John Paul II, the first Slavic pope in history, was born on May 18, 1920 in the city of Wadowice, Poland.His real name was Karol Józef Wojtyła.
On October 16, 1978 he was elected pope, with the name of John Paul II.
The pontificate (26 years) of John Paul II was the third longest in the history of the papacy, after that of St. Peter (34 to 37 years) and that of Pius IX (31 years).
He was the first pope in 455 years not to be Italian.
John Paul II was the only pope whose life was portrayed in a comic book. In 1983 Marvel Comics published a biography of the pope.
He is the first pope since Pius II, in the 15th century, to be a "man of letters".
Before being ordained a priest, Karol Wojtyla was a member of an experimental theatre group, poet, stonemason and employee in a chemical factory.
In May 1981, John Paul II was shot by the Turk Mehmet Ali Agca in St. Peter's Square.
John Paul II was known as the 'traveling pope'. No other pope in history has traveled as extensively as he has. His word and presence has reached 117 countries around the world.
Pope John Paul II knew 8 languages. He learned Spanish after becoming a pope.
Time magazine named Pope John Paul II Man of the Year in 1994.
In his last years of life John Paul II suffered from Parkinson's disease.
During his pontificate John Paul II canonized 482 saints and beatified 1338 people, more than all his predecessors combined.
He traveled the equivalent of 30 times the circumference of the Earth, making 104 trips abroad.
In March 2000 the pope traveled to the Holy Land, where he left a personal note on the Wailing Wall, the holiest place in Judaism.
His papal motto was "Totus tuus" (All Yours).
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