✚ Pope Reviews · № 264
John Paul II
Karol Józef Wojtyła · 16 Oct 1978 – 2 Apr 2005 · 26 yrs · died
Twenty-six years, 104 foreign trips, one assassination attempt, and a hand in ending the Cold War.
Did
- Visited 129 countries.
- Supported Solidarity in Poland; the Soviet bloc noticed.
- Apologized for the Church's historical failures, repeatedly.
Didn't
- Act on the abuse crisis as it surfaced; the Church's response under him is the main stain on the record.
- Hide his decline: the long public illness was itself a statement.
From the record
Pope John Paul II was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of Vatican City from 16 October 1978 until his death in 2005. He was the first non-Italian pope since Adrian VI in the 16th century, as well as the third longest-serving pope in history, after St. Peter and Pius IX. In addition to this, he was an important philosopher and theologian of the 20th century.
Summary from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
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