Karol Wojtyla was an unexpected choice for pope when he was elected in 1978, aged 58. He was the first non-Italian for 450 years and was seen as an outsider for the job. He took the name John Paul II.

One of his first visits was to Poland - the first papal visit to a nation under Communist rule. But his tour gave strength to people and helped sow the seeds of the revolution that would come 10 years later.

After two frail predecessors he was seen as a man of action.

John Paul II's inauguration