Pope John Paul II

John Paul II was born Karol Wojtya on May

18, 1920, in Wadowice, Poland.
John Paul II served as pope of the Roman
Catholic Church from 1978 to 2005.
Originally from Poland, he was the first
non-Italian to serve as pope since Adrian
VI of The Netherlands, who served from
1522 to 1523. John Paul II governed the
church from a staunchly conservative
position, opposing birth control, the
ordination of women, and political
participation by the clergy.

Pope Benedict XVI

Pope Benedict XVI blesses the faithful

from a balcony at the Vatican shortly
after his election to the papacy in April
2005. The new pope, formerly Joseph
Cardinal Ratzinger, became the first
German pope in nearly a thousand
years.