My Inspiration

Karol Wojtyla was elected pope on 16 October 1978, becoming the Catholic Church's first non-Italian pontiff in over 450 years and history's first Slavic pope. John Paul II became known particularly for his globetrotting ways and for increasing the international presence of the papacy; as pope he visited more than 100 countries worldwide. In 1998 he marked his 20th year as pope, making him the longest-serving pontiff of the 20th century. By then, John Paul II was struggling with increasingly poor health, visibly suffering from the slurred speech and trembling hands of Parkinson's Disease. He died in his apartments at the Vatican on 2 April 2005 and was succeeded by Pope Benedict XVI on 19 April 2005.