is the first requirement for a claimed miracle to be officially documented.<ref>The article by Cindy Wooden cited news reports from Italian news media agencies, and included remarks by the Pope's longtime aide, [[Kraków]]'s Cardinal [[Stanislaw Dziwisz]], and Vatican spokesman Jesuit Father [[Federico Lombardi]], S.J.</ref><ref name="Agence France-Presse" /><ref name="ANSA">{{cite news | first = Christopher | last = Livesay | title = John Paul set for sainthood after second miracle okayed | date = 2 July 2013 | publisher = www.ansa.it | url = http://www.ansa.it/web/notizie/rubriche/english/2013/07/02/-ANSA-John-Paul-set-sainthood-second-miracle-okayed_8965021.html | work = ANSA (Agenzia Nazionale Stampa Associata) | access-date = 2 July 2013}}</ref>

The second miracle was deemed to have taken place shortly after the late pope's beatification on 1 May 2011; it was reported to be the healing of Costa Rican woman Floribeth Mora of an otherwise terminal [[brain aneurysm]].<ref>[https://www.foxnews.com/world/costa-rican-woman-describes-john-paul-miracle-cure "Costa Rican Woman Describes John Paul Miracle Cure"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160311010751/http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/news/2013/07/06/costa-rican-woman-describes-john-paul-miracle-cure/ |date=11 March 2016}}, ''Fox News Latino'', 6 July 2013</ref> A Vatican panel of expert theologians examined the evidence, determined that it was directly attributable to the intercession of John Paul II, and recognised it as miraculous.<ref name="Agence France-Presse">{{cite news | title = John Paul II's 2nd miracle approved—report | date = 2 July 2013 | publisher = Rappler.com | url = http://www.rappler.com/world/32751-john-paul-ii-miracle-recognized-report | work = Agence France-Presse (AFP)| access-date = 2 July 2013}}</ref><ref name="ANSA" /> The next stage was for Cardinals who compose the membership of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints to give their opinion to [[Pope Francis]] to decide whether to sign and promulgate the decree and set a date for canonisation.<ref name="Agence France-Presse" /><ref name="ANSA" /><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/1301805.htm |archive-url=http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20130423192205/http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/1301805.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=23 April 2013 |title=Italian media report progress in Blessed John Paul's sainthood cause |publisher=[[Catholic News Service]] |date=23 April 2013| access-date=12 June 2013}}</ref>

On 4 July 2013, Pope Francis confirmed his approval of John Paul II's canonisation, formally recognising the second miracle attributed to his intercession. He was canonised together with John XXIII.<ref name="BBC 2013" /><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-vatican-johnpaul-idUSBRE9640BA20130705/ |title=Popes John Paul II, John XXIII to be made saints: Vatican |work=Reuters |access-date=9 July 2013 |date=5 July 2013 |archive-date=8 July 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130708081533/http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/07/05/us-vatican-johnpaul-idUSBRE9640BA20130705 |url-status=live}}</ref> The date of the canonisation was on 27 April 2014, Divine Mercy Sunday.<ref>{{cite news |first=Elizabetta |last=Povoledo |author2=Alan Cowell |title=Francis to Canonise John XXIII and John Paul II on Same Day |date=30 September 2013 |newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/01/world/europe/francis-to-canonize-popes-john-xxiii-and-john-paul-ii-on-same-day.html?_r=0 |access-date=30 September 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |first=Adam |last=Easton |title=Date set for Popes John Paul II and John XXIII sainthood |date=30 September 2013 |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-24330204 |work=BBC News |access-date=30 September 2013}}</ref>

The canonisation Mass for Pope John Paul II and Pope John XXIII, was celebrated by Pope Francis (with Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI), on 27 April 2014 in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican (John Paul II had died on [[vigil]] of Divine Mercy Sunday in 2005). About 150 cardinals and 700 bishops concelebrated the Mass, and at least 500,000 people attended the Mass, with an estimated 300,000 others watching from video screens placed around Rome.<ref>{{cite news |newspaper=Los Angeles Times|url=http://www.latimes.com/world/worldnow/la-fg-wn-pope-francis-canonization-vatican-20140427-story.html |first1=Patrick J. |last1= McDonnell |first2=Tom |last2=Kington |date=27 April 2014|location=Los Angeles, CA |title=Canonization of predecessors provides another boost for Pope Francis|quote=An estimated 800,000 people descended on Rome for the dual canonisation, a Vatican spokesman said. That included the half a million around the Vatican and another 300,000 watching the event on giant TV screens set up throughout the city of Rome.}}</ref>

John Paul II's remains, considered to be holy [[relic]]s, were exhumed from their place in the basilica's grotto,<ref>{{Cite web |title=John Paul II remains moved in front of St. Peter's tomb |url=https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/22426/john-paul-ii-remains-moved-in-front-of-st-peters-tomb |access-date=2023-01-01 |website=Catholic News Agency |language=en}}</ref> and a new tomb was established at the altar of St. Sebastian.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Pope Francis Prays at John Paul II's Tomb |url=https://www.ncregister.com/news/pope-francis-prays-at-john-paul-ii-s-tomb |access-date=2023-01-01 |website=NCR |date=3 April 2013 |language=en}}</ref> His feast is celebrated annually on October 22, the day of his papal inauguration, as the anniversary of his death usually falls during [[Lent]] and often during [[Holy Week]].

===Beatification of the Pope's parents===
On 10 October 2019, the [[Archdiocese of Kraków]] and the [[Polish Episcopal Conference]] approved ''nihil obstat'' the opening of the beatification cause of the parents of its patron saint John Paul II, Karol Wojtyła Sr. and Emilia Kaczorowska. It gained approval from the [[Holy See]] to open the diocesan phase of the cause on 7 May 2020.<ref>{{Cite web|title=St. John Paul II's parents' sainthood cause has officially opened|url=https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/44448/st-john-paul-iis-parents-sainthood-cause-has-officially-opened|access-date=22 November 2020|website=Catholic News Agency|language=en}}</ref>

== Sexual abuse scandals ==
{{Main|Catholic sex abuse cases}}
John Paul II was criticised by representatives of the victims of clergy sexual abuse for failing to respond quickly enough to the Catholic sex abuse crisis.<ref>{{cite web |date=24 April 2014 |title=Clergy sex abuse victims decry sainthood for Pope John Paul II |url=http://www.scpr.org/news/2014/04/24/43763/some-victims-of-catholic-church-sex-abuse-oppose-p/ |work=Southern California Public Radio}}</ref> After decades of inaction, the scandal came to a head when [[Sinéad O'Connor]] infamously [[Sinéad O'Connor on Saturday Night Live|tore up a photo of John Paul II]] on a 3 October 1992 episode of ''[[Saturday Night Live]]'' while performing an [[a cappella]] rendition of [[Bob Marley]]'s "[[War (Bob Marley song)|War]]".<ref>{{Cite news |last=Hess |first=Amanda |date=2021-05-18 |title=Sinead O'Connor Remembers Things Differently |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/18/arts/music/sinead-oconnor-rememberings.html |access-date=2023-08-27 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

In response to mounting criticism over the next decade, John Paul II stated in 2002 that "there is no place in the priesthood and religious life for those who would harm the young".<ref name="Walsh" /> The Catholic Church instituted reforms to prevent future abuse by requiring [[background check]]s for church employees<ref name="charteryouth" /> and, because a significant majority of victims were boys, disallowing ordination of men with "deep-seated homosexual tendencies".<ref name="vatdocord" /><ref name="sexabusereport" /> They now require dioceses faced with an allegation to alert the authorities, conduct an investigation and remove the accused from duty.<ref name="charteryouth" /><ref>{{cite news |date=15 June 2002 |title=Scandals in the church: The Bishops' Decisions; The Bishops' Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2002/06/15/us/scandals-church-bishops-decisions-bishops-charter-for-protection-children-young.html |access-date=22 October 2014}}</ref> In 2008, the church asserted that the scandal was a very serious problem and estimated that it was "probably caused by 'no more than 1 per cent'", or 5,000, of the over 500,000 Catholic priests worldwide.<ref name="sexabuse" /><ref name="JohnJay" />

In April 2002, John Paul II, despite being frail from Parkinson's disease, summoned all the American cardinals to the Vatican to discuss possible solutions to the issue of sexual abuse in the American Church. He asked them to "diligently investigate accusations". John Paul II suggested that American bishops be more open and transparent in dealing with such scandals and emphasised the role of seminary training to prevent sexual deviance among future priests. In what ''[[The New York Times]]'' called "unusually direct language", John Paul condemned the arrogance of priests that led to the scandals:

<blockquote>"Priests and candidates for the priesthood often live at a level both materially and educationally superior to that of their families and the members of their own age group. It is therefore very easy for them to succumb to the temptation of thinking of themselves as better than others. When this happens, the ideal of priestly service and self-giving dedication can fade, leaving the priest dissatisfied and disheartened."<ref>{{cite news |author=Melinda Henneberger |date=21 April 2002 |title=Pope Takes on Scandals |work=Sun Sentinel |url=http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2002-04-21/news/0204200465_1_confutes-american-cardinals-mandatory-celibacy |url-status=dead |access-date=9 November 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130525055205/http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2002-04-21/news/0204200465_1_confutes-american-cardinals-mandatory-celibacy |archive-date=25 May 2013}}</ref></blockquote>

The Pope read a statement intended for the American cardinals, calling the sex abuse "an appalling sin" and said the priesthood had no room for such men.<ref name="Shame" />

In 2002, Archbishop [[Juliusz Paetz]], the Catholic Archbishop of [[Poznań]], was accused of molesting seminarians.<ref>{{cite news |date=23 February 2002 |title=Europe &#124; Polish archbishop 'molested students' |work=BBC News |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/1837840.stm |access-date=17 February 2013}}</ref> John Paul II accepted his resignation, and placed sanctions on him, prohibiting Paetz from exercising his ministry as bishop.<ref>{{cite news |date=19 June 2010 |title=Watykan: Nie zrehabilitowaliśmy Paetza |language=pl |trans-title=Vatican: no rehabilitation for Paetz |work=Fakt |url=http://www.fakt.pl/Watykan-nie-zrehabilitowalismy-Paetza,artykuly,75072,1.html |url-status=dead |access-date=9 November 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120209162445/http://www.fakt.pl/Watykan-nie-zrehabilitowalismy-Paetza%2Cartykuly%2C75072%2C1.html |archive-date=9 February 2012}}</ref> It was reported that these restrictions were lifted, though Vatican spokesperson Federico Lombardi strenuously denied this saying "his rehabilitation was without foundation".

In 2003, John Paul&nbsp;II reiterated that "there is no place in the priesthood and religious life for those who would harm the young".<ref name="Walsh" /> In April 2003, a three-day conference was held, titled "Abuse of Children and Young People by Catholic Priests and Religious", where eight non-Catholic psychiatric experts were invited to speak to near all Vatican [[dicasteries]]' representatives. The panel of experts overwhelmingly opposed implementation of policies of "zero-tolerance" such as was proposed by the [[United States Conference of Catholic Bishops]]. One expert called such policies a "case of overkill" since they do not permit flexibility to allow for differences among individual cases.<ref name="VaticanStudy" />

In 2004, John Paul&nbsp;II recalled [[Bernard Francis Law]] to be Archpriest of the Papal Basilica of [[Santa Maria Maggiore]]. Law had previously resigned as [[Archbishop of Boston]] in 2002 in response to the [[Catholic Church sexual abuse cases]] after church documents were revealed that suggested he had covered up sexual abuse committed by priests in his archdiocese.<ref>{{cite news |year=2004 |title=Abuse in the Catholic Church / Cardinal Law and the laity |work=The Boston Globe |url=http://www.boston.com/globe/spotlight/abuse/extras/law_timeline.htm |access-date=24 January 2012 |issn=0743-1791}}</ref> Law resigned from this position in November 2011.<ref name="Shame" />

John Paul&nbsp;II was a firm supporter of the [[Legion of Christ]], and in 1998 discontinued investigations into [[Sexual scandal of Father Marcial Maciel|sexual misconduct by its leader Marcial Maciel]], who in 2005 resigned his leadership and was later requested by the Vatican to withdraw from his ministry. However, Maciel's trial began in 2004 during the pontificate of John Paul II, but the Pope died before it ended and the conclusions were known.<ref>{{cite web |last=Piekara |first=Marek |date=2014 |title=Co Jan Paweł II wiedział o ks. Macielu? |url=https://kosciol.wiara.pl/doc/1974132.Co-Jan-Pawel-II-wiedzial-o-ks-Macielu |website=wiara.pl}}</ref> In an interview with [[L'Osservatore Romano]], [[Pope Francis]] said: "I am grateful to Pope Benedict, who dared to say this publicly (when more facts began to come to light after Degollado's death in 2008, Pope Benedict XVI in 2010 launched another investigation and on 1 May 2010 announced a declaration about the crimes of the founder of the Legionaries), and to Pope John Paul II, who dared to give the green light to the Legionaries' case".<ref>{{cite news |title=Pope John Paul II and Paedophilia |website=jp2online.pl |url=https://jp2online.pl/en/publication/pope-john-paul-ii-and-paedophilia;UHVibGljYXRpb246OTA= |access-date=11 December 2021}}</ref>

On 10 November 2020, the Vatican published a report which found that John Paul II learned of allegations of sexual impropriety against former cardinal [[Theodore McCarrick]], who at the time was serving as Archbishop of Newark, through a 1999 letter from Cardinal [[John O'Connor (cardinal)|John O'Connor]] warning him that appointing McCarrick to be Archbishop of Washington D.C., a position which had recently been opened, would be a mistake. John Paul II ordered an investigation, which stalled when three of the four bishops tasked with investigating claims allegedly brought back "inaccurate or incomplete information". John Paul II planned on not giving McCarrick the appointment anyway, but relented and gave him the appointment after McCarrick wrote a letter of denial. He created McCarrick a cardinal in 2001. McCarrick would eventually be laicized after allegations surfaced that he abused minors.<ref>{{cite news |date=10 November 2020 |title=Vatican admits Pope John Paul II was warned about abusive archbishop Theodore McCarrick, while clearing Francis |work=CNN}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=10 November 2020 |title=Key findings in Vatican report into ex-Cardinal McCarrick |url=https://www.wusa9.com/article/news/local/dc/findings-in-vatican-report-into-ex-cardinal-mccarrick/65-f3a47d57-95f4-4368-9945-a7ac909c5a02 |access-date=10 November 2020 |publisher=Associated Press}}</ref> [[George Weigel]], a biographer of John Paul II, defended the Pope's actions as follows: "Theodore McCarrick fooled a lot of people ... and he deceived John Paul II in a way that is laid out in almost biblical fashion in [the Vatican's] report".<ref>{{cite news |last=Keane |first=James T. |date=10 November 2020 |title=The McCarrick Report and Pope John Paul II: Confronting a saint's tarnished legacy |work=[[America (magazine)|America]] |url=https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2020/11/10/mccarrick-report-saint-john-paul-ii-sex-abuse-legacy |access-date=11 November 2011}}</ref>

In a 2019 interview with Mexican television, [[Pope Francis]] defended John Paul II's legacy on protecting minors against clerical sexual abuse. He said that John Paul II was "often misled", as in the case of [[Hans Hermann Groër]]. Francis said that with respect to the case of [[Marcial Maciel]]:

<blockquote>"Ratzinger was courageous, and so was John Paul II. ... With respect to John Paul II, we have to understand certain attitudes because he came from a closed world, from behind the [[Iron Curtain]], where communism was still in force. There was a defensive mentality. We have to understand this well, and no one can doubt the saintliness of this great man and his good will. He was great, he was great."<ref>{{cite news |date=19 May 2019 |title=En primicia el Papa en Televisa: "El mundo sin la mujer no funciona" |work=VaticanNews.va |url=https://www.vaticannews.va/es/papa/news/2019-05/papa-francisco-entrevista-televisa-mexico-migrantes-feminicidio.html |access-date=11 December 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Bronk |first=Krzysztof T. |date=30 May 2019 |title=Pope Francis Explains the "Anecdote" and Clears John Paul II |work=John Paul II Foundation |url=https://fjp2.com/pope-francis-explains-the-anecdote-and-clears-john-paul-ii/ |access-date=11 December 2021 |archive-date=11 December 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211211114636/https://fjp2.com/pope-francis-explains-the-anecdote-and-clears-john-paul-ii/ |url-status=dead}}</ref></blockquote>On March 6, 2023, an investigative report by the Polish television station [[TVN24]] concluded that "there [is now] no doubt" that John Paul II "knew about [[Catholic Church sexual abuse cases|sexual abuse of children by priests]] under his authority and sought to conceal it when he was an archbishop in his native Poland". The Dutch journalist [[Ekke Overbeek]] released a book on John Paul II with similar claims the following week. In response to the claims, Pope Francis stated: "You have to put things in the context of the era[...] At that time everything was covered up. [...] It was only when the [[Sexual abuse scandal in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston|Boston scandal broke]] that the church began to look at the problem." The [[Polish Episcopal Conference]] stated that "'further archival research' would be needed to arrive at a just evaluation of the decisions and actions" of Wojtyła.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Scislowska |first=Monika |date=March 7, 2023 |title=Polish TV report: John Paul II knew of abuse as archbishop |language=en-US |newspaper=Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/03/07/church-sex-abuse-john-paul-poland/464bed56-bcd8-11ed-9350-7c5fccd598ad_story.html |access-date=March 8, 2023 |issn=0190-8286}}</ref> Furthermore, other journalists have criticised the report, including the sources and their interpretation. One of the sources used in the report was controversial archbishop and opponent of the pontiff [[Rembert Weakland]].<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |work=Polsat News |title=Kontrowersje wokół Jana Pawła II. "Znawcy życia i dorobku" papieża komentują |url=https://www.polsatnews.pl/wiadomosc/2023-03-11/kontrowersje-wokol-jana-pawla-ii-swiadome-wprowadzanie-w-blad/ |access-date=2023-04-25 |date=11 March 2023 |language=pl}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite web |title=Kłamstwa w reportażu o Janie Pawle II. Czego nie powiedziano w dokumencie – Wiadomości – polskieradio24.pl |url=https://polskieradio24.pl/5/1222/artykul/3131739,klamstwa-w-reportazu-o-janie-pawle-ii-czego-nie-powiedziano-w-dokumencie |access-date=2023-04-25 |website=polskieradio24.pl |language=pl-PL}}</ref> Another point of contention is the use of materials from the [[Ministry of Public Security (Poland)|communist secret police]] in the report.<ref name="Skibinski">{{Cite web |title=Prof. Skibiński: komuniści podjęli szeroko zakrojoną akcję dyskredytacji duchowieństwa – Wiadomości – polskieradio24.pl |url=https://polskieradio24.pl/5/1222/artykul/3132247,prof-skibinski-komunisci-podjeli-szeroko-zakrojona-akcje-dyskredytacji-duchowienstwa |access-date=2023-04-28 |website=polskieradio24.pl |language=pl-PL}}</ref>

== Other criticism and controversy ==
{{Main|1=Criticism of Pope John Paul II|2=Criticism of the Catholic Church}}
John Paul II was widely criticised for a variety of his views. He was a target of criticism from progressives for his opposition to the [[ordination of women]], opposition to the use of [[contraception]],<ref name="A&E" /><ref name="Condom" /> for his increased centralization of power, and for curtailing some post-Second Vatican Council practices which he deemed as going beyond what the Second Vatican Council documents authorized.<ref name=":10">{{Cite book |last=Mariani |first=Paul Philip |title=China's Church Divided: Bishop Louis Jin and the Post-Mao Catholic Revival |date=2025 |publisher=[[Harvard University Press]] |isbn=978-0-674-29765-4 |location=Cambridge, Massachusetts}}</ref>{{Reference page|page=3}} [[Traditionalist Catholicism|Traditionalist Catholics]] frequently criticized him for his support for the Second Vatican Council and its reform of the [[Mass (liturgy)|liturgy]]. 

John Paul II's response to [[child sexual abuse within the Catholic Church]] has also come under heavy censure.

=== Opus Dei controversies ===
{{Main|Controversies about Opus Dei}}
John Paul II was criticised for his support of the [[Opus Dei]] prelature and the 2002 canonisation of its founder, [[Josemaría Escrivá]], whom he called "the saint of ordinary life".<ref name="Opus2" /><ref name="Saints2" /> Other movements and religious organisations of the church went decidedly under his wing [[Legion of Christ]], the [[Neocatechumenal Way]], [[Schoenstatt]], the [[Charismatic Movement]], etc. And he was accused repeatedly of taking a soft hand with them, especially in the case of [[Marcial Maciel]], founder of the [[Legionaries of Christ]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.pepe-rodriguez.com/Sexo_clero/Casos/Sexo_clero_M_Maciel_Leg_pedof_denuncia_Papa.htm |title=Text of the accusation letter directed to John Paul II |language=es |publisher=Pepe-rodriguez.com |access-date=17 February 2013}}</ref>

In 1984 John Paul&nbsp;II appointed Joaquín Navarro-Valls, a member of Opus Dei, as Director of the [[Vatican Press Office]]. An Opus Dei spokesman said that "the influence of Opus Dei in the Vatican has been exaggerated".<ref>{{cite news |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4249444.stm |work=BBC News |title=Decoding secret world of Opus Dei |date=16 September 2005 |access-date=30 April 2010}}</ref> Of the nearly 200 cardinals in the Catholic Church, only two are known to be members of Opus Dei.<ref>Associated Press, "Opus Dei backs new pope", CNN, 19 April 2005.</ref>

Pope John Paul II was said to engage in [[Self-flagellation]], a practice of whipping oneself which is often used within Opus Dei.<ref name=BBC8375174/><ref name=themonastery>{{cite web |title=Antiquated Religious Rituals Live On in 21st Century |date=9 May 2019 |work=Universal Life Church Ministries |url=https://www.themonastery.org/blog/antiquated-religious-rituals-live-on-in-21st-century |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210119045244/https://www.themonastery.org/blog/antiquated-religious-rituals-live-on-in-21st-century |archive-date=19 January 2021 }}</ref><ref>[https://www.ncronline.org/news/vatican/pope-john-paul-practiced-self-mortification Pope John Paul practiced self-mortification]</ref>

=== Banco Ambrosiano scandal ===
{{Main|Banco Ambrosiano}}
John Paul II was alleged to have links with [[Banco Ambrosiano]], an Italian bank that collapsed in 1982.<ref name="NYTimes" /> At the centre of the bank's failure was its chairman, [[Roberto Calvi]], and his membership in the illegal [[Masonic Lodge]] [[Propaganda Due]] (aka P2). The [[Vatican Bank]] was Banco Ambrosiano's main shareholder, and the death of [[John Paul I]] in 1978 is rumoured to be linked to the Ambrosiano scandal.<ref name="Salinger2005" />

Calvi, often referred to as "God's Banker", was also involved with the Vatican Bank, and was close to Bishop [[Paul Marcinkus]], the bank's chairman. Ambrosiano also provided funds for political parties in Italy, and for both the [[Somoza]] dictatorship in Nicaragua and its [[Sandinista]] opposition. It has been widely alleged that the Vatican Bank provided money for [[Solidarity (Polish trade union)|Solidarity]] in Poland.<ref name="NYTimes" /><ref name="Salinger2005" />

Calvi used his complex network of overseas banks and companies to move money out of Italy, to inflate share prices, and to arrange massive unsecured loans. In 1978, the [[Bank of Italy]] produced a report on Ambrosiano that predicted future disaster.<ref name="Salinger2005" /> On 5 June 1982, two weeks before the collapse of Banco Ambrosiano, Calvi had written a letter of warning to John Paul II, stating that such a forthcoming event would "provoke a catastrophe of unimaginable proportions in which the Church will suffer the gravest damage".<ref name="TimesOnline" /> On 18 June 1982 Calvi's body was found hanging from scaffolding beneath [[Blackfriars Bridge]] in the financial district of London. Calvi's clothing was stuffed with bricks, and contained cash valued at US$14,000, in three different currencies.<ref name="GodsBanker" />

=== Problems with traditionalists ===
John Paul II was criticised by some [[traditionalist Catholics]], in addition to those demanding modernisation. Points of contention with traditionalists included demanding a return to the [[Tridentine Mass]],<ref name="HughHewitt" /> as well as the repudiation of reforms instituted after the Second Vatican Council, such as the use of the vernacular language in the formerly Latin-language [[Roman Rite]], [[ecumenism]], and the principle of [[religious liberty]].<ref>e.g. Marcel Lefebvre, ''An Open Letter to Confused Catholics'' (Herefordshire: Gracewing Publishing, 1986). {{ISBN|9780852440476}}.</ref> In 1988, the controversial traditionalist Archbishop [[Marcel Lefebvre]], founder of the [[Society of Saint Pius X]] (1970), was [[excommunicated]] under John Paul II because of the unapproved ordination of four bishops, which Cardinal Ratzinger called a "schismatic act".<ref>A discussion of the crucial work of Ratzinger (later pope) to attempt reconciliation between Lefebvre and the Holy See, ''vide'' John Thavis, ''The Vatican Diaries: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Power, Personalities, and Politics at the Heart of the Catholic Church'' (London: Penguin, 2014), 147–49. {{ISBN|9780143124535}}</ref>

The [[World Day of Prayer for Peace]],<ref name="Assisi4" /> a 1986 meeting in Assisi, Italy in which the pope prayed only with Christians,<ref name="SanRufino" /> was criticised for giving the impression that [[syncretism]] and [[indifferentism]]<!--Don't change it back to "syncretism and/or indifferentism" as "and" gives the same ambiguity, e.g., that the event embraced or syncretism or indifferentism or both; see [[MOS#And/or]]--> were openly embraced by the Papal [[Magisterium]]. When a second Day of Prayer for Peace in the World was held in 2002,<ref name="DayOfPrayer" /> it was condemned as confusing the laity and compromising to false religions. Likewise criticised was his kissing of the Qur'an in Damascus, Syria, on one of his travels on 6 May 2001.<ref name="Qu'ran" />{{Unreliable source?|date=August 2022}} His call for religious freedom was not always supported; bishops like [[Antônio de Castro Mayer]] promoted [[religious tolerance]] but at the same time rejected the Vatican II principle of religious liberty as being liberalist and already condemned by [[Pope Pius IX]] in his ''[[Syllabus errorum]]'' (1864) and at the [[First Vatican Council]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vu8E8GNnTIc |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/vu8E8GNnTIc| archive-date=11 December 2021 |url-status=live|title=Jan Paweł II Live at Vatican 1999 |publisher=YouTube |date=28 August 2011 |access-date=17 February 2013}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

=== Religion and AIDS ===
{{Main|Catholic Church and HIV/AIDS}}
John Paul II continued the tradition of advocating for the [[culture of life]]. In solidarity with [[Pope Paul VI]]'s ''[[Humanae vitae]]'', he rejected artificial birth control, even in the use of condoms to prevent the spread of [[AIDS]].<ref name="Condom" /> Critics have said that large families are caused by lack of contraception and exacerbate [[Third World]] poverty and problems, such as street children in South America. John Paul II argued that the proper way to prevent the spread of AIDS was not condoms but rather "correct practice of sexuality, which presupposes chastity and fidelity".<ref name="Condom" />

=== Social programmes ===
There was strong criticism of the Pope for the controversy surrounding the alleged use of charitable social programmes as a means of converting people in the Third World to Catholicism.<ref name="AsiaNews2" /><ref name="IndiaStar" /> The Pope created an uproar in the [[Indian subcontinent]] when he suggested that a great harvest of faith would be witnessed on the subcontinent in the third Christian millennium.<ref name="NCR2" />

=== Argentine military regime ===
John Paul II endorsed Cardinal [[Pio Laghi]], who critics say supported the [[Dirty War]] in Argentina and was on friendly terms with the Argentine generals of the [[National Reorganization Process|military dictatorship]], playing regular tennis matches with the Navy's representative in the junta, Admiral [[Emilio Eduardo Massera]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Argentine military dictator confirms Catholic Church hierarchy was well aware of the 'disappeared' |url=https://en.mercopress.com/2012/07/24/argentine-military-dictator-confirms-catholic-church-hierarchy-was-well-aware-of-the-disappeared |work=MercoPress |date=24 July 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Vatican says its ex-envoy is innocent |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1997/05/23/vatican-says-its-ex-envoy-is-innocent/dfe0ea8f-ee44-4999-85d2-e96e0aa9c694/ |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=23 May 1997}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Former Argentinian dictator says he told Catholic Church of disappeared |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/former-argentinian-dictator-says-he-told-catholic-church-of-disappeared-1.542154 |newspaper=The Irish Times |date=24 July 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Pio Laghi, Papal Envoy, Dies at 86 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/13/world/europe/13laghi.html |work=The New York Times |date=13 January 2009}}</ref>

=== Ian Paisley ===
In 1988, when John Paul II was delivering a speech to the [[European Parliament]], [[Ian Paisley]], the leader of the [[Democratic Unionist Party]] and [[Moderator of the General Assembly]] of the [[Free Presbyterian Church of Ulster]], shouted "I denounce you as the [[Antichrist]]!"<ref name="Paisley makes point">{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-northern-ireland-29179048 |title=Ian Paisley dies: How Paisley made his point |location=Belfast |publisher=[[BBC Northern Ireland]] |date=1988 |access-date=12 September 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Ian Paisley and politics of peace|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2010-mar-24-la-ed-paisley24-2010mar24-story.html |access-date=16 February 2012 |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=24 March 2010}} from 1:45&nbsp;m into video</ref> He held up a red banner reading "Pope John Paul II ANTICHRIST". [[Otto von Habsburg]] (the last [[Crown Prince of Austria-Hungary]]), a [[Member of the European Parliament]] (MEP) for Germany, snatched Paisley's banner, tore it up, and along with other MEPs helped eject him from the chamber.<ref name="Paisley makes point" /><ref name="BBCIreland" /><ref name="Paisley" /><ref name="NYT5" /><ref name="Cloud" /> The Pope continued with his address after Paisley had been ejected.<ref name="BBCIreland" /><ref name="MacDonald" /><ref name="Angelique" />

=== Međugorje apparitions ===
{{see also|Our Lady of Međugorje}}
A number of quotes about the [[Catholic Church response to the Medjugorje apparitions|apparitions of Međugorje]], in [[Bosnia and Herzegovina]], have been attributed to John Paul II.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.medjugorje.org/pope.htm |title=Quotes From Pope John Paul II On Međugorje |publisher=Medjugorje.org |access-date=4 August 2012}}</ref> In 1998, when a certain German gathered various statements that were supposedly made by the Pope and Cardinal Ratzinger, and then forwarded them to the Vatican in the form of a memorandum, Ratzinger responded in writing on 22 July 1998: "The only thing I can say regarding statements on [[Međugorje]] ascribed to the Holy Father and myself is that they are [''frei erfunden''] complete invention".{{sfn|Kutleša|2001|p=283}} Similar claims were also rebuked by the Vatican's Secretariate of State.{{sfn|Kutleša|2001|p=256}}

=== Beatification controversy ===
Some Catholic theologians disagreed with the call for the beatification of John Paul&nbsp;II. Eleven dissident theologians, including [[Jesuit]] professor José María Castillo and Italian theologian [[Giovanni Franzoni]], said that his stance against contraception and the ordination of women as well as the church scandals during his pontificate presented "facts which according to their consciences and convictions should be an obstacle to beatification".<ref>{{cite web |title=Dissident theologians participate in the canonization process of Pope John Paul II |url=https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/5583/dissident-theologians-participate-in-the-canonization-process-of-pope-john-paul-ii |website=[[Catholic News Agency]] |publisher=CNA |access-date=4 March 2020}}</ref> Some traditionalist Catholics opposed his beatification and canonisation for his views on liturgy and participation in prayer with enemies of the church, heretics and non-Christians.<ref>{{cite news |title=A Statement of Reservations Concerning the Impending Beatification of Pope John Paul II |date=21 March 2011 |author=Michael J. Matt |newspaper=[[The Remnant (newspaper)|The Remnant]] |access-date=2 May 2011|url=http://www.remnantnewspaper.com/2011-0331-statement-of-reservations-beatification.htm}}</ref>

After the 2020 report about the handling of the sexual misconduct complaints against [[Theodore McCarrick]], some called for John Paul II's sainthood to be revoked.<ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.wbur.org/cognoscenti/2020/11/12/pope-francis-theodore-mccarrick-clergy-sex-abuse-eileen-mcnamara| title = 'The Halo Is Hopelessly Tarnished': Why The Sainthood Of John Paul II Should Be Rescinded| date = 12 November 2020}}</ref>

== Personal life ==
[[File:Prof.Anna-Teresa_Tymieniecka.JPG|thumb|right|upright=0.65|[[Anna-Teresa Tymieniecka]] maintained a thirty-year friendship with Pope John Paul II.]]
{{external media| float = right| video1 = [https://www.c-span.org/video/?75377-1/pope-john-paul-ii Presentation by Carl Bernstein on ''His Holiness: John Paul II and the Hidden History of Our Time'', September 24, 1996], [[C-SPAN]]}}
Wojtyła was a [[KS Cracovia|Cracovia]] football team supporter, and the club retired number 1 in his honour.<ref>{{cite news|title=Cracovia is about the people – John Paul II|url=https://en.cracovia.pl/football/club/historia/jan_pawel_ii|access-date=4 April 2019|publisher=en.cracovia.pl|date=9 September 2010}}</ref> Having played the game himself as a goalkeeper, Wojtyla was a fan of English football team [[Liverpool F.C.]], where his compatriot [[Jerzy Dudek]] played in the same position.<ref>{{cite news|title=Pope supports Liverpool|url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/funny_old_game/3242602.stm|access-date=16 March 2016|work=BBC Sport|date=27 November 2003}}</ref>

In 1973, while still the archbishop of Kraków, Wojtyła befriended a Polish-born, later American philosopher, [[Anna-Teresa Tymieniecka]]. The thirty-two-year friendship (and occasional academic collaboration) lasted until his death.<ref name="Stourton" /><ref name="Guardian-letters" /><ref name="Telegraph 2016" /> She served as his host when he visited New England in 1976, and photos show them together on skiing and camping trips.<ref name="Telegraph 2016" /> Letters that he wrote to her were part of a collection of documents sold by Tymieniecka's estate in 2008 to the [[National Library of Poland]].<ref name="Telegraph 2016" /> According to the [[BBC]] the library had initially kept the letters from public view, partly because of John Paul's path to sainthood, but a library official announced in February 2016 the letters would be made public.<ref name="Telegraph 2016" /><ref>{{cite news|last1=Berendt|first1=Joanna|last2=Chan|first2=Sewell|title=Letters From Pope John Paul II Show Deep Friendship With Woman|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/16/world/europe/letters-from-pope-john-paul-ii-show-deep-friendship-with-woman.html|newspaper=The New York Times|access-date=16 February 2016|date=15 February 2016}}</ref> In February 2016, the BBC documentary program ''[[Panorama (TV series)|Panorama]]'' reported that John Paul II had apparently had a close relationship with the Polish-born philosopher.<ref name="Telegraph 2016" /><ref name="Panarama">[https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b071flrn Panorama report: The Secret Letters of Pope John Paul II] by [[Ed Stourton]], 15 February 2016</ref> The pair exchanged personal letters over 30 years, and Stourton believes that Tymieniecka had confessed her love for Wojtyła.<ref name="Stourton" /><ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/feb/15/pope-john-paul-ii-letters-reveal-32-year-relationship-with-woman Pope John Paul II letters reveal 32-year relationship with woman] by Stephanie Kirchgaessner, Rome, 15 February 2016</ref> The Vatican described the documentary as "more smoke than fire", and Tymieniecka denied being involved with John Paul II.<ref>[http://www.thenews.pl/1/10/Artykul/240672,Vatican-denies-JPII-letter-loveaffair-report Vatican dismisses JPII 'letter love-affair' probe:] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160215094249/http://www.thenews.pl/1/10/Artykul/240672,Vatican-denies-JPII-letter-loveaffair-report |date=15 February 2016}} 14 February 2016, The Vatican</ref><ref>{{cite web | last=Kelly | first=John | title=Pope John Paul II 'conducted secret romance with married woman' says documentary | website=Daily Mirror | date=2016-02-13 | url=https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/pope-john-paul-ii-conducted-7366760 | access-date=2025-06-08}}</ref>

Writers [[Carl Bernstein]], the veteran investigative journalist of the [[Watergate scandal]], and Vatican expert [[Marco Politi]], were the first journalists to talk to Anna-Teresa Tymieniecka in the 1990s about her importance in John Paul's life. They interviewed her and dedicated 20 pages to her in their 1996 book ''His Holiness''.<ref name="Stourton" /><ref name="Bernstein/Politi">[http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/02/15/did-pope-john-paul-ii-have-a-secret-lover.html Did Pope John Paul II Have a Secret Lover?] by Barbi Latzu Nadeau, 15 February 2016</ref><ref>''His Holiness: John Paul II & the History of Our Time''—Carl Bernstein, Marco Politi (1996)</ref> Bernstein and Politi even asked her if she had ever developed any romantic relationship with John Paul II, "however one-sided it might have been". She responded, "No, I never fell in love with the cardinal. How could I fall in love with a middle-aged clergyman? Besides, I'm a married woman."<ref name="Stourton" /><ref name="Bernstein/Politi" />

== See also ==
{{Portal|Biography|Christianity|History|Poland|Vatican City}}
* [[:Category:Beatifications by Pope John Paul II|Beatifications by Pope John Paul II]]
* [[Bolesław Taborski]]
* [[Cardinals created by John Paul II]]
* [[Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church]]
* [[Jerzy Kluger]]
* [[List of longest-reigning popes]]
* [[List of peace activists]]
* [[List of places named after Pope John Paul II]]
* [[List of popes]]
* [[List of pastoral visits of Pope John Paul II]]
* [[Museum of John Paul II and Primate Wyszynski]]
* [[Papal travel]]
* [[Peter Le Jacq]]

== Notes ==
{{notelist|30em}}

== Citations ==
<references>
<ref name="A&E">{{cite web |url=http://www.biography.com/people/john-paul-ii-9355652 |title=John Paul II Biography (1920–2005) |publisher=[[A&E Television Networks]] |access-date=1 January 2009}}</ref>

<ref name="ADL2006">{{cite web |url=http://www.adl.org/interfaith/JohnPaul_II_Visit.pdf |title=Pope John Paul II's Visit to Jordan, Israel and the Palestinian Authority: A Pilgrimage of Prayer, Hope and Reconciliation |last=Klenicki |first=Rabbi Leon |date=13 April 2006 |publisher=Anti-Defamation League |access-date=1 January 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081128213732/http://www.adl.org/Interfaith/JohnPaul_II_Visit.pdf |archive-date=28 November 2008}}</ref>
<ref name="Adherents">{{cite web |url=http://www.adherents.com/people/pg/Galileo_Galilei.html |title=The Religion of Galileo Galilei, Astronomer and Scientist |publisher=Adherents |year=2011 |access-date=12 July 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110629080248/http://www.adherents.com/people/pg/Galileo_Galilei.html |archive-date=29 June 2011 |url-status=usurped}}</ref>

<ref name="ABC">{{cite news |url=http://abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200601/s1558425.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071011084853/http://abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200601/s1558425.htm |archive-date=11 October 2007 |title=Vatican May Have Found Pope John Paul's 'Miracle' |date=31 January 2006|agency=Agence France-Presse (AFP), APTN, Reuters, CNN, BBC World Service |publisher= [[ABC (Australia)]] |access-date=1 January 2009}}</ref>

<ref name="abcNews">{{cite news |url=http://blogs.abcnews.com/theworldnewser/2009/11/pope-john-paul-iis-sainthood-on-fast-track.html |title=Pope John Paul II's Sainthood on Fast Track—The World Newser |work=ABC News |access-date=18 November 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091119103108/http://blogs.abcnews.com/theworldnewser/2009/11/pope-john-paul-iis-sainthood-on-fast-track.html |archive-date=19 November 2009}}</ref>

<ref name="Angelique">{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2004/sep/16/northernireland.northernireland |last=Chrisafis |first=Angelique |title=The Return of Dr No |work=The Guardian |date=16 September 2004 |location=London |access-date=22 October 2014}}</ref>

<ref name="archive">Roberts, Genevieve. {{cite web |url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4159/is_20050403/ai_n13509294 |title=The Death of Pope John Paul II: 'He Saved My Life—with Tea & Bread' |access-date=1 June 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071215035053/http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4159/is_20050403/ai_n13509294 |archive-date=15 December 2007}}, ''[[The Independent]]'', 3 April 2005. Retrieved 17 June 2007.</ref>

<ref name="AsiaNews">{{cite news |url=http://www.asianews.it/index.php?l=en&art=2947&dos=48&size=A |title=The Philippines, 1995: Pope Dreams of "The Third Millennium of Asia" |date=4 April 2005 |publisher=AsiaNews |access-date=1 January 2009}}</ref>
<ref name="Arlington">{{cite web |url=http://www.catholiceducation.org/articles/religion/re0795.html |title=John Paul the Great |last=Saunders |first=Fr. William |work=Catholic Herald |year=2005 |access-date=1 January 2009 |archive-date=9 February 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140209152018/http://www.catholiceducation.org/articles/religion/re0795.html |url-status=dead}}</ref>

<ref name="BBC-beatify">{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-12191423 |title=Pope Benedict Paves Way to Beatification of John Paul II |work=BBC News |access-date=14 January 2011 |date=14 January 2011}}</ref>

<ref name="Assisi4">{{cite web|url=https://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/speeches/1986/october/documents/hf_jp-ii_spe_19861027_prayer-peace-assisi-final_en.html |title=Address to the Representatives of the Christian Churches and Ecclesial Communities and of the World Religions |date=27 October 1986 |publisher=Libreria Editrice Vaticana |access-date=12 January 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081227130309/https://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/speeches/1986/october/documents/hf_jp-ii_spe_19861027_prayer-peace-assisi-final_en.html |archive-date=27 December 2008}}</ref>
<ref name="AsiaNews2">{{cite news|url=http://www.asianews.it/view.php?l=en&art=4009 |title=India: Hindu Extremists Against Grants to Missionaries |last=Carvalho |first=Nirmala |date=8 December 2005 |publisher=AsiaNews |access-date=12 January 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080620011317/http://www.asianews.it/view.php?l=en&art=4009 |archive-date=20 June 2008}}</ref>

<ref name="CBN">{{cite web |url=http://www.cbn.com/spirituallife/ChurchAndMinistry/KarolWojtylaPopeJohnPaulTimeline.aspx |title=Karol Wojtyła (Pope John Paul II) Timeline |access-date=1 January 2009 |publisher=[[Christian Broadcasting Network]]}}</ref>

<ref name="Bottum">{{cite news |url=http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/005/469kzdxb.asp |archive-url=https://archive.today/20050409012028/http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/005/469kzdxb.asp |url-status=dead |archive-date=9 April 2005 |title=John Paul the Great |last=Bottum |first=Joseph |author-link=Joseph Bottum (author) |date=18 April 2005 |work=The Weekly Standard|pages=1–2 |access-date=1 January 2009}}</ref>

<ref name="CBN2">{{cite news |url=http://www.cbn.com/spirituallife/ChurchAndMinistry/PopeJohnPaulIITimeline.aspx |title=CBN Pope John Paul II Timeline—CBN.com Spiritual Life |agency=The Associated Press |publisher=[[Christian Broadcasting Network]]|year=2011 |access-date=28 June 2011}}</ref>

<ref name="CNN6">{{cite news |url=http://edition.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2005/pope/stories/bio1/index.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050406014535/http://edition.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2005/pope/stories/bio1/index.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=6 April 2005 |title=CNN Report Pope John Paul II 1920–2005 |work=CNN|access-date=1 January 2009}}</ref>

<ref name="BBCIsrael">{{cite news |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/march/26/newsid_4168000/4168803.stm |title=2000: Pope Prays for Holocaust Forgiveness |date=26 March 2000 |work=BBC News |access-date=1 January 2009}}</ref>

<ref name="CNNLive">{{cite news |url=http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0504/08/se.01.html |title=CNN Live event transcript |date=8 April 2005 |work=CNN|access-date=1 January 2009}}</ref>

<ref name="CBCNews">{{cite news|url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/obit/pope/communism_homeland.html |title=Pope Stared Down Communism in His Homeland—and Won |date=April 2005 |author=CBC News Online |publisher=Religion News Service |access-date=1 January 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080630153609/http://www.cbc.ca/news/obit/pope/communism_homeland.html |archive-date=30 June 2008}}</ref>

<ref name="Concert">{{cite news |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/3255607.stm |title=Orchestra to make Vatican History |date=9 November 2003 |work=BBC News |access-date=1 January 2009}}</ref>

<ref name="Catechism">{{cite web|url=https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P29.HTM#-149 |title=Catechism of the Catholic Church |work=Vatican archives |publisher=Libreria Editrice Vaticana |access-date=1 January 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150407052252/https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P29.HTM |archive-date=7 April 2015}}</ref>

<ref name="CBC2">{{cite news |title="Pope John Paul Injured in 1982 Knife Attack", says Aide |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/pope-john-paul-injured-in-1982-knife-attack-says-aide-1.694776 |publisher=CBC News |access-date=1 January 2009 |date=16 October 2008}}</ref>

<ref name="BBCLastWords">{{cite news |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4257994.stm |title=John Paul's Last Words Revealed |date=18 April 2005 |work=BBC News |access-date=1 January 2009}}</ref>

<ref name="CNN">{{cite news |url=http://edition.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/europe/04/08/pope.funeral/index.html |title=Pope John Paul II Buried in Vatican Crypt; Millions around the World Watch Funeral |access-date=1 January 2009 |work=CNN|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080613162604/http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/europe/04/08/pope.funeral/index.html |archive-date=13 June 2008}}</ref>

<ref name="BBCMiracle">{{cite news |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4428149.stm |title=City of Rome Celebrates 'Miracle' |last=Holmes |first=Stephanie |date=9 April 2005 |work=BBC News |access-date=1 January 2009}}</ref>

<ref name="Beltway">{{cite web |url=http://www.outsidethebeltway.com/archives/pope_john_paul_ii_funeral/ |title=Pope John Paul II Funeral |access-date=1 January 2009 |publisher=Outside the Beltway|date=8 April 2005}}</ref>

<ref name="Canonisation">{{cite news|url=https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/csaints/documents/rc_con_csaints_doc_20050509_rescritto-gpii_en.html |title=Response of His Holiness Benedict XVI for the Examination of the Beatification and Canonization of The Servant of God John Paul II |date=9 May 2005 |work=Vatican News |publisher=Libreria Editrice Vaticana |access-date=1 January 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090105024819/https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/csaints/documents/rc_con_csaints_doc_20050509_rescritto-gpii_en.html |archive-date=5 January 2009}}</ref>

<ref name="catholicnewsagency">[https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/3878/pope-benedict-forgoes-waiting-period-begins-john-paul-ii-beatification-process "Pope Benedict Forgoes Waiting Period, begins John Paul II Beatification Process"] [[Catholic News Agency]] 13 May 2005 Retrieved 1 May 2011</ref>

<ref name="Cause">{{cite web|url=http://www.vicariatusurbis.org/Beatificazione/English/HomePage.htm |title=Cause for Beatification and Canonization of The Servant of God: ''John Paul II'' |publisher=Vicariato di Roma—III Piano Postulazione Piazza San Giovanni in Laterano |access-date=1 January 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081216024153/http://www.vicariatusurbis.org/Beatificazione/English/HomePage.htm |archive-date=16 December 2008}}</ref>
<ref name="BBCIreland">{{cite news |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/3411419.stm |title= Paisley's Exit from Europe |first=Mark |last=Davenport |work=BBC News |date=19 January 2004 |access-date=28 January 2012}}</ref>

<ref name="Catholic">{{cite news|url=http://www.archive.catholicherald.co.uk/articles/a0000522.shtml |title=Child 'Able to Walk Again' After Praying at Pope's Tomb |work=Catholic Herald |access-date=1 May 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120117035241/http://www.archive.catholicherald.co.uk/articles/a0000522.shtml |archive-date=17 January 2012}}</ref>

<ref name="Catholic Culture">{{cite web |url=http://www.catholicculture.org/news/headlines/index.cfm?storyid=4630 |title=Beatification Looms Closer for John Paul II |publisher=catholicculture.org |access-date=18 November 2009}}</ref>

<ref name="Condom">{{cite news |url=http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,1979145,00.html |title=Catholic Church to Ease Ban on Condom Use |date=24 April 2006 |publisher=Deutsche Welle |access-date=12 January 2009}}</ref>

<ref name="charteryouth">{{cite web |url=http://www.usccb.org/ocyp/charter.shtml|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110426023931/http://www.usccb.org/ocyp/charter.shtml |archive-date=26 April 2011 |title=Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People |access-date=8 October 2007 |publisher=United States Conference of Catholic Bishops |year=2005 |author=United States Conference of Catholic Bishops}}</ref>

<ref name="Cloud">{{cite web|url=http://www.freepres.org/paisley.asp?paisley |title=Free Presbyterian Church—Dr. Ian Paisley |first=David W. |last=Cloud |work=freepres.org |year=2012 |access-date=28 January 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110930182819/http://www.freepres.org/paisley.asp?paisley |archive-date=30 September 2011}}</ref>

<ref name="EdithZ">{{cite web |url=http://voices.iit.edu/Profiles/ziere_p.html |title=Profile of Edith Zierier (1946) |work=Voices of the Holocaust |publisher=2000 Paul V. Galvin Library, Illinois Institute of Technology |access-date=1 January 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080419140949/http://voices.iit.edu/Profiles/ziere_p.html |archive-date=19 April 2008}}</ref>

<ref name="Dalai">{{cite news |url=http://www.asianews.it/index.php?art=2937&l=en |title=Dalai Lama mourns Pope John Paul II, "A True Spiritual Practitioner" |date=4 March 2005 |publisher=AsiaNews |access-date=1 January 2009}}</ref>

<ref name="Crossing the Threshold of Hope">{{cite book |author=Pope John Paul II |title=Crossing the Threshold of Hope |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780679765615 |url-access=limited |publisher=Alfred A. Knopf, Inc |year=1994 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780679765615/page/93 93]–94 |isbn=978-0-679-76561-5}}</ref>

<ref name="DayOfPrayer">{{cite news|url=https://www.vatican.va/news_services/liturgy/documents/ns_lit_doc_20020124_assisi-giornata_en.html |title=Day of Prayer for Peace in the World |date=24 January 2002 |work=Vatican archives |publisher=Libreria Editrice Vaticana |access-date=12 January 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090515183234/https://www.vatican.va/news_services/liturgy/documents/ns_lit_doc_20020124_assisi-giornata_en.html |archive-date=15 May 2009}}</ref>

<ref name="IHT">{{cite news |url=http://www.dialog.org/hist/JohnPaulII-EdithZierer.htm |title=John Paul II met with Edith Zierer: The Polish Seminary Student and the Jewish Girl He Saved |first=Roger |last=Cohen |work=International Herald Tribune |year=2011 |access-date=28 January 2012 |archive-date=9 February 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140209190231/http://www.dialog.org/hist/JohnPaulII-EdithZierer.htm |url-status=dead}}</ref>

<ref name="HV">{{cite web|url=https://www.vatican.va/holy_father/paul_vi/encyclicals/documents/hf_p-vi_enc_25071968_humanae-vitae_en.html |title=Humanae vitae |access-date=1 January 2009 |date=25 July 1968 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110303114045/https://www.vatican.va/holy_father/paul_vi/encyclicals/documents/hf_p-vi_enc_25071968_humanae-vitae_en.html |archive-date=3 March 2011}}</ref>

<ref name="Ireland">{{cite news |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/4229807.stm |title=Irish Remember the 1979 Papal Visit |date=2 April 2005 |work=BBC News |access-date=1 January 2009}}</ref>

<ref name="Kuhiwczak">{{cite news |url=http://www.thenews.pl/news/artykul21561.html |title=A Literary Pope |last=Kuhiwczak |first=Piotr |date=1 January 2007 |publisher=[[Polish Radio]] |access-date=1 May 2011 |archive-date=1 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181001045511/http://www.thenews.pl/news/artykul21561.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>

<ref name="Haiti: The Duvalier Years">{{cite book |last=Abbott |first=Elizabeth |title=Haiti: The Duvalier Years |publisher=McGraw Hill Book Company |year=1988 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/haitiduvaliersth00abbo/page/260 260–262] |isbn=978-0-07-046029-4 |url=https://archive.org/details/haitiduvaliersth00abbo/page/260}}</ref>

<ref name="Gorbachev">{{cite news |url=http://edition.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/europe/04/03/pope.gorbachev/index.html |title=Gorbachev: Pope John Paul II was an 'Example to All of Us' |date=4 April 2005 |work=CNN|access-date=1 January 2009}}</ref>
<ref name="Lama">{{cite news|url=http://www.wwrn.org/article.php?idd=15239&sec=52&cont=5 |title=Pope John Paul II Meets With Dalai Lama |last=Simpson |first=Victor L. |date=27 November 2003 |publisher=WorldWide Religious News |access-date=1 January 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071014070701/http://www.wwrn.org/article.php?idd=15239&sec=52&cont=5 |archive-date=14 October 2007}}</ref>

<ref name="Gazette">{{cite news |url=http://www.post-gazette.com/ae/20031108pope1108p1.asp |title=Pittsburgh Symphony to Perform for Pope |last=Pitz |first=Marylynne |author2=Andrew Druckenbrod |date=8 November 2003 |work=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette |access-date=1 January 2009}}</ref>

<ref name="ItalianPanel">{{cite news | title=Soviets 'had Pope shot for backing Solidarity' | newspaper=[[The Daily Telegraph|The Telegraph]] | date=3 March 2006 | url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/italy/1512012/Soviets-had-Pope-shot-for-backing-Solidarity.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220110/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/italy/1512012/Soviets-had-Pope-shot-for-backing-Solidarity.html |archive-date=10 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

<ref name="Memory">{{cite news |url=http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2005/pope/stories/legacy/index.html |title=John Paul II: A Strong Moral Vision |date=11 February 2005 |work=CNN|access-date=1 January 2009}}</ref>

<ref name="Krohn">{{cite news |title=Pope John Paul 'Wounded' in 1982 |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7673443.stm |work=BBC News |access-date=1 January 2009 |date=16 October 2008}}</ref>

<ref name="Mexico">{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2002/07/30/world/pope-to-visit-a-mexico-divided-over-his-teachings.html |title=Pope to Visit a Mexico Divided Over His Teachings |last=Thompson |first=Ginger |date=30 July 2002 |work=The New York Times |access-date=22 October 2014}}</ref>

<ref name="FirstSpeech">{{cite news |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4462443.stm |title=Text: Benedict XVI's first speech |date=19 April 2005 |work=BBC News |access-date=1 January 2009|quote=Dear brothers and sisters, after the great Pope John Paul II, the cardinals have elected me, a simple and humble worker in the Lord's vineyard. The fact that the Lord can work and act even with insufficient means consoles me, and above all I entrust myself to your prayers. In the joy of the resurrected Lord, we go on with his help. He is going to help us and Mary will be on our side. Thank you.}}</ref>

<ref name="Homily">{{cite web|url=https://www.vatican.va/gpII/documents/sodano-suffragio-jp-ii_20050403_en.html |title=Eucharistic Concelebration for the Repose of the Soul of Pope John Paul II: Homily of Card. '''Angelo Sodano''' |date=3 April 2005 |publisher=The Holy See |access-date=1 January 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081225040959/https://www.vatican.va/gpII/documents/sodano-suffragio-jp-ii_20050403_en.html |archive-date=25 December 2008}}</ref>

<ref name="Koehler2011">{{cite book |author=John O. Koehler |title=Spies in the Vatican: The Soviet Union's Cold War Against the Catholic Church |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HzlpRQAACAAJ |access-date=4 February 2012 |date=14 February 2011 |publisher=Pegasus Books |isbn=978-1-60598-140-6}}</ref>

<ref name="Hollingshead">{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2006/apr/01/catholicism.religion |title=Whatever Happened to … Canonising John Paul II? |last=Hollingshead |first=Iain |author-link=Iain Hollingshead |date=1 April 2006 |work=The Guardian |location=UK |access-date=22 October 2014}}</ref>

<ref name="Mosque">{{cite news |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/1316812.stm |title=Mosque visit crowns Pope's tour |last=Plett |first=Barbara |date=7 May 2001 |work=BBC News |access-date=1 January 2009}}</ref>

<ref name="GodsBanker">{{cite news |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/june/19/newsid_3092000/3092625.stm |title=BBC on This Day &#124; 1982: 'God's Banker' Found Hanged |work=BBC News |date=19 June 1982 |access-date=27 January 2012}}</ref>

<ref name="nationalreview">{{cite magazine |author=Mark Riebling |url=http://article.nationalreview.com/print/?q=NGE5MTJhYWMzODI0NTZiMWFhZmEzYmQwZmZlYmIyZmM= |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120701123311/http://article.nationalreview.com/print/?q=NGE5MTJhYWMzODI0NTZiMWFhZmEzYmQwZmZlYmIyZmM= |url-status=dead |archive-date=1 July 2012 |title=Reagan's Pope: The Cold War Alliance of Ronald Reagan and Pope John Paul II |date=7 April 2005 |magazine=National Review |access-date=12 September 2010}}</ref>

<ref name="Hooper1">{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2007/mar/29/catholicism.religion |title=Mystery Nun The Key to Pope John Paul II's Case for Sainthood |last=Hooper |first=John |date=29 March 2007 |newspaper=The Guardian |access-date=1 January 2009 |location=London}}</ref>

<ref name="MsnbcNews2">{{cite news |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna12083308 |title=Perhaps 'Saint John Paul the Great?' |last=Weeke |first=Stephen |date=31 March 2006 |work=NBC News |access-date=1 January 2009}}</ref>

<ref name="Homily-Blonie-Park">{{cite news |title=900,000 Gather for Mass with Pope Benedict |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/28/world/europe/28iht-web.0528pope.html |date=28 May 2006 |access-date=22 October 2014 |work=International Herald Tribune}}</ref>

<ref name="NewPope">{{cite news |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/hi/world/pope/choosing/html/announcement.stm |title=New Pope Announced |work=BBC News |access-date=1 January 2009}}</ref>

<ref name="Hope">{{cite news |url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/faith/article5927046.ece |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100601012524/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/faith/article5927046.ece |url-status=dead |archive-date=1 June 2010 |title=Hopes Raised for Pope John Paul II's Beatification -Times Online |work=The Times |location=UK |access-date=1 January 2009 |first=Richard |last=Owen}}</ref>

<ref name="NewYorkTimes3">{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/09/21/world/pope-to-leave-for-kazakhstan-and-armenia-this-weekend.html |title=Pope to Leave for Kazakhstan and Armenia This Weekend |last=Henneberger |first=Melinda |date=21 September 2001 |work=The New York Times |access-date=22 October 2014}}</ref>

<ref name="HughHewitt">{{cite news |url=http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/005/454iylel.asp |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130106095645/http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/005/454iylel.asp |url-status=dead |archive-date=6 January 2013 |title=Criticizing John Paul II : Yet Another Thing The Mainstream Press Does Not Understand About The Catholic Church |last=Hewitt |first=Hugh |date=4 June 2005 |work=The Weekly Standard |access-date=10 January 2009}}</ref>

<ref name="IndiaStar">{{cite news|url=http://www.indiastar.com/DhiruShah.htm |title=Mother Teresa's Hidden Mission in India: Conversion to Christianity |last=Shah |first=Dhiru |work=IndiaStar |access-date=12 January 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080714130659/http://www.indiastar.com/DhiruShah.htm |archive-date=14 July 2008}}</ref>
<ref name="NYTimes">{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1982/07/28/world/italy-s-mysterious-deepening-bank-scandal.html?pagewanted=all |title=Italy's Mysterious Deepening Bank Scandal |first=Paul |last=Lewis |work=The New York Times |date=28 July 1982 |issn=0362-4331 |access-date=25 January 2012}}</ref>

<ref name="Independent">{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/millions-mourn-pope-at-historys-largest-funeral-757246.html |title=The Independent:''"Millions Mourn Pope at History's Largest Ever Funeral"'' |access-date=1 January 2009 |location=London |date=8 April 2005 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081201121502/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/millions-mourn-pope-at-historys-largest-funeral-757246.html |archive-date=1 December 2008}}</ref>

<ref name="OnThisDay">{{cite news |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/june/2/newsid_3972000/3972361.stm |title=1979: Millions Cheer as the Pope Comes Home |work=BBC News |access-date=1 January 2009 |date=2 June 1979}}</ref>

<ref name="JohnJay">{{cite book<!--gives italic title--> |author=Terry, Karen |title=The Nature and Scope of the Problem of Sexual Abuse of Minors by Priests and Deacons |publisher=John Jay College of Criminal Justice |year=2004 |url=http://www.usccb.org/nrb/johnjaystudy/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050425210409/http://www.usccb.org/nrb/johnjaystudy/ |archive-date=25 April 2005|display-authors=etal}}</ref>

<ref name="LastWords">{{cite news |url=http://www.catholicculture.org/news/features/index.cfm?recnum=39699 |title=Final Days, Last Words of Pope John Paul II |date=20 September 2005 |publisher=Catholic World News (CWN) |access-date=1 January 2009}}</ref>

<ref name="Last Will">{{cite web|url=http://www.zenit.org/article-12691?l=english |title=ZENIT: ''John Paul II's Last Will and Testament'' |access-date=1 January 2009 |publisher=Innovative Media, Inc |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080917184838/http://www.zenit.org/article-12691?l=english |archive-date=17 September 2008}}</ref>

<ref name="Moore1">{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2009919/Pope-John-Paul-II-on-course-to-become-saint-in-record-time.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220110/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2009919/Pope-John-Paul-II-on-course-to-become-saint-in-record-time.html |archive-date=10 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=Pope John Paul II on Course to Become Saint in Record Time |last=Moore |first=Malcolm |date=22 May 2008 |work=Daily Telegraph |location=UK |access-date=1 January 2009}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

<ref name="Philharmonic">{{cite web|url=http://www.lpc.org.uk/tour_200401_rome.html |title=Papal Concert of Reconciliation |date=11 January 2005 |publisher=London Philharmonic Choir |access-date=1 January 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081120125830/http://www.lpc.org.uk/tour_200401_rome.html |archive-date=20 November 2008}}</ref>

<ref name="MacDonald">{{cite news |last=MacDonald |first=Susan |title=Paisley Ejected for Insulting Pope |work=The Times |date=2 October 1988}}</ref>

<ref name="Metro">{{cite news|url=http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/homepage/x1864535984 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20121209091254/http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/homepage/x1864535984 |url-status=dead |archive-date=9 December 2012 |title=John Paul II on Fast Track for Canonisation—Framingham, Massachusetts—The MetroWest Daily News |newspaper=Metrowest Daily News |access-date=1 January 2009}}</ref>
<ref name="PopeEgypt">{{cite news |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/654651.stm |title=Pope Pleads for Harmony between Faiths |date=24 February 2000 |work=BBC News |access-date=1 January 2009}}</ref>

<ref name="Miracle-americancatholic">{{cite news|url=http://www.americancatholic.org/Features/JohnPaulII/JPIInun.asp |title=French nun says life has changed since she was healed thanks to JPII |access-date=1 January 2009 |publisher=Catholic News Service |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090407012845/http://www.americancatholic.org/Features/JohnPaulII/JPIInun.asp |archive-date=7 April 2009}}</ref>

<ref name="Miracle-catholicnews">{{cite news|url=http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0901522.htm |title=CNS STORY: For Pope John Paul II, Beatification Process may be on Final Lap |publisher=[[Catholic News Service]] |access-date=1 January 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=http://arquivo.pt/wayback/20091005064512/http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0901522.htm |archive-date=5 October 2009}}</ref>

<ref name="MMoore">{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/1564061/Clamour-for-free-Pope-John-Paul-II-relics.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220110/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/1564061/Clamour-for-free-Pope-John-Paul-II-relics.html |archive-date=10 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=Clamour for free Pope John Paul II relics |last=Moore |first=Malcolm |date=25 September 2007 |newspaper=The Telegraph |access-date=1 January 2009 |location=London}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

<ref name="Murphy-Brian">{{cite news |last=Murphy |first=Brian |title=Faithful hold key to 'the Great' honour for John Paul |agency=Associated Press |date=5 April 2005}}</ref>

<ref name="ncregister">{{cite web |url=http://catholic.net/index.php?size=mas&id=2673&option=dedestaca |title=Blessed John Paul II? |publisher=ncregister.com |access-date=7 March 2011}}</ref>

<ref name="Rise">{{cite book|first1=Pope |last1=John Paul II |title=Rise, Let Us Be On Our Way |publisher=Warner Books |isbn=978-0-446-57781-6 |year=2004 |url=https://archive.org/details/riseletusbeonour00john}}</ref>

<ref name="NCR2">{{cite news |url=http://www.nationalcatholicreporter.org/update/conclave/jp_obit_main.htm |title=The Death of the Pope: Analysis of Pope John Paul II's reign |last=Allen |first=John L. Jr. |newspaper=National Catholic Reporter |access-date=12 January 2009}}</ref>

<ref name="Salinger2005">{{cite book |author=Lawrence M. Salinger |title=Encyclopedia of White-Collar & Corporate Crime |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AXS6jz6AeQ0C |access-date=25 January 2012 |year=2005 |publisher=Sage |isbn=978-0-7619-3004-4}}</ref>

<ref name="PopeApologises">{{cite news |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/1671540.stm |title=Pope sends first e-mail apology |work=BBC News |date=23 November 2001 |quote=from a laptop in the Vatican's frescoed Clementine Hall the 81-year-old pontiff transmitted the message, his first 'virtual' apology. |access-date=30 January 2012}}</ref>

<ref name="SanFrancisco">{{cite news |title=The 1981 Assassination Attempt of Pope John Paul II, The Grey Wolves, and Turkish & U.S. Government Intelligence Agencies |last=Lee |first=Martin A. |date=14 May 2001 |publisher=San Francisco Bay Guardian |pages=23, 25}}</ref>

<ref name="Noonan">{{cite news |url=http://www.opinionjournal.com/columnists/pnoonan/?id=110002074 |title=John Paul the Great: What the 12 Million Know—and I Found Out Too |last=Noonan |first=Peggy |author-link=Peggy Noonan |date=2 August 2002 |work=The Wall Street Journal |access-date=1 January 2009}}</ref>

<ref name="scapolare">{{cite book |title=Lo Scapolare del Carmelo |language=it |trans-title=The Scapular of Carmel |publisher=Shalom |year=2005 |isbn=978-88-8404-081-7 |page=6}}</ref>

<ref name="Noonan2">{{cite book|last=Noonan |first=Peggy |author-link=Peggy Noonan |title=John Paul the Great: Remembering a Spiritual Father |publisher=Penguin Group (USA) |date=November 2005 |isbn=978-0-670-03748-3 |url=https://archive.org/details/johnpaulgreatrem00noon |access-date=1 January 2009}}</ref>

<ref name="NYT5">{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/10/16/weekinreview/headliners-papal-audience.html |title=Headliners; Papal Audience |work=The New York Times |date=16 October 1988 |access-date=22 October 2014}}</ref>

<ref name="ShortBio">{{cite web|url=https://www.vatican.va/news_services/press/documentazione/documents/santopadre_biografie/giovanni_paolo_ii_biografia_breve_en.html |title=His Holiness John Paul II : Short Biography |date=30 June 2005 |work=[[Vatican Press Office]] |access-date=1 January 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081230180529/https://www.vatican.va/news_services/press/documentazione/documents/santopadre_biografie/giovanni_paolo_ii_biografia_breve_en.html |archive-date=30 December 2008}}</ref>

<ref name="OReilly-David">{{cite news |last=O'Reilly |first=David |title=Papal Legacy: Will History use the name John Paul the Great? |publisher=Knight Ridder Newspapers |newspaper=Detroit Free Press |date=4 April 2005 |quote=Pope John Paul the Great was a name suggested by many for Karol Józef Wojtyła. Through all its long history, the Catholic Church has conferred the posthumous title of "Great" on just two popes: Leo I and Gregory I, both of whom reigned in the first thousand years of Christianity}}</ref>

<ref name="Opus2">{{cite web |url=http://www.americamagazine.org/content/articles/martin-opusdei.cfm |title=Opus Dei in The United States |last=Martin, S.J. |first=James |date=25 February 1995 |publisher=America Press Inc. |access-date=10 January 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090116173841/http://www.americamagazine.org/content/articles/martin-opusdei.cfm |archive-date=16 January 2009}}</ref>

<ref name="Paisley">{{cite web |url=http://www.ianpaisley.org/article.asp?ArtKey=docs |title=Historical Documents Reveal Former Pope's Plans |first=Ian R.K. |last=Paisley |work=ianpaisley.org |year=2012 |access-date=28 January 2012}}</ref>

<ref name="Parkinsons2001">{{cite news |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/1944464.stm |title=Profile: Pope John Paul II |work=BBC News |date=February 2005 |access-date=22 October 2014}}</ref>

<ref name="Time1978">{{cite news |url=http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,912229,00.html |title=A "Foreign" Pope |date=30 October 1978 |work=Time magazine |page=1 |access-date=1 January 2009}} {{Subscription required}}</ref>

<ref name="Pisa">{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/italy/1513421/Vatican-hid-Popes-Parkinsons-disease-diagnosis-for-12-years.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220110/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/italy/1513421/Vatican-hid-Popes-Parkinsons-disease-diagnosis-for-12-years.html |archive-date=10 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=Vatican hid Pope's Parkinson's Disease Diagnosis for 12 Years |last=Pisa |first=Nick |date=18 March 2006 |work=Daily Telegraph |access-date=1 January 2009 |location=London}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

<ref name="Time1978b">{{cite news |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,912229-4,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071104001716/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,912229-4,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=4 November 2007 |title=A Foreign Pope |date=30 October 1978 |work=Time magazine |page=4 |access-date=1 January 2009}} {{Subscription required}}</ref>

<ref name="Poland2006">{{cite web |url=https://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/speeches/2006/may/documents/hf_ben-xvi_spe_20060525_poland-clergy_en.html |title=Pastoral Visit by Pope Benedict XVI to Poland 2006: Address by the Holy Father |date=25 May 2006 |publisher=Libreria Editrice Vaticana |access-date=1 January 2009}}</ref>

<ref name="Pope John Paul II's body exhumed ahead of beatification">{{cite news |title=Pope John Paul II's Body Exhumed ahead of Beatification Mass|url=https://www.pri.org/stories/2011-04-29/pope-john-paul-iis-body-exhumed-ahead-beatification-mass |website=Public Radio International|date=29 April 2011|access-date=15 June 2017}}</ref>

<ref name="Retire2">{{cite news |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6288165.stm |title=Late Pope 'Thought of Retiring' |date=22 January 2007 |work=BBC News |access-date=1 January 2009}}</ref>

<ref name="upi">{{cite news |url=http://www.upi.com/Audio/Year_in_Review/Events-of-1978/The-Election-of-Pope-John-Paul-II/12309251197005-5/ |title=1978 Year in Review: The Election of Pope John Paul II |publisher=UPI |date=6 December 1978 |access-date=17 February 2013}}</ref>

<ref name="Qu'ran">{{cite web |url=http://www.traditioninaction.org/RevolutionPhotos/A055rcKoran.htm |title=John Paul II kisses the Koran |date=14 May 1999 |publisher=Tradition in Action |access-date=12 January 2009}}</ref>

<ref name="Ratti">{{cite news |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9D02EED61130EE3ABC4F53DFB4668389639EDE |title=Cardinal Ratti New Pope as Pius XI |date=7 February 1922 |work=The New York Times |access-date=1 January 2009}}</ref>

<ref name="Ratti2">{{cite news |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1922/02/07/98979971.pdf |title=Cardinal Ratti New Pope as Pius XI, Full Article|date=7 February 1922 |work=The New York Times |access-date=1 January 2009}}</ref>

<ref name="Reuters3">{{cite news |title=John Paul was Wounded in 1982 Stabbing, Aide Reveals |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/peopleNews/idUSTRE49E5RM20081015 |work=Reuters |access-date=1 January 2009 |date=15 October 2008}}</ref>

<ref name="upi2">{{cite news |url=http://www.upi.com/Audio/Year_in_Review/Events-of-1981/Pope-John-Paul-II-Assasination-Attempt/12311754163167-6/ |title=1981 Year in Review: Pope John Paul II Assassination Attempt |publisher=UPI |date=20 June 1981 |access-date=17 February 2013}}</ref>

<ref name="Saints2">{{cite news |url=http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=5603 |publisher=Catholic Online |title=St. Josemaría Escriva de Balaguer |access-date=1 January 2009}}</ref>

<ref name="Thomas2000">{{cite book |author=Gordon Thomas |title=Gideon's Spies—Mossad's Secret Warriors|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=p1ylPwAACAAJ |access-date=15 December 2011|year=2000 |publisher=Pan Books|isbn=978-0-330-37537-5}}</ref>

<ref name="sexabusereport">{{cite news |last=Filteau |first=Jerry |title=Report says Clergy Sexual Abuse Brought 'Smoke of Satan' into Church |publisher=Catholic News Service |year=2004 |url=http://www.catholicnews.com/data/abuse/abuse08.htm |archive-url=http://arquivo.pt/wayback/20091004222624/http://www.catholicnews.com/data/abuse/abuse08.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=4 October 2009 |access-date=10 March 2008}}</ref>

<ref name="ThePlot">{{cite news |url=http://www.latimes.com/news/specials/911/la-na-plot-1sep01.story|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030412091134/http://www.latimes.com/news/specials/911/la-na-plot-1sep01.story|archive-date=12 April 2003 |title=The Plot |last=McDermott |first=Terry |date=1 September 2002 |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |access-date=1 January 2009}}</ref>

<ref name="SanRufino">{{cite web|url=https://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/speeches/1986/october/documents/hf_jp-ii_spe_19861027_san-rufino-assisi_en.html |title=Address to the Representatives of the other Christian Churches and Ecclesial Communities |date=27 October 1986 |publisher=Libreria Editrice Vaticana |access-date=12 January 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090417143557/https://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/speeches/1986/october/documents/hf_jp-ii_spe_19861027_san-rufino-assisi_en.html |archive-date=17 April 2009}}</ref>

<ref name="Southern">{{cite web |url=http://www.scross.co.za/?s=John+Paul+the+Great |title=The Southern Cross: John Paul the Great |access-date=1 January 2009 |publisher=The Southern Cross 2008 by Posmay Media}}</ref>

<ref name="sexabuse">{{cite news |last=Owen |first=Richard |title=Pope Calls for Continuous Prayer to Rid Priesthood of Paedophilia |work=Times Online UK edition |date=7 January 2008 |url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/faith/article3142511.ece |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080109190530/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/faith/article3142511.ece |url-status=dead |archive-date=9 January 2008 |access-date=31 March 2008|location=London}}</ref>
<ref name="Trinity">{{cite news |url=http://www.catholicculture.org/news/features/index.cfm?recnum=42131 |title=Miracle attributed to John Paul II involved Parkinson's disease |date=30 January 2006 |work=Catholic World News (CWN) |publisher=2009 Trinity Communications |access-date=1 January 2009}}</ref>

<ref name="Shame">{{cite news |url=http://www.thenation.com/article/160242/shame-john-paul-ii-how-sex-abuse-scandal-stained-his-papacy |title=The Shame of John Paul II: How the Sex Abuse Scandal Stained His Papacy |work=The Nation |first=Jason |last=Berry |date=16 May 2011 |access-date=24 January 2012}}</ref>

<ref name="TimesOnline">{{cite news |url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article575133.ece |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070326231543/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article575133.ece |url-status=dead |archive-date=26 March 2007 |title=Plea to Pope from 'God's banker' Revealed as Murder Trial Begins |work=The Times |date=6 October 2005|location=London |first=Sadie |last=Gray}}</ref>

<ref name="Vatican2">{{cite web |url=https://www.vatican.va/news_services/press/documentazione/documents/santopadre_biografie/giovanni_paolo_ii_biografia_prepontificato_en.html#1946 |title=His Holiness John Paul II, Biography, Pre-Pontificate |publisher=Holy See |access-date=1 January 2008}}</ref>

<ref name="Vatican3">{{cite web |url=https://www.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/travels/2000/travels/documents/trav_holyland-2000.html |title=Jubilee Pilgrimage to the Holy Land |publisher=Holy See |access-date=19 November 2020}}</ref>

<ref name="Vatican5">{{cite web |url=http://www.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/speeches/2000/jan-mar/documents/hf_jp-ii_spe_20000321_wadi-al-kharrar.html |title=Visit to Wadi Al-Kharrar, Prayer of the Holy Father |publisher=Holy See |access-date=19 November 2020}}</ref>

<ref name="Vatican6">{{cite web |url=https://www.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/travels/2000/documents/hf_jp-ii_hom_20000322_bethlehem.html |title=Homily of John Paul II, Mass in the Manger Square |publisher=Holy See |access-date=19 November 2020}}</ref>

<ref name="Vatican7">{{cite web |url=http://www.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/travels/2000/documents/hf_jp-ii_hom_20000326_holy-sepulchre.html |title=Homily of John Paul II, Mass in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre |publisher=Holy See |access-date=19 November 2020}}</ref>

<ref name="USCCB_Bio">{{cite web |url=http://www.usccb.org/comm/popejohnpaulii/biography.shtml |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110707163440/http://www.usccb.org/comm/popejohnpaulii/biography.shtml |archive-date=7 July 2011 |title=Pope John Paul II: A Light for the World |access-date=1 January 2009 |publisher=United States Council of Catholic Bishops |year=2003}}</ref>

<ref name="Zenit5">{{cite web|url=http://www.zenit.org/article-6191?l=english |title=John Paul II to Publish First Poetic Work as Pope |date=7 January 2003 |publisher=ZENIT Innovative Media, Inc |access-date=1 January 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080529201813/http://www.zenit.org/article-6191?l=english |archive-date=29 May 2008}}</ref>

<ref name="VaticanNewsService">{{cite web|url=https://www.vatican.va/news_services/press/documentazione/documents/santopadre_biografie/giovanni_paolo_ii_biografia_breve_en.html |title=Short biography |publisher=vatican.va |access-date=25 October 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081230180529/https://www.vatican.va/news_services/press/documentazione/documents/santopadre_biografie/giovanni_paolo_ii_biografia_breve_en.html |archive-date=30 December 2008}}</ref>

<ref name="Vatican-bio-en">{{cite web|url=https://www.vatican.va/news_services/press/documentazione/documents/santopadre_biografie/giovanni_paolo_ii_biografia_pontificato_en.html |title=Events in the Pontificate of John Paul II |publisher=vatican.va |access-date=1 January 2009 |date=30 June 2005 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111028195940/https://www.vatican.va/news_services/press/documentazione/documents/santopadre_biografie/giovanni_paolo_ii_biografia_pontificato_en.html |archive-date=28 October 2011}}</ref>

<ref name="vatican1">{{cite web |url=https://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/speeches/2004/june/documents/hf_jp-ii_spe_20040604_president-usa_en.html |title=Address of Pope John Paul II to the Honorable George W. Bush President of the United States of America |date=4 June 2004 |publisher=Vatican.va |access-date=19 August 2011}}</ref>

<ref name="WQED">{{cite press release|url=http://www.wqed.org/press/papal_concert.shtml |title=WQED/PBS Present 'A Celebration of Faiths: the Papal Concert of Reconciliaton' A 90 Minute Television Special |publisher=WQED |access-date=1 January 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090308093721/http://www.wqed.org/press/papal_concert.shtml |archive-date=8 March 2009}}</ref>

<ref name="Zenit3">{{cite web |url=http://www.zenit.org/en/articles/john-paul-ii-s-cause-for-beatification-opens |title=John Paul II's Cause for Beatification Opens |date=28 June 2005 |publisher=ZENIT |access-date=22 October 2012}}</ref>

<ref name="Vicariato">[[#Vicariato70|Vicariato di Roma]]:A nun tells her story.... 2009</ref>

<ref name="Willan">{{cite news|url=http://www.sundayherald.com/international/shinternational/display.var.1329693.0.no_more_shortcuts_on_pope_john_pauls_road_to_sainthood.php |title=No More Shortcuts on Pope John Paul II's Road to Sainthood |last=Willan |first=Philip |work=Sunday Herald |access-date=1 January 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080210075702/http://www.sundayherald.com/international/shinternational/display.var.1329693.0.no_more_shortcuts_on_pope_john_pauls_road_to_sainthood.php |archive-date=10 February 2008}}</ref>

<ref name="Westcott">{{cite news |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/6504233.stm |title=Vatican Under Pressure in Pope John Paul II Push |last=Westcott |first=Kathryn |date=2 April 2007 |work=BBC News |access-date=22 October 2012}}</ref>

<ref name="yahoo">{{cite news|url=http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2011/03/30/gold_coin_marks_beatification_of_john_paul_ii/ |title=Gold Coin Marks Beatification of John Paul II |work=The Boston Globe |date=30 March 2011 |issn=0743-1791 |access-date=22 December 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131106021948/http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2011/03/30/gold_coin_marks_beatification_of_john_paul_ii/ |archive-date=6 November 2013}}</ref>

<ref name="Walsh">{{cite book |last=Walsh |title=John Paul II: A Light for the World |url=https://archive.org/details/johnpaulii00mary |url-access=registration |year=2003 |page=[https://archive.org/details/johnpaulii00mary/page/62 62]|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=9781580511421}}</ref>

<ref name="vatdocord">{{cite news|url=https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/ccatheduc/documents/rc_con_ccatheduc_doc_20051104_istruzione_en.html |author=Pope Benedict XVI |publisher=Vatican |year=2005 |title=Instruction Concerning the Criteria for the Discernment of Vocations with regard to Persons with Homosexual Tendencies in view of their Admission to the Seminary and to Holy Orders |access-date=9 March 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080225072042/https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/ccatheduc/documents/rc_con_ccatheduc_doc_20051104_istruzione_en.html |archive-date=25 February 2008}}</ref>

<ref name="VaticanStudy">{{cite web|url=http://www.zenit.org/article-9560?l=english |title=Vatican Study on Sex Abuse |first=Delia |last=Gallagher |publisher=Zenit |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120316160509/http://www.zenit.org/article-9560?l=english |archive-date=16 March 2012}}</ref>
</references>

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* {{cite web |url=http://www.vicariatusurbis.org/Beatificazione/English/HomePage.htm |title=Cause for Beatification and Canonization of The Servant of God: ''John Paul II'' |publisher=Vicariato di Roma |access-date=1 January 2009 |ref=Vicariato70 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091230032224/http://www.vicariatusurbis.org/beatificazione/English/HomePage.htm |archive-date=30 December 2009 }}
* {{cite news |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4253415.stm |title='Cured' Pope Returns to Vatican |date=10 February 2005 |work=BBC News |access-date=22 October 2014 |ref=BBC71 }}
* {{cite web |url=http://www.religion-cults.com/pope/communism.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040406114902/http://www.religion-cults.com/pope/communism.htm |archive-date=6 April 2004 |title=Pope John Paul II and Communism |last=Domínguez |first=Juan |date=4 April 2005 |publisher=religion-cults.com |access-date=1 January 2009 }}
* {{cite web |url=http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/view.cfm?id=3699&repos=1&subrepos=0&searchid=441440 |title=13 May 1981 Conference of Bishop Stanisław Dziwisz For Honorary Doctorate |date=13 May 2001 |last=Dziwisz |first=Bishop Stanisław |publisher=CatholicCulture.org |access-date=1 January 2009 |author-link=Stanisław Dziwisz }}
* {{cite book |last=Davies |first=Norman |author-link=Norman Davies |title=Rising '44: The Battle for Warsaw |publisher=Viking Penguin |location=London |year=2004 |isbn=978-0-670-03284-6 |url=https://archive.org/details/rising44battlefo00norm }}
* {{cite book |last=de Montfort |first=St. Louis-Marie Grignion|others=Mark L. Jacobson (Translator) |title=True Devotion to Mary |publisher=Avetine Press |location=San Diego, California |date=27 March 2007 |isbn=978-1-59330-470-6 |ref=de Montfort73 |author-link=Louis de Montfort}}
* {{cite book |last=Duffy |first=Eamon |author-link=Eamon Duffy |title=Saints and Sinners, a History of the Popes |publisher=Yale University Press |year=2006 |edition=Third |isbn=978-0-300-11597-0 |ref=Yale06 |url=https://archive.org/details/00book1593273669 }}
* {{cite book |last1=Hebblethwaite |first1=Peter |author-link1=Peter Hebblethwaite |title=Pope John Paul II and the Church |publisher=1995 Rowman & Littlefield |location=London |isbn=978-1-55612-814-1 |year=1995 }}
* {{cite book |last=Maxwell-Stuart |first=P.G. |title=Chronicle of the Popes: Trying to Come Full Circle |publisher=Thames & Hudson |location=London |year=2006 |orig-year=1997 |isbn=978-0-500-28608-1 |url=https://archive.org/details/chronicleofpopes0000maxw }}
* {{cite book |url=https://www.vatican.va/gpII/bulletin/B0183-XX.01.pdf |title=Il Santo Padre è deceduto questa sera alle ore 21.37 nel Suo appartamento privato |last=Navarro-Valls |first=Joaquin |date=2 April 2005 |publisher=The Holy See |language=it |ref={{sfnRef|Navarro-Valls 2 April 2005}} |trans-title=The Holy Father passed away at 9:37 this evening in his private apartment. }}
* {{cite book |author=Pope John Paul II |title=''Memory and Identity''—Personal Reflections |publisher=2006 Weidenfeld & Nicolson |location=London |isbn=978-0-297-85075-5 |year=2005 |title-link=Memory and Identity }}
* {{cite book |last1=Renehan |first1=Edward |author-link1=Edward J. Renehan Jr. |last2=Schlesinger |first2=Arthur Meier (INT) |title=Pope John Paul II |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OT1oHAAACAAJ |access-date=25 February 2010 |date=November 2006 |publisher=Chelsea House |isbn=978-0-7910-9227-9 |ref=Renehan69 }}
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* {{cite book |last1=Stourton |first1=Edward |author-link1=Edward Stourton (journalist) |title=John Paul II: Man of History |publisher=Hodder & Stoughton |location=London |isbn=978-0-340-90816-7 |year=2006}}
* {{cite book |author=The Poynter Institute |author-link=Poynter Institute |title=Pope John Paul II: 18 May 1920&nbsp;- 2 April 2005 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pXGMNrE015IC |access-date=25 February 2010 |edition=First |date=1 May 2005 |publisher=Andrews McMeel Publishing |location=[[St. Petersburg, Florida|St. Petersburg]], Florida |isbn=978-0-7407-5110-3 |ref=Poynter69 }}
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* {{cite news |url=http://www.time.com/time/archive/preview/0,10987,925231,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050210002720/http://www.time.com/time/archive/preview/0,10987,925231,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=10 February 2005 |title=Half Alive: The Pope Vs. His Doctors |access-date=1 January 2009 |date=25 January 1982 |work=Time magazine |ref={{sfnRef|Time Magazine 1982-01-25}} }}{{Subscription required}}
* {{cite news |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna7022618 |title=Pope Back at Vatican by Easter? It's Possible |access-date=1 January 2009 |date=3 March 2005 |agency=Associated Press |work=NBC News }}
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{{Refend}}

== Further reading ==
{{Main|Pope John Paul II bibliography}}

== External links ==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20120122052707/http://www.jpcatholic.com/ John Paul the Great Catholic University]
* [https://www.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en.html The Holy See website – John Paul II]
* [http://lcweb2.loc.gov/diglib/lcwa/html/papal/papal-overview.html Papal Transition 2005 Web Archive] from the US [[Library of Congress]]
* [http://culture.pl/en/artist/karol-wojtyla Karol Wojtyła] on [[Culture.pl]]
* [https://trzeciapielgrzymka.ipn.gov.pl/jp2/introduction/676,Introduction.html Third pilgrimage of John Paul II to Poland], [[Institute of National Remembrance]]
* [http://www.stpetersbasilica.info/Altars/StSebastian/StSebastian.htm Tomb of John Paul II in St Peter's]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070926220256/https://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/apost_constitutions/documents/hf_jp-ii_apc_19921011_fidei-depositum_en.html Text of the apostolic constitution ''Fidei Depositum''] 
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20111010175944/https://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/apost_letters/documents/hf_jp-ii_apl_15081997_laetamur_en.html Text of ''Laetamur magnopere''], on the promulgation of the ''editio typica'' of the [https://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc/index.htm Catechism of the Catholic Church].
* {{C-SPAN|32010}}
* Liturgical texts for the optional Memorial of St. John Paul II, Pope: Celebration of the Eucharist ([https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/ccdds/documents/rc_con_ccdds_doc_20110402_colletta_en.html English], [https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/ccdds/documents/rc_con_ccdds_doc_20110402_colletta_lt.html Latin]); Liturgy of the Hours ([https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/ccdds/documents/rc_con_ccdds_doc_20110402_uff-letture_en.html English], [https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/ccdds/documents/rc_con_ccdds_doc_20110402_uff-letture_lt.html Latin]) from [https://www.vatican.va/content/vatican/en.html The Holy See website].
* {{IMDb name|0937552}}
* {{discogs artist|His Holiness Pope John Paul II}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-rel|ca}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Eugeniusz Baziak]]|as=Apostolic Administrator}}
{{s-ttl |title=[[Archbishop of Kraków]]|years=13 January 1964&nbsp;– 16 October 1978}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Franciszek Macharski]]}}
|-
{{s-bef|before=[[Francesco Bracci]]}}
{{s-ttl |title=[[San Cesareo de Appia|Cardinal-Priest of San Cesareo in Palatio]]|years=26 June 1967&nbsp;– 16 October 1978}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Andrzej Maria Deskur]]}}
|-
{{s-bef|before=[[John Paul I]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Pope]]|years=16 October 1978&nbsp;– 2 April 2005}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Benedict XVI]]}}
{{s-end}}

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[[Category:Polish Esperantists]]
[[Category:Polish human rights activists]]
[[Category:Polish male dramatists and playwrights]]
[[Category:Polish male non-fiction writers]]
[[Category:Polish male poets]]
[[Category:Polish people of Lithuanian descent]]
[[Category:Polish people of World War II]]
[[Category:Polish popes]]
[[Category:Polish Roman Catholic archbishops]]
[[Category:Polish Roman Catholic saints]]
[[Category:Polish Roman Catholic theologians]]
[[Category:Polish Roman Catholic writers]]
[[Category:Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas alumni]]
[[Category:Popes]]
[[Category:Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Order of Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk, 1st class]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Order of the White Eagle (Poland)]]
[[Category:Roman Catholic anti-apartheid activists]]
[[Category:Sustainability advocates]]
[[Category:Thomists]]
[[Category:Time Person of the Year]]
[[Category:Venerated Catholics by Pope Benedict XVI]]