Pope John Paul II (1920–2005), born Karol Jozef Wojtyla in Wadowice, Poland, led the Catholic Church for 26 years. As a young man, he loved poetry, soccer, and mountain climbing—and once dreamed of becoming an actor.

"The worst prison," he said, "would be a closed heart."

He lived through Nazi occupation and the unimaginable cruelty of wartime Poland. “So many young people of my age are losing their lives, why not me?” he reflected. These trials forged his compassion, courage, and defense of human dignity.

“Do not abandon yourselves to despair,” he urged. “We are the Easter people and hallelujah is our song.”

In 1978, he became the first Slavic pope in history, and the first non-Italian in over four centuries. Even after an assassination attempt in 1981, he remained steadfast in his mission of peace and hope.

He spoke eight languages, traveled to 129 nations, and canonized more saints than any pope before him. He helped heal relationships between the Church and Judaism, and played a vital role in the fall of Soviet communism.

“The more sand that has escaped from the hourglass of our life, the clearer we should see through it,” he observed. His life taught that a heart full of grace can change the world.