Pope John Paul II

The Venerable Pope John Paul II, born Karol Józef Wojtyła (18th May 1920 - 2nd April 2005), reigned as Supreme Pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church and Sovereign of Vatican City from 16th October 1978 until his death. His was the second-longest documented pontificate; only Pope Pius IX served longer (St. Peter the Apostle is reputed to have served for more than thirty years as the first pontiff, but documentation is too sparse to definitively support this). He has been the only Slavic or Polish Pope to date, and was the first non-Italian Pope since Dutch Pope Adrian VI in 1522.