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's political views and against man.”" The Pope also reaffirmed the Church's existing teaching on gender in relation to transsexuals, as the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which he supervised, made clear that transsexuals can not serve in church positions. In an address on 22 October 1996, to the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, Pope John Paul II reaffirmed the Church's openness to the theory of evolution: In the same address, the Pope rejected any theory of evolution that provides a materialistic explanation for the human soul: John Paul II also wrote to the "Pontifical Academy of Sciences" on the subject of