John Paul, born Karol Josef Wojtyla, was the first non-Italian pope in nearly five centuries. He had a long reign, and one that is remembered for its ecumenicalism. He opposed the oppression of communism and the rampant consumerism of capitalism, and held the traditional line on gender and sex isssues.

As a part of the "universal call to holiness," he beatified 1300 people and canonized nearly 500 - a huge increase over his predecessors. In part John Paul was able to do this by abolishing a church office alternately called The Promoter of the Faith or The Devil's Advocate. For centuries the church had used an adversarial legal process to promote saints. One person would argue for the 'client,' and another would be quite literally the Devil's advocate - questioning the saint's character, disproving their miracles, and so forth.