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Karol Josef Wojtyla was born in Wadowice, Poland, on May 18, 1920, to a retired army officer and a school teacher. He studied literature and philosophy and later became a playwright and poet.
Wojtyla secretly studied theology during the Nazi occupation of Poland. By age 36 he had two doctorates and was a professor of ethics. A cardinal at 47, he led the only moral and social force in Poland that could counter communism.
In October 1978, Wojtyla became the first Slavic pope ever and the first non-Italian pope in 455 years. He took the name John Paul II.
Within months of his election, the pope went to Poland for a June 1979 visit that some historians say helped end the Cold War. He gave his blessing to an underground labor movement called Solidarity.
While the pope was circling St. Peter's Square before a general audience in May 1981, Turkish gunman Mehmet Ali Agca opened fire. The pope spent more than two months recovering in a Rome hospital.
In December 1983, the pope offered forgiveness to Agca during a meeting in prison. During the trial, Agca had claimed that East European communist agents had helped him set up the attack on the pope, but he later recanted.
By the 1980s, the pope had reaffirmed the church's position on controversial issues such as abortion, birth control and the ordination of women. He communicated his message in eight languages and traveled widely.
A recording of the pope reciting the rosary in Latin was set to music and sold commercially in 1994. An Italian journalist published the pope's responses to 20 questions; the book became a best-seller.
The pope's historic trip to Cuba in January 1998 celebrated Catholicism and urged Cubans everywhere to find "new paths" of reconciliation. He met with President Fidel Castro and condemned the U.S. economic embargo against Cuba.
The pope wished a Happy Easter to the world in 58 languages as part of his "urbi et orbi" (to the city and the world) address in April 1998. Age and deteriorating health forced the most traveled pope to cut back on his visits.
In 2003, Pope John Paul II marked 25 years as leader of the Roman Catholic Church, presiding over a celebratory Mass in St. Peter's Square. He was joined by cardinals, priests, other members of the clergy and thousands of followers, who came to Vatican City from around the world to honor the third-longest-serving pontiff in history.
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