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[[Image:John_Paul_II.jpg|thumb|Pope John Paul II]] '''John Paul II''' was (Latin: ''Ioannes Paulus PP. II'', Italian: ''Giovanni Paolo II'', Polish: ''Jan Paweł II'') born '''Karol Józef Wojtyła''' ([[May 18]], 1920, Wadowice, Poland – [[April 2]], 2005, [[w:Vatican City|Vatican City]]) reigned as [[Pope]] of the [[Roman Catholic Church|Catholic Church]] and Sovereign of the State of the Vatican City from [[October 16]], 1978, until his death more than 26 years later, making his the second-longest pontificate in modern times after Pius IX's 31-year reign. He is the only Polish pope, and was the first non-Italian pope since the (Low) German Adrian VI in the 1520s. The official title of John Paul II, as recognized by the Roman Catholic Churchwas: Bishop of Rome, Vicar of [[Jesus Christ]], Successor of Saint Peter, Head of the College of Bishops, Supreme Pontiff of the Universal Church, Patriarch of the West (this title was recently removed from the papal list of titles by the reigning pope, [[Benedict XVI]]), Primate of Italy, Archbishop and Metropolitan of the Roman Province, Sovereign of the City State of the Vatican, Servant of the Servants of God Pope John Paul II. His early reign was marked by his opposition to communism, and he is often credited as one of the forces which contributed to its collapse in Eastern Europe.<ref>"[http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/europe/04/02/world.reax/index.html World mourns Pope John Paul II]," ''CNN'', (accessed [[April 13]] 2006).</ref> In the later part of his pontificate, he was notable for speaking against war, fascism, dictatorship, materialism, [[abortion]], [[birth control|contraception]], relativism, unrestrained capitalism, and what he deemed the "culture of death".  John Paul II was Pope during a period in which [[Roman CatholicChurch|Catholicism]] 's influence declined in developed countries but expanded in the Third World. During his reign, the pope traveled extensively, visiting over 100 countries, more than any of his predecessors. He remains one of the most-traveled world leaders in history. He was fluent in numerous languages: his native Polish and also Italian, French, German, English, Spanish, Croatian, Portuguese, Russian and Latin.<ref>http://www.robinsonlibrary.com/philosophy/denominations/catholic/history/johnpaul2.htm Pope John Paul II, ''The Robinson Library'']</ref> As part of his special emphasis on the universal call to holiness, he [[canonization|canonized]] a great number of people. In 1992, he was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. On [[April 2]] 2005 at 9:37 p.m. local time, PopeJohn Paul II died in the Papal Apartments while a vast crowd kept vigil in [[Saint Peter's Square]] below. Millions of people flocked to Rome from 1978 to pay their respects to the body and for his funeral. The last years of his reign had been marked by his fight against the various diseases ailing him, provoking some concerns as to leadership should he become severely incapacitated/vegetative, and speculation as to whether he should abdicate. On [[May 9]] 2005, Pope Benedict XVI, John Paul II's successor, waived the five year waiting period for a cause for [[beatification]] to be opened.<ref>[http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/csaints/documents/rc_con_csaints_doc_20050509_rescritto-gpii_en.html RESPONSE OF HIS HOLINESS BENEDICT XVI FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE CAUSE FOR BEATIFICATION AND CANONIZATION OF THE SERVANT OF GOD JOHN PAUL II]</ref>

===Relations with Romania===In May 1999, John Paul II visited Romania on the invitation from of his Beatitude [[Teoctist (Arapasu) of Romania|Teoctist]], the [[Patriarch]] of the [[Church of Romania|Romanian Orthodox Church]]. This was the first time a Pope had visited a predominantly Eastern Orthodox country since the [[Great Schism]], the event that separated Eastern Orthodoxy and Western Roman Catholicism, conventionally dated to the year 1054. On his arrival, the Pope was greeted by Patriarch as well as the Teoctist and Romanian President of Romania, Emil Constantinescu, greeted the Pope. The Patriarch stated, "The second millennium of Christian history began with a painful wounding of the unity of the Church; the end of this millennium has seen a real commitment to restoring Christian unity."

On [[May 9]], the Pope and the Patriarch each attended a worship service conducted by the other (an Orthodox [[Divine Liturgy|Liturgy]] and a Catholic [[Mass]], respectively). A crowd of hundreds of thousands of people turned up to attend the worship services, which were held in the open air. The Pope told the crowd, "I am here among you pushed only by the desire of authentic unity. Not long ago it was unthinkable that the bishop of Rome could visit his brothers and sisters in the faith who live in Romania. Today, after a long winter of suffering and persecution, we can finally exchange the kiss of peace and together praise the Lord." A large part of Romania's Orthodox population has shown itself warm to the idea of Christian reunification.

===Relations with Greece===Two years later, in 2001, John Paul II became the first Pope to visit Greece in 1291 almost 1300 years, since the visit of Pope Constantine I (r. 708-715) in 710. The visit was controversial, and the Pontiff was met with protests and snubbed by Eastern Orthodox leaders, none of whom met his arrival.

Later, John Paul and Christodoulos met on a spot where [[Saint]] [[Apostle Paul|Paul]] had once preached to Athenian Christians. They issued a "common declaration," saying, "We shall do everything in our power, so that the Christian roots of Europe and its Christian soul may be preserved. ... We [w]e condemn all recourse to violence, proselytism and fanaticism, in the name of religion." The two leaders then said the [[Lord's Prayer ]] together, breaking an Orthodox taboo against praying with Catholics.

With regard to the relations with the [[Church of Serbia|Serbian Orthodox Church]], Pope John Paul II could not escape the controversy of the involvement of Croatian Catholic clergy with the Ustasa regime of World War II. He beatified Aloysius WWII-time archibishop of Zagreb, Alojzije Stepinac , in 1998, the Croatian war-time archbishop of Zagreb, a convicted for colaboration with Croatian Ustašas fascist regime in 1946. This move was seen negatively by those who believe that he was an active collaborator with the Ustaše fascist regimeSerbian Church and Serbian people. On [[June 22]], 2003, he visited Banja Luka in Bosnia and Herzegovina, a main city inhabited by many Catholics before the 1992-1995 war, but since then predominantly of Serbian Orthodoxpopulation in Bosnia. He held a Mass at the Petrićevac [[monastery]], a place of considerable controversy and distress, both . It's friars participated in killing Serbs during the World War II and during (most notorius of them was Fra [[w:Miroslav Majstorović|Miroslav Filipović Majstorović]]). Orthodox Bishop of Banja Luka Jefrem refused to attended the Yugoslav warsMass because Pope did not express his regreat. They met later that day."

 The Pope had also been saying during the entire pontificate that one of his greatest dreams was to visit Russia, which never actually happened. He had made several attempts to solve the problems which arose during centuries between the Roman Catholic Church and [[Church of Russia|Russian Orthodox Church]], like giving back the Kazan [[Icon]] of the [[Mother of God]] in August 2004. However, officials of the Orthodox side was [[Church of Russia]] were not that enthusiastic, giving statements like: "The question of the visit of the Pope in Russia is not connected by the journalists with the problems between the Churches, which are now unreal to solve, but with giving back one of many sacred things, which were illegally stolen from Russia." (Fr. Vsevolod Chaplin). There were also statements saying that the icon which was returned was one of four copies made of the original icon, which is still in an unknown location.

* [http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/04/17/news/edhopko.html Holding on to all that humanity can mean] - [[Thomas Hopko]], ''International Herald Tribune'' Monday, April 18, 2005 ([http://orthodoxytoday.org/articles5/HopkoPope.shtml ''Alternate link''])* [http://orthodoxytoday.org/articles5/PelikanPope.shtml The Great Unifier: Pope John Paul II] - [[Jaroslav Pelikan]], ''NY Times'' ([http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/04/opinion/04pelikan.html?n=Top%2fOpinion%2fEditorials%20and%20Op%2dEd%2fOp%2dEd ''Original link''])

title=[[Pope|Roman Catholic Pope]]|