Pope John Paul II

Age: 84

Summary: leader of the Roman Catholic Church who had helped to topple communism in Europe and left a deeply conservative stamp on the church that he led for almost 27 years, who became the first non-Italian pope in 455 years when Karol, Cardinal Wojtyla of Poland was elected to the post at age 58, who also survived a 1981 assassination attempt and also had the third-longest reign in the history of the Papacy.

Cause of Death: Complications from a heart attack and Parkinson's disease

Born: May 20, 1920

Died: April 2, 2005

Location: Vatican City, Italy