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John Paul II, the first Polish pope

1978 · Vatican City (Vatican City)

On 16 October 1978 the conclave elects Karol Wojtyla, Archbishop of Krakow, as John Paul II: the first non-Italian pope since 1523 and the first Slavic pope. His twenty six year pontificate travels the world, sustains the church under communism, and presides over the Catholic church's passage into its global century.

Tagged: Catholic

The Event

Date
1978 (exact)
Era
The Modern and Global Church; Standard periodization of Catholic history
Location
Vatican City; today Vatican City
Traditions
Catholicism
Streams
Catholic
Key figures
John Paul II
Key texts
Redemptor Hominis

Primary Sources

  • The conclave acts and John Paul II, Redemptor Hominis, 1979.

Secondary Sources

  • Chadwick, Owen. A History of the Popes, 1830-1914. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1998.
  • Duffy, Eamon. Saints and Sinners: A History of the Popes. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2006.
  • Hastings, Adrian, ed. A World History of Christianity. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1999.
  • MacCulloch, Diarmaid. A History of Christianity: The First Three Thousand Years. London: Penguin, 2009.
  • O'Malley, John W. Trent: What Happened at the Council. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2013.

Provenance: HIST-1346; confidence 0.95; accessed 2026-10-30.

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