Vatican marks John Paul II death anniversary
A Sunday mass in St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican will mark the 12th anniversary of the death of Polish-born Pope John Paul II. Throughout the day pilgrims will pay tribute to the Pope at his tomb in the Basilica's St. Sebastian Chapel.
The anniversary observations will take place in the absence of incumbent Pope Francis, who will be visiting north Italy's Emilia Romania region, parts of which were destroyed by an earthquake five years ago.
Pope Saint John Paul II (JPII), born Karol Jozef Wojtyla (May 18 1920 – April 2 2005), was first non-italian Pope. His long pontificate spanned from 1978 to 2005. JPII is called by some Catholics Saint John Paul the Great.
Wojtyla was elected to the Papacy by the second Papal conclave of 1978, called after Pope John Paul I, who was elected in August of that year after the death of Pope Paul VI, and died after thirty-three days. Cardinal Wojtyla was elected on the third day of the conclave and adopted his predecessors' names name in tribute to them.
John Paul II is held to have helped end Communist rule in his native Poland and subsequently all of Central-East Europe, he also significantly improved the Catholic Church's relations with Judaism, Islam, the Eastern Orthodox Church, and the Anglican Communion. He upheld the Church's teachings on issues like artificial contraception and the ordination of women, but also supported the Church's Second Vatican Council and its reforms. He was also the first Pope to have recognized the development and the importance of media, and first to introduce the custom of holding press conferences on board the plane.
The second longest-serving pope in modern history after Pope Pius IX, John Paul II was the first non-Italian pope since the Dutch Pope Adrian VI (1522-1523). One of his main goals was to transform the Catholic Church, which he expressed by the wish "to place his Church at the heart of a new religious alliance that would bring together Jews, Muslims and Christians in a great religious armada".
John Paul II was canonised by Pope Francis in 2014. (PAP)
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