Pope Clears John Paul II For SainthoodThe Polish-born John Paul II died in 2005 after a long pontificate that made him a popular figure for Catholics across the world.11:44pm UK, Friday 05 July 2013
John Paul II served as pope for 27 years until his death in 2005
Karol Wojtyla was born in a small town near Krakow, Poland, on May 18, 1920. Here, he has just received his first communion in Wadowice.
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As a student, he became fascinated by theatre and wrote a number of plays. He is seen here as he shaves in the open air, circa 1960.
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After becoming a parish priest, he rose through Church hierarchy. As a cardinal in 1978, he visited a village near Krakow.
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He greets the faithful from a balcony in St Peter's shortly after his election to the papacy on October 16, 1978. He was the first non-Italian Pope in more than four centuries.
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John Paul was installed at a Vatican ceremony on October 22, 1978.
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At 58, he was a robust sportsman who liked to ski and hike, and a relative outsider amid the vast bureaucracy of the Holy See.
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Kissing the ground on arrival at Madrid airport - a gesture that became a trademark of the most-travelled Pope in history, until his ailments made kneeling impossible.
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On May 13, 1981, the Pope was shot by Turkish gunman Ahmet Ali Agca in St Peter's Square. He survived the assassination attempt.
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The Pope forgave the Turkish gunman and here the two are seen talking at Agca's cell in a Rome prison on December 27, 1983.
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John Paul with Cardinal Basil Hume outside Westminster Cathedral, during a visit to England on May 28, 1982.
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Prince Charles and the late Princess Diana met Pope John Paul II during a Vatican audience on April 25, 1985.
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With Mother Teresa after visiting her home for the destitute and dying in the eastern Indian city of Calcutta on February 3, 1986.
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Two men credited with helping to topple Communism in Eastern Europe met when US President Ronald Reagan visited the Vatican on June 6, 1987.
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The Pontiff championed the rights of workers. In June 4, 1988, he visited the Ferrari car factory in Maranello, Italy.
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John Paul travelled far and wide. Here, he is seen during a visit to Antananarivo, capital of Madagascar, in April 1989.
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Touching hands with the faithful during a holiday in northern Italy in 1989. The Pope often sought contact with ordinary people.
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Addressing the UN General Assembly in 1995, the Pontiff urged the organisation to become a moral centre for the world.
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Pope John Paul II waves to the crowd in Queens borough, New York, in 1995. Years later, the US Roman Catholic church was rocked by a series of clerical sex abuse scandals.
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During a historic visit to Cuba and talks with Fidel Castro in 1998, John Paul demanded more freedom for Roman Catholics on the island.
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Another defining moment in John Paul's pontificate came with a visit to the Holy Land in 2000, during which he prayed at the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem.
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John Paul, here amid scarf-waving pilgrims at the Vatican in 2000, was extremely popular, though his conservative stances on social matters such as contraception alienated many Catholics.
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An increasingly frail John Paul visits Damascus, Syria, in 2001. The Pope cut his travels in his waning years.
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John Paul died on April 2, 2005 at age 84. His funeral drew some two million people to the Vatican in one of the largest ceremonies ever held in St Peter's Square.
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Gallery: John Paul II: The Life Of A Saint
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Pope Francis has cleared John Paul II for sainthood, approving a second miracle attributed to the late pontiff's intervention, the Vatican says.
John Paul, who died in 2005 aged 84 after a popular 27-year papacy, is expected to be canonised before the end of the year although no date has yet been set.
The first miracle to be approved by the Vatican came just six months after his death, when French nun Sister Marie Simon-Pierre inexplicably recovered from Parkinson's disease after praying for the late pontiff's "intercession".
There have however been suggestions that Sister Marie did not actually have Parkinson's.
......................................................................................................................................................................................................... .................Im a 76 year old Nutcase.. TOMMY LOVES YOU ALL. .. I'm a committed atheist.
