Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II (; ; ; born Karol Józef Wojtyła; ; 18 May 1920 – 2 April 2005) served as Pope and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 to 2005. He was elected by the second Papal conclave of 1978, which was called after Pope John Paul I, who had been elected in August to succeed Pope Paul VI, died after 33 days. Cardinal Wojtyła was elected on the third day of the conclave and adopted his predecessor's name in tribute to him. John Paul II is recognised as helping to end Communist
History of the papacy Here he continued to act as pope, creating new cardinals and issuing decrees, until his death in 1423. The council in Constance, having finally cleared the field of popes and antipopes, elected Pope Martin V as pope in November. From the election of Pope Martin V of the Council of Constance in 1417 to the Reformation, Western Christianity was largely free from schism as well as significant disputed papal claimants. Martin V returned the papacy to Rome in 1420. Although there were important divisions over the direction of the religion, these were resolved through the then-settled procedures of the papal