Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II celebrated his 26th Anniversary on October 16th, 2004. He died on April 2, 2005.
Only one pope enjoyed a longer reign: Popes Pius IX; St. Peter is believed to have reigned longer, but there is not enough documentation to support this.
During those 26 years and 168 days, John Paul II visited 301 of the 334 parishes in his Diocese of Rome; made 142 trips inside Italy, and 98 foreign trips, to 129 different countries, traveling over 740,000 miles; delivered over 3,300 speeches during his trips, and spent roughly 11.5 percent of his pontificate outside Rome; wrote 13 encyclicals, 13 apostolic exhortations, 11 apostolic constitutions, and 42 apostolic letters (including a new document on the Rosary, beatified 1,297 people, including 1,024 martyrs and 272 confessors, in 135 separate ceremonies; and canonized 464 saints (401 martyrs and 63 confessors) in 47 ceremonies; held 8 consistories, at which he created 201 cardinals; convened 6 meetings of the College of Cardinals, and 15 meetings of the Synod of Bishops; held over 1,430 private audiences with visiting dignitaries, including 944 visits with heads of state or chief government ministers; and presided at over 1,055 public audiences, at which he spoke to roughly 16,500,000 people.
