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The Roman Catholic Church will declare Pope John Paul II a saint, the Vatican announced Friday, July 5. The Polish-born pope, pictured in 1978, was fast-tracked to beatification after his death in 2005 and was declared "blessed" barely six years later -- the fastest beatification in centuries. Here's a look at the most widely traveled pope and his journeys around the world: Central Press/Getty Images
Pope John Paul II blesses the crowd in St. Peter's Square in Vatican City on Easter Sunday in April 1980. Keystone/Getty Images
Aides help Pope John Paul II moments after a May 13, 1981, assassination attempt by Turkish gunman Mehmet Ali Agca in St Peter's Square. Keystone/Getty Images
Pope John Paul II in Segovia, Spain, in November 1982. Gianni Ferrari/Cover/Getty Images
Pope John Paul II and Mother Teresa wave to well-wishers in Kolkata, India, in February 1986. STRinger/AFP/Getty Images
Pope John Paul II kisses the ground upon arriving in Auckland, New Zealand, in November 1986. JEAN-CLAUDE DELMAS/AFP/Getty Images
Bill and Hillary Clinton greet Pope John Paul II as he arrives in Newark, New Jersey, on a U.S. trip in October 1995. J. DAVID AKE/AFP/Getty Images
Pope John Paul II visits then-South African President Nelson Mandela at the presidential guesthouse in Pretoria, South Africa, in September 1995. GARY BERNARD/AFP/Getty Images
Hundreds of thousands of pilgrims attend an open-air Mass celebrated by Pope John Paul II in Beirut, Lebanon, in May 1997. The pontiff drew vast crowds as he crisscrossed the globe. AL-SAFIR/AFP/Getty Images
Cuban leader Fidel Castro greets the pope in Cuba in January 1998. John Paul II was the first pontiff to visit the Caribbean island nation. MICHEL GANGNE/AFP/Getty Images
Pope John Paul II at the Mass of beatification of Anton Martin Slomsek in Maribor, Slovenia, in September 1999. GABRIEL BOUYS/AFP/Getty Images
