Pope John Paul II

Karol Józef Wojtyła was born in Wadowice, Poland, in 1920 and spent World War II dodging forced labor by working a quarry, acting in local theater, and studying Polish until a conversation with Archbishop Adam Stefan Sapieha turned him toward the priesthood. He rose to Archbishop of Kraków, then cardinal, then - on the third day of the October 1978 conclave - became the first non-Italian pope in over four centuries, taking the name of his 33-day predecessor. He pushed ecumenism with Judaism, Islam, and the Eastern Orthodox while naming atheism the true threat, canonized 483 saints, drafted the 1983 Code of Canon Law and the first universal catechism since the Roman, and was credited with helping dismantle communist rule across Europe. He died 2 April 2005 and was canonized nine years later, though criticism followed him for his handling of abuse cases under Communist Poland.