Pope John Paul lls birth name was Karol Jef Wojtyla born in the small town of Wadowice in Poland just outside of Cracow. During WWll under the yoke of Nazi occupation he persevered toward priesthood in a clandestine seminary run by the archbishop. While under Russian Communist occupation he went on to be ordained in 1946, appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Cracow by Pope Pius XII in 1958, In 1964, he was appointed Archbishop of Cracow by Pope Paul VI, and in 1967 he was appointed Cardinal, he was elected Pope in 1978. He followed Pope John Paul l who died 33 days after being elected Pope, September 1978, shortest papacy reign in history. He most certainly was a catalyst to the downfall of Communism. There is presently a movement to have Pope John Paul ll to be renamed Pope John Paul the Great. It is a tremendous and heartfelt loss to the 1.1 billion Roman Catholics around the world and a great loss to humanity in general.