Pope John Paul II (center, in red boots) prays with a group of skiers before heading down a slope in this 1984 file photo. The pontiff, who enjoyed skiing in his native Poland before his election, was able to slip away to ski only a few times as he led the worldwide church. (CNS photo ...read more

Pope John Paul II kisses a rain-soaked tarmac as he arrives in Jakarta, Indonesia, on a pastoral trip in 1989. (CNS file photo)  ...read more

Pope John Paul II delivers his “urbi et orbi” (to the city of Rome and the world) message on Easter in 1993. (CNS photo from L’Osservatore Romano) ...read more

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

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

Tomorrow,  April 2 we celebrate the 9th anniversary of the death of Bl. Pope John Paul II. The next day, is day-one of this year’s John Paul II International Film Festival, which has been taking place every year since 2009 in Miami, Florida. The inter-faith Festival is inspired by Pope John Paul II’s invitation to ...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 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