Pope Pius IX
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Pope Pius IX was head of the Catholic Church from 16 June 1846 until his death in February 1878.
Portrait by Adolphe Braun, 1875
1871 portrait by George Peter Alexander Healy
The birthplace house of Pius IX in Senigallia
Illustration showing Mastai-Ferretti at his first Holy Mass in 1819
Pope John Paul II
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Pope John Paul II was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of Vatican City from 16 October 1978 until his death in 2005. He was the first non-Italian pope since Adrian VI in the 16th century,
Pope Pius IX
…over the worldwide Catholic Church, while also formalizing the pope's ultimate doctrinal authority (the dogma of papal infallibility defined in 1870). Pope John Paul II beatified him in 2000. Giovanni Maria Mastai-Ferretti was born on 13 May 1792 in Senigallia. He was the ninth child born into the noble family of…
John Paul II in 1988
The wedding portrait of John Paul II's parents, Emilia and Karol Wojtyła Sr.
Wojtyła on the day of his first communion
Wojtyła (second from right) in a Baudienst forced labour work crew during the occupation of Poland (1939–1945), c. 1941