1. Pope Saint John Paul II Sofía Mangini, Valentina Yamuni, Agustina Larzabal, Giuliana Santarelli, Luciana Hansen, Belén Alvariñas and Julieta Enciso. 7 Blue Miss Silvia & Miss Romina

2. Karol Józef Wojtyla, elected Pope on 16 October 1978, was born in Wadowice, Poland, on 18 May 1920. Pope John Paul II died in the Apostolic Palace on 2 April 2005.

3. Awards: Pope John Paul demostrated as his pastoral concern by erecting numerous dioces and ecclesiastical circumscriptions, and by promulgating Codes of Canon Law for the Latin and the Oriental Churches, as well as the Catechism of the Catholic Church. He proclaimed the Year of Redemption, the Marian Year of 2000.

4. Beatification: On 8 April, his solemn funeral was celebrated in Saint Peter’s Square and he was buried in the crypt of Saint Peter’s Basilica. John Paul II was beatified in Saint Peter’s Square on 1 May 2011 by Pope Benedict XVI.

5. Canonization: John Paul II’s cause for canonization commenced in 2005. Paul II was proclaimed Venerable by his succesor Pope Benedict XVI and was beatified on 1 May 2011 after the Congregation for the Causes of Saints attributed one miracle to him, the healing of a French nun from Parkinson’s. A second miracle was approved on 2 July 2013 and confirmed by Pope Francisco two days later.

6. John Paul II was canonized on 27 April 2014, alongside Pope John XXIII. His feast day is celebrated on the anniversary of his papal inaguration.

7. Photos of John Paul II