Biographical Profiles of the Popes

These pages are the Holy See’s own summaries, written after the event. The profile of Paul VI is reprinted from L’Osservatore Romano of 24 October 2014, and that of John Paul II from the booklet for his canonisation in 2014. They are not contemporary documents. The wiki uses them only for dates and offices that the Holy See itself is in a position to record, and takes nothing else from them.

The English pages contain two misprints, which the wiki does not repeat. The profile of John XXIII gives 20 October 1958 as the day of his election; the Holy See’s own page for his pontificate gives 28 October. The English profile of John Paul II dates the attempt on his life in St Peter’s Square to 3 May 1981; the Italian version of the same profile gives 13 May.