April 13, 2005

VATICAN CITY - Clutching rosaries, medals and flowers, thousands of people filed past the simple white marble tomb of Pope John Paul II on Wednesday, as the Vatican reopened the grottoes beneath St. Peter's Basilica for the first time since the pope died.

The students from Saint Timothy Catholic Academy draw pictures to honor nthe late Pope John Paul II.

VATICAN CITY - Pope John Paul II, who helped topple communism in Europe and left a deeply conservative stamp on the church that he led for 26 years, died Saturday night in his Vatican apartment, ending a long public struggle against debilitating illness. He was 84.

VATICAN CITY - Pope John Paul II was near death Saturday, his breathing shallow and his heart and kidneys failing, the Vatican said. Millions of faithful around the world knelt, crawled on their knees, bowed their heads and lit candles to pray for the 84-year-old pontiff.

It was 20 years ago today that Pope John Paul II flew a bit late from Sky Harbor Airport in Phoenix aboard “Shepherd One” for Los Angeles because he had insisted on meeting the grown kids of the bishop’s housekeeper.

Well-read, well-traveled, a crusader for justice, a pastor of the first order - these descriptions of Karol Wojtyla softened the surprise of the Polish cardinal's election to the papacy in 1978 as the first non-Italian pope in half a millennium.

April 8, 2005

ROME - The Roman Catholic Church placed Pope John Paul II on the path to sainthood Tuesday during a joyous ceremony at a Roman basilica - the fastest start to a beatification process in memory for a man many considered a saint long before he died.

Pope John Paul II’s impact on the Diocese of Phoenix will continue long after his death, many Valley Catholics agree, even as they see lingering issues that his successor will need to address.

Well-read, well-traveled, a crusader for justice, a pastor of the first order — these descriptions of Karol Wojtyla softened the surprise of the Polish cardinal’s election to the papacy in 1978 as the first non-Italian pope in half a millennium.

ISTANBUL, Turkey - The man who shot Pope John Paul II in 1981 was released from prison Thursday after serving more than 25 years in Italy and Turkey for the plot against the pontiff and the slaying of a Turkish journalist.