Pope John Paul IIin a sentence
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There were three assassination attempts on John Paul II. In 2006, an Italian parliamentary commission concluded that the Soviet Union was behind one of the attempts because of the Pope's support for the Solidarity movement in Poland.
John Paul II = popular Pope who traveled a great deal and saw the Catholic Church's influence decline in the West while it expanded in Third World countries. (1978-2005)
- Pope John Paul II beatified and canonized an especially large number of people from different cultures as part of his emphasis that all Roman Catholics should strive to lead holy lives; i.e., that there is not a separate standard for saints.
- Their ascension to grace was jumpstarted in 1982 when Pope John Paul II unexpectedly elevated them to a "personal prelature of the Pope," officially sanctioning all of their practices.† (source)
- Possession of the Shroud is said to be the real motive behind the attempted assassination of Pope John Paul II at the Vatican--an attempt that failed only because the Viper had already died in a horror helicopter crash and been reborn as a freckle-faced girl in Iowa.† (source)