The 26-year papacy of John Paul II was one of the most significant, and longest, in history. Though a time of theological reentrenchment following the reformist ethos of Vatican II in the sixties, what truly set it apart was the superstar-like status of the Polish pontiff himself. Media savvy and gently photogenic, John Paul II seemed to possess an intuitive understanding that in the modern age the messenger was the message. His far-flung travels (he visited 127 countries during his papacy), inspired millions of new Catholic believers even as the Church struggled with the controversial issues of the day: AIDS, abortion, and the sex abuse scandals among priests. The photographers of Contact Press Images recorded the tenure of John Paul II from his election on October 16, 1978 until his death on April 2, 2005, including many of its highlights: the first visits to the US and Poland in 1979, the assassination attempt in 1981, and the 1983 mass in Nicaragua that attracted one of the largest crowds in the history of the world. At the Vatican, during his international journeys, and during the slow and disabling affects of Parkinson’s disease, these photographers captured not the private man, but the remarkable public figure whose pronouncement “Be not afraid” shook the world. –––––––––––––––– Pope John Paul II: His Remarkable Journey, published by de.MO and available in both English and Spanish in the Fall of 2005, includes 159 images made by Contact photographers, and an introduction by Nobel laureate and Solidarity founder Lech Walesa.