Health of Pope John Paul II another conclave". John Paul's obvious physical fitness and looks earned much comment in the media following his election, which compared his health and trim figure to the poor health of John Paul I and Paul VI, the portliness of Pope John XXIII and the constant claims of ailments of Pius XII. The only modern pope with a keep-fit regime had been Pope Pius XI (r: 1922-1939) who was an avid mountain climber. An "Irish Independent" article in the 1980s labelled John Paul "the keep-fit pope". However, after over twenty-five years on the papal throne, two assassination attempts (one of which
Pope John Paul II and Judaism Director Dr. Colin Rubenstein said,"“The Pope will be remembered for his inspiring spiritual leadership in the cause of freedom and humanity. He achieved far more in terms of transforming relations with both the Jewish people and the State of Israel than any other figure in the history of the Catholic Church”" Pope John Paul II and Judaism Pope John Paul II worked to improve relations between the Roman Catholic Church and Judaism. He built solid ties with the Jewish community in the hope of promoting Christian–Jewish reconciliation. As a child, Karol Wojtyła had played sports with his many Jewish neighbours.