Today, April 2nd, marks 18 years since the passing of Saint John Paul II, the Polish Pontiff who led the Catholic Church for 26 years and 5 months. Remembered as the "pilgrim Pope," he was a great defender of families and beloved by the youth. 

John Paul II passed away on April 2, 2005 at 9:37 p.m. (Rome time), the evening before the Sunday of Divine Mercy which he instituted and was very devoted to. 

A few minutes later, Monsignor Leonardo Sandri, who was then the Substitute of the Secretariat of State of the Holy See, announced the news to the thousands of people gathered in St. Peter's Square and to the rest of the world, who were following the Pontiff's last hours through the media. From that night until April 8th, the day of the deceased Pontiff's funeral, more than three million pilgrims paid homage to him by waiting in long lines, sometimes lasting 24 hours, to enter St. Peter's Basilica. 

On April 28th, Benedict XVI waived the five-year waiting period after death to begin the cause of canonization of John Paul II. This was officially opened by Cardinal Camillo Ruini, the General Vicar for the Diocese of Rome, on June 28th, 2005. 

John Paul II was beatified by Benedict XVI on May 1st, 2011 and canonized by Pope Francis on April 27th, 2014, in a ceremony in which Saint John XXIII was also proclaimed a saint.