History of the papacy not only his deep inner resignation but also his constant abandonment to divine providence.". It is this character trait, which led to the opening of the process of beatification and canonization for Paul VI. With the accession of Pope John Paul II after the mysterious death of Pope John Paul I (who only survived as pope for 33 days), the church had, for the first time since Pope Adrian VI in the 16th century, a non-Italian pope. John Paul II has been credited with helping to bring down communism in eastern Europe by sparking what amounted to a peaceful revolution
Pope Sisinnius Pope Sisinnius Pope Sisinnius (c. 6504 February 708) was Pope from 15 January to his death in 708. A Syrian by birth, Sisinnius' father's name was John. The paucity of donations to the papacy during his reign (42 pounds of gold and 310 pounds of silver, a fraction of the personal donations of other contemporary pontiffs) indicate that he was probably not from the aristocracy. Sisinnius was selected as pope during the Byzantine Papacy. He succeeded Pope John VII after a "sede vacante" of three months. He was consecrated around 15 January 708. Sisinnius remained pope for just twenty days.