John Paul II

Pope 1978–2005, the first non-Italian to be elected pope since 1522. He was born near Kraków, Poland. He upheld the tradition of papal infallibility and condemned artificial contraception, women priests, married priests, and modern dress for monks and nuns – views that aroused criticism from liberalizing elements in the church.

In a March 1995 encyclical, Jean Paul II stated in unequivocal terms his opposition to abortion, birth control, in vitro fertilization, genetic manipulation, and euthanasia, and employed the church's strongest language to date against capital punishment. In March 2000, he undertook a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, visiting Jordan, Israel, and the Palestinian Territories. In May 2001, he used a historic visit to Greece, that was protested against by Orthodox priests, to apologize for the sins of Roman Catholics against Orthodox believers. He went on to Syria, where he became the first pope to enter a mosque, the Umayyad mosque in Damascus.