Pope Joh Paul II

An influential pontiff

John Paul II transformed the papacy but conservative views alienated some

John Paul II was the third-longest serving pope in history.

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(CNN) -- Voicing a strong moral vision, Pope John Paul II forged a legacy as one of the Catholic Church's most influential and controversial leaders. The 264th pontiff traveled more and beatified more people than any pope in history.

Supporters and critics alike agree on the immense significance of his 26-year papacy.

During that period he played a key role in the fall of communism, brought the Catholic message to an unprecedented number of people around the world, and endeared himself to billions with his warmth, charisma, courage and integrity.

As TIME magazine noted when naming him Man of the Year in 1994, he generated an electricity "unmatched by anyone else on earth."

At the same time, however, he was a profoundly conservative leader whose moral opinions alienated many, and whose centralizing instincts stifled the move toward a more open, democratic church.

A surprise choice as pope

John Paul II was born Karol Jozef Wojtyla on May 18, 1920, at Wadowice, Poland, the third child of a devoutly Catholic retired army officer-turned-tailor.

Wojtyla, the son of a devoutly Catholic retired Polish army officer, was a surprise choice as pope.

A brilliant student and athlete -- he excelled at skiing, swimming, kayaking and soccer -- his earliest passions were religion, poetry and the theater.

Following the German invasion of Poland in 1939 he worked first as a stonecutter, then in a chemical plant, while at the same time studying at an underground seminary in Krakow.

In 1941, Wojtyla and some friends started an underground theater, called the Rhapsodic Theater, to present works in Polish in defiance of the Nazis.

He was eventually ordained in 1946, assuming priestly duties in 1949 as chaplain to university students at Krakow's St. Florian's Church.

For the next 30 years he rose steadily through the church hierarchy. He became the auxiliary bishop of Krakow in 1958 and was appointed archbishop of Krakow in January 1964. He was officially installed as archbishop in March 1964.

During this time he made a name for himself both as a formidable theologian -- he taught at the Krakow Seminary and the Catholic University of Lublin -- and as a staunch defender of Catholic interests.

"I am not afraid of them," he once commented when asked if he feared Poland's communist authorities. "They are afraid of me."

He was elevated to cardinal in a secret consistory on June 26, 1967, and was formally installed in a Vatican ceremony two days later.

Despite his prominence and the respect in which he was held by his fellow Catholics, his election as Pope John Paul II on October 16, 1978 -- the first-ever Slavic pope, and the first non-Italian to occupy the post for 455 years -- came as a surprise.

"I was afraid to receive this nomination," he told the crowd that had gathered in St. Peter's Square in Rome to acclaim his elevation. "But I did it in the spirit of obedience to our Lord and in the total confidence in his mother, the most holy Madonna."

A hard act to follow

John Paul II proved