Oct. 17: Cardinal Karol Wojtyla of Poland becomes the first non-Italian in 455 years to be elected pope. He assumed the name of John Paul II in homage to his predecessor John Paul I, who died Sept ...

April 3, 2005 — -- Pope John Paul II leaves the papacy and the Roman Catholic Church two very different institutions from what they were when he was elected pope in 1978.

Headlines include Pope John Paul II was elected the new pope in 1978, Baby Jessica rescued from a well in 1987 and the Reds in the World Series in 1975, 1976 and 1990.

Vallini, who is the pope's vicar to the Rome diocese, is the prelate who greeted Francis and who, along with city hall, decided a part of St. John in Lateran Square should be named after John Paul II.

Oct. 16, 1978: Elected successor to Pope John Paul I, becoming the 264th pope of the Catholic Church, the first Polish pope ever and the first non-Italian to fill the post in 455 years.

See CNN’s Fast Facts for a look at the life of the late Pope John Paul II. ... Cardinal Karol Wojtyla is elected to be the 264th pope, the first non-Italian in 455 years.

Pope John Paul II Dies. By Richard Boudreaux . April 3, 2005 12 AM PT . ... Black smoke pours from Sistine Chapel chimney, indicating no pope was elected as conclave opens. May 7, 2025.

As pope, John Paul II beatified more people than the total of all other popes since the 15th century reign of Pope Sixtus VI, leading some critics to speculate that he was rapidly pushed to sainthood.

Pope John Paul II (formerly known as Karol Wojtyla) was the first non-Italian leader of the Catholic Church in almost half a century. Born in Poland in 1920 but not ordained a priest until after ...

Pope John Paul II's Would-Be Assassin Lays Roses At His Tomb : The Two-Way In 1981, Mehmet Ali Ağca shot the pontiff twice at close range as the pope's open motorcade passed through St. Peter's ...

Pope John Paul II with Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger during his papal inauguration Oct. 22, 1978, in Vatican City.The pope emeritus wrote a letter to the Polish bishops for the centennial of the birth ...

Pope John Paul II died in April 2005 at the age of 84. His official cause of death was septic shock and cardio-circulatory collapse. He had suffered from Parkinson’s disease, arthritis and other ...