A Pole chosen as the first non-Italian pope in 455 years, he transformed the papacy into a television-ready voice for peace, war and life, from the womb to the wheelchair.

The conclave is sometimes guided by geopolitics, selecting its first non-Italian pope in centuries at a time when the world was sundered by communism.

John Paul II was the first non-Italian pope in 455 years.

He is the first Polish pope in history, and the first non-Italian pope since Pope Adrian VI (1522-1523).

He became the first non-Italian pope since the Dutch Adrian VI, who reigned from 1522 to 1523.

Pope John Paul II began his papacy in 1978, becoming the first non-Italian pope in four and a half centuries.

In 1978, Wojtyła was elevated to the papacy as John Paul II, the first non-Italian pope in 455 years.

He was the first non-Italian pope since 1523.

John Paul was a robust 58-year-old when the cardinals stunned the world and elected the cardinal from Krakow, the first non-Italian pope in 455 years.

In 1978, the Pole Karol Wojtyla was elected as Catholic Pope, the first non-Italian pope since the 16th century.