A file photograph shows Pope John Paul ll raising his injured left hand in greetings as he leaves the Gemelli Hospital, June 3, 1981.
Pope John Paul II, the Polish
pontiff who led the Roman Catholic Church for more than a quarter
century, died yesterday night in his Vatican apartment. He was 84.
POPE JOHN Paul 11 died yesterday after suffering from kidney failure and shortness of breath for much of Friday. He died at 9:37 p.m. in his private apartment. The pontiff's health declined sharply Thursday when he developed a high fever brought on by the infection. The pope suffered septic shock and heart problems during treatment for the infection, the Vatican said.
A Mass was scheduled for St. Peter's Square
for this morning.
Since his surprise election in 1978, John Paul
travelled the world, inspiring a revolt against
communism in his native Poland and across the Soviet bloc, but also preaching against consumerism, contraception and abortion.
John Paul was a robust 58 when the cardinals stunned the world and elected the cardinal from Krakow, the first non-Italian pope in 455 years.
PICTURE OF FRAILTY
In his later years, however, John Paul was the picture of frailty, weighed down by ailments that included Parkinson's disease. Although he kept up his travels, he was no longer able to kiss the ground.
John Paul 11, a conservative and activist pontiff, is credited with bringing renewed respect for the papacy and the Roman Catholic Church.
Throughout his papacy, he established
diplomatic relations between the Vatican and scores of governments. To promote Catholicism beyond Europe and the Americas, he appointed dozens of
cardinals church executives from Asia as well as Africa, where followers grew 150 per cent between 1978 and 2002, according to the Vatican's 2002 Statistical Yearbook of the Church.
One of the hallmarks of his papacy is the pressure he put on wealthy nations to aid the poor and the
hungry around the world. However, his most notable international effort was his opposition to
communism. Many people credit that as a key
factor in the fall of the Soviet Union. Among the beneficiaries were his fellow Poles, whose side he took in the Solidarity labour strike that began in the shipyards and ultimately ended in the liberalisation of the Polish government.
