Pope John Paul II addresses the General Assembly at the United Nations in New York Oct. 2, 1979. (CNS file photo) ...read more

Pope John Paul II greets Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger in this photo dated Oct. 22, 1978. Twenty-seven years later, this photo captured by a L’Osservatore Romano photographer would take on special significance with Cardinal Ratzinger’s election as Pope Benedict XVI. (CNS photo/L’Osservatore Romano) ...read more

Pope John Paul II stands on the threshold of a former slave-trade depot on Goree Island during his 1992 trip to Senegal. The Polish pontiff and Blessed John XXIII will become saints in a ceremony presided by Pope Francis April 27, 2014 at the Vatican. (CNS photo/Giancarlo Giuliani, Catholic Press Photo) ...read more

U.S. Sen. Ted Kennedy greets Pope John Paul II, as Rosalyn Carter, wife U.S. President Jimmy Carter, looks on, during the pope’s arrival in Boston in 1979. (CNS file photo)  ...read more

Pope John Paul II is embraced by Cambodian Buddhist monk Maha Ghosananda during an interreligious encounter in Assisi, Italy, Oct. 27, 1986. (CNS photo/L’Osservatore Romano) ...read more

Pope John Paul II visits with Mehmet Ali Agca in a Rome prison Dec. 27, 1983. Their meeting came two years after Agca was arrested for shooting the pontiff in St. Peter’s Square. The pope publicly forgave his assailant. In 2000, Italy pardoned Agca and returned him to his homeland, Turkey. (CNS file photo by ...read more

Pope John Paul II is assisted by his personal secretary Msgr. Stanislaw Dziwisz as he slumps in an open Fiat jeep on May 13, 1981 after he was shot and nearly killed by Turkish gunman Mehmet Ali Agca. (CNS photo/L’Osservatore Romano) ...read more

Pope John Paul II visits Uganda in February 1993. (CNS photo from L’Osservatore Romano, Arturo Mari) ...read more

Pope John Paul II kisses the hand of the child Jesus on a statue of Mary during a celebration in Cuzco, Peru, Feb. 3, 1985. (CNS photo/Catholic Press Photo) ...read more

Pope John Paul II greets the World Youth Day crowd in Czestochowa, Poland, in 1992. An estimated 1.5 million people from 80 countries attended the third international World Youth Day. (CNS file photo)  ...read more