John Paul II (in Latin: Ioannes Paulus II), of secular name Karol Józef Wojtyła (Wadowice, Poland, May 18, 1920-Vatican City, April 2, 2005), was Pope 264 of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City from October 16, 1978 until his death in 2005. He was canonized in 2014, during the pontificate of Francisco. Having been auxiliary bishop (since 1958) and archbishop of Krakow (since 1962), he became the first Polish pope in history, and in the first non-Italian since 1523. His pontificate of almost 27 years was the third longest in the history of the Catholic Church, after that of St. Peter (it is believed that between 34 and 37 years, although its exact duration is difficult to determine) and that of Pius IX (31 years). John Paul II was hailed as one of the most influential leaders of the 20th century, remembered especially for being one of the main symbols of anti-communism, and for his fight against the expansion of Marxism in places like Latin America, where he fought energetically to the movement known as the theology of liberation, with the help of his right hand and ultimately his successor, Joseph Ratzinger. He also played a decisive role in ending communism in his native Poland and, eventually, throughout Europe, as well as for the significant improvement of the Catholic Church's relations with Judaism, Islam, the Eastern Orthodox Church, and Communion. Anglican Among the most notorious events of his pontificate, he highlighted the assassination attempt he suffered on May 13, 1981, while greeting the faithful in St. Peter's Square, at the hands of Mehmet Ali Ağca, who shot him at a short distance in the crowd . Later, the terrorist was publicly pardoned by the pontiff in person. To this was added another attack that took place in Fatima on the night of May 12 to 13, 1982 at the hands of the ultraconservative priest Juan María Fernández Krohn, a fact that did not extend until after the pontiff's death. He was one of the world's most traveled leaders in history, visited 129 countries during his pontificate. He spoke the following languages: Italian, French, German, English, Spanish, Portuguese, Ukrainian, Russian, Croatian, Esperanto, Ancient Greek and Latin, as well as his native language, Polish. As part of his special emphasis on the universal call to holiness, he beatified 1340 people and canonized 483 saints, more than the sum total of his predecessors in the last five centuries. On December 19, 2009, John Paul II was proclaimed venerable by his successor, Pope Benedict XVI, who later presided over the ceremony of his beatification on May 1, 2011 (Divine Mercy Sunday), and was canonized along with Pope John XXIII on April 27, 2014 (again on Divine Mercy Sunday) by Pope Francis.
