Pope John Paul II in the context of List of visitors to Tsitsernakaberd

Altötting (German pronunciation: [altˈʔœtɪŋ] , lit. 'Old Ötting', in contrast to "New Ötting"; Bavarian: Oideding, pronounced [ɔidˈɛːde̝ŋ]) is a town in Bavaria, capital of the district Altötting of Germany. For 500 years it has been the scene of religious pilgrimages by Catholics in honor of Mary, including a visit by Pope John Paul II in 1980 and one by Pope Benedict XVI in 2006.

The Pontifical Swiss Guard, also known as the Papal Swiss Guard or simply Swiss Guard, is an armed forces, guard of honour, and protective security unit, maintained by the Holy See to protect the Pope and the Apostolic Palace within the territory of the Vatican City State. Established in 1506 under Pope Julius II, it is among the oldest military units in continuous operation and is sometimes called "the world's smallest army".

The Swiss Guard is recognised by its Renaissance-era dress uniform, consisting of a tunic striped in red, dark blue, and yellow; high plumed helmet; and traditional weapons such as the halberd. Guardsmen perform their protective duties in functional attire and with modern firearms. Since the assassination attempt on Pope John Paul II in 1981, the Guard has placed greater emphasis on its nonceremonial roles and has sought more training in anti-irregular military counterintelligence, commando-style raids, counter-sniper tactics, counterterrorism, close-quarters battle, defusing and disposal of bombs, executive protection, hostage rescue, human intelligence, medical evacuation, reconnaissance, tactical driving, tactical medical services, and tactical fast shooting by small arms.

The Sixto-Clementine Vulgate or Clementine Vulgate (Latin: Vulgata Clementina) is an edition of the Latin Vulgate, the official Bible of the Roman Catholic Church. It was the second edition of the Vulgate to be formally authorized by the Catholic Church, the first being the Sixtine Vulgate. The Clementine Vulgate was promulgated in 1592 by Pope Clement VIII, hence its name. The Sixto-Clementine Vulgate was used officially in the Catholic Church until 1979, when the Nova Vulgata was promulgated by Pope John Paul II. The Clementine Vulgate is still in use in the 1962 missal and breviary of the Catholic Church.

The Sixto-Clementine Vulgate is a revision of the Sixtine Vulgate; the latter had been published two years earlier under Sixtus V. Nine days after the death of Sixtus V, who had issued the Sixtine Vulgate, the College of Cardinals suspended the sale of the Sixtine Vulgate and later ordered the destruction of the copies. Thereafter, two commissions under Gregory XIV were in charge of the revision of the Sixtine Vulgate. In 1592, Clement VIII, arguing printing errors in the Sixtine Vulgate, recalled all copies of the Sixtine Vulgate still in circulation; some suspect his decision was in fact due to the influence of the Jesuits. In the same year, a revised edition of the Sixtine Vulgate was published and promulgated by Clement VIII; this edition is known as the Sixto-Clementine Vulgate, or Clementine Vulgate.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church (Latin: Catechismus Catholicae Ecclesiae; commonly called the Catechism or the CCC) is a reference work that summarizes the Catholic Church's doctrine. It was promulgated by Pope John Paul II in 1992 as a reference for the development of local catechisms, directed primarily to those (in the church) responsible for catechesis and offered as "useful reading for all other Christian faithful". It has been translated into and published in more than twenty languages worldwide.

John Paul II referred to it as "the Catechism of the Second Vatican Council", and Pope Benedict XVI described it as "one of the most important fruits of the Second Vatican Council".

The Mass of Paul VI, also known as the Ordinary Form or Novus Ordo, is the most commonly used liturgy in the Catholic Church. It was promulgated by Pope Paul VI in 1969 and its liturgical books were published in 1970; those books were then revised in 1975, they were revised again by Pope John Paul II in 2000, and a third revision was published in 2002.

It largely displaced the Tridentine Mass, the latest edition of which had been published in 1962 under the title Missale Romanum ex decreto SS. Concilii Tridentini restitutum ('The Roman Missal restored by decree of the Most Holy Council of Trent'). The editions of the Mass of Paul VI Roman Missal (1970, 1975, 2002) have as title Missale Romanum ex decreto Sacrosancti Oecumenici Concilii Vaticani II instauratum ('The Roman Missal renewed by decree of the Most Holy Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican'), followed in the case of the 2002 edition by auctoritate Pauli PP. VI promulgatum Ioannis Pauli PP. II cura recognitum ('promulgated by the authority of Pope Paul VI and revised at the direction of Pope John Paul II'). It is the most-used Mass within the Catholic Church today.

Cyril (Greek: Κύριλλος, romanized: Kýrillos; born Constantine, 826–869) and Methodius (Μεθόδιος, Methódios; born Michael, 815–885) were brothers, Byzantine Christian theologians and missionaries. For their work evangelizing the Slavs, they are known as the "Apostles to the Slavs".

They are credited with devising the Glagolitic alphabet, the first alphabet used to transcribe Old Church Slavonic. After their deaths, their pupils continued their missionary work among other Slavs. Both brothers are venerated in the Eastern Orthodox Church as saints with the title of "equal-to-apostles". In 1880, Pope Leo XIII introduced their feast into the calendar of the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church. In 1980, the first Slav pope, Pope John Paul II declared them co-patron saints of Europe, together with Benedict of Nursia.

There have been many cases of sexual abuse of children by priests, nuns, and other members of religious life in the Catholic Church. In the late 20th and early 21st centuries, the cases have involved several allegations, investigations, trials, convictions, acknowledgements, and apologies by Church authorities, and revelations about decades of instances of abuse and attempts by Church officials to cover them up. The abused include mostly boys but also girls, some as young as three years old, with the majority between the ages of 11 and 14. Criminal cases for the most part do not cover sexual harassment of adults. The accusations of abuse and cover-ups began to receive public attention during the late 1980s. Many of these cases allege decades of abuse, frequently made by adults or older youths years after the abuse occurred. Cases have also been brought against members of the Catholic hierarchy who covered up sex abuse allegations and moved abusive priests to other parishes, where abuse continued.

By the 1990s, the cases began to receive significant media and public attention in several countries, including in Canada, the United States, Chile, Australia, Ireland, and much of Europe and South America. Pope John Paul II was criticized by representatives of the victims of clergy sexual abuse for failing to respond quickly enough to the crisis.

Praedicate evangelium (English: Preach the gospel) is an apostolic constitution reforming the Roman Curia; it was published and promulgated on 19 March 2022 by Pope Francis, and the document took effect on 5 June 2022.

The apostolic constitution was developed over nine years by the Council of Cardinals. It is the fifth time that a reform of the Roman Curia of this kind has occurred. The document replaces Pope John Paul II's Pastor bonus of 1988.

Pope Francis (born Jorge Mario Bergoglio; 17 December 1936 – 21 April 2025) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of Vatican City from 13 March 2013 until his death in 2025. He was the first Jesuit pope, the first Latin American, and the first born or raised outside Europe since the 8th-century Syrian pope Gregory III.

Born and raised in Buenos Aires, Argentina, to a family of Italian origin, Bergoglio was inspired to join the Jesuits in 1958 after recovering from a severe illness. He was ordained a Catholic priest in 1969, and from 1973 to 1979 he was the Jesuit provincial superior in Argentina. He became the archbishop of Buenos Aires in 1998 and was created a cardinal in 2001 by Pope John Paul II. Following the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI, the 2013 papal conclave elected Bergoglio as pope on 13 March. He chose Francis as his papal name in honor of Saint Francis of Assisi.

The veneration of Mary in the Catholic Church encompasses various devotions which include prayer, pious acts, visual arts, poetry, and music devoted to her. Popes have encouraged it, while also taking steps to reform some manifestations of it. The Holy See has insisted on the importance of distinguishing "true from false devotion, and authentic doctrine from its deformations by excess or defect". There are significantly more titles, feasts, and venerative Marian practices among Roman Catholics than in other Western Christian traditions. The term hyperdulia indicates the special veneration due to Mary, greater than the ordinary dulia for other saints, but utterly unlike the latria due only to God.

Belief in the incarnation of God the Son through Mary is the basis for calling her the Mother of God, which was declared a dogma at the Council of Ephesus in 431. At the Second Vatican Council and in Pope John Paul II's encyclical Redemptoris mater, she is spoken of also as Mother of the Church.

The Feast of the Most Holy Name of the Blessed Virgin Mary is an optional memorial celebrated in the liturgical calendar of the Catholic Church on 12 September. It has been a universal Roman Rite feast since 1684, when Pope Innocent XI included it in the General Roman Calendar to commemorate the victory at the Battle of Vienna in 1683. It was initially removed from the current Church calendar in the liturgical reform following Vatican II, but it was restored by Pope John Paul II in 2002 along with the Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus in January.

Within the Eastern Orthodox Church, the feast is celebrated on 7 September in the Antiochian Western Rite Vicariate.

Catholic social teaching (CST) is an area of Catholic doctrine which is concerned with human dignity and the common good in society. It addresses oppression, the role of the state, subsidiarity, social organization, social justice, and wealth distribution. CST's foundations are considered to have been laid by Pope Leo XIII's 1891 encyclical, Rerum novarum, of which interpretations gave rise to distributism (formulated by G. K. Chesterton), Catholic socialism (proposed by Andrew Collier) and Catholic communism, among others. Its roots can be traced to Catholic theologians such as Thomas Aquinas and Augustine of Hippo. CST is also derived from the Bible and cultures of the ancient Near East.

According to Pope John Paul II, the foundation of social justice "rests on the threefold cornerstones of human dignity, solidarity and subsidiarity". According to Pope Benedict XVI, its purpose "is simply to help purify reason and to contribute, here and now, to the acknowledgment and attainment of what is just ... [The church] has to play her part through rational argument and she has to reawaken the spiritual energy without which justice ... cannot prevail and prosper." Pope Francis, according to Cardinal Walter Kasper, made mercy "the key word of his pontificate... [while] Scholastic theology has neglected this topic and turned it into a mere subordinate theme of justice."

The Italian Episcopal Conference (Italian: Conferenza Episcopale Italiana) or CEI is the episcopal conference of the Italian bishops of the Catholic Church. The conference was founded in 1971 and carries out various tasks, including setting the national liturgical norms for the Mass. Episcopal conferences receive their authority under universal law or particular mandates. Cardinal Matteo Zuppi was appointed its president by Pope Francis in 2022.

In 1986, Pope John Paul II suppressed 101 Italian dioceses. As of 2024 there are 226 dioceses in all. As of 2024 Italy has a total of 41 dioceses united in persona episcopi, or “in the person of the bishop.”

The College of Cardinals (Latin: Collegium Cardinalium), also called the Sacred College of Cardinals, is the body of all cardinals of the Catholic Church. As of 8 November 2025, there are 245 cardinals, of whom 126 are eligible to vote in a conclave to elect a new pope. Appointed by the pope, cardinals serve for life, but become ineligible to participate in a papal conclave if they turn 80 before a papal vacancy occurs.

Since the emergence of the College of Cardinals in the Early Middle Ages, the size of the body has historically been limited by popes, ecumenical councils ratified by the pope, and the college itself. The total number of cardinals from 1099 to 1986 has been about 2,900, nearly half of whom were created after 1655. This number excludes possible undocumented 12th-century cardinals and pseudocardinals appointed during the Western Schism by pontiffs now considered to be antipopes, and subject to some other sources of uncertainty.

The archbishop of Kraków is the head of the archdiocese of Kraków. A bishop of Kraków first came into existence when the diocese was created in 1000; it was promoted to an archdiocese on 28 October 1925. Due to Kraków's role as Poland's political, cultural and spiritual center, the bishops and archbishops of Kraków were often very influential in the city, country and abroad. From 1443 to 1791, bishops of Kraków were simultaneously Dukes of Siewierz, although it was only Adam Stefan Sapieha who officially abandoned the title.

On 13 May 1981, in St. Peter's Square in Vatican City, Pope John Paul II was shot and wounded by Mehmet Ali Ağca while he was entering the square. The Pope was struck twice and suffered severe blood loss. Ağca was apprehended immediately and later sentenced to life in prison by an Italian court. The Pope forgave Ağca for the assassination attempt. He was pardoned by Italian president Carlo Azeglio Ciampi at the Pope's request and was deported to Turkey in June 2000.

The Chapel of Graces of the Miraculous Virgin (French: La Chapelle du Grâce de Sainte Vierge Miraculeuse) or informally the Chapel of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal, is a Roman Catholic Marian shrine located in Paris, France. It is dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary under the Marian title the Virgin of Miracles.

The venerated Marian image enshrined within merited a decree of Pontifical coronation from Pope Leo XIII in 1897 as well as an Apostolic Visit from Pope John Paul II on 31 May 1980.

Magdalena Vicente Alonso Villaba (July 22, 1928 – September 11, 2023) was a Filipina educational administrator and philosopher. One of the country's most respected philosophy academics, Alonso Villaba published several books and articles on oriental philosophy and Christian philosophy. In 1987, she was awarded the Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice by Saint John Paul II, then the highest honor a Catholic lay woman could be conferred with.