Silver coin, minted in Liberia, dedicated to the first Polish pope. The image of the pope was gilded.  John Paul II (Karol Józef Wojtyła) - Polish Roman Catholic clergyman, 264th Pope and 6th Sovereign of the Vatican State in 1978-2005. A saint of the Catholic Church.  He was elected Pope by the second cardinal assembly after the death of John Paul I, who died after thirty-three days of his pontificate. Cardinal Wojtyla was elected on the third day of the conclave and received the names of John Paul to honour his predecessor. His election to the capital of Peter had a special impact on events in Eastern Europe and Asia in the 1980s and 1990s, especially on the democratic changes in Poland and other Eastern Bloc countries. The main goal of his papacy was to transform and change the position of the Catholic Church, John Paul II wanted to "put his Church at the heart of a new religious alliance that would gather Jews, Muslims and Christians in a great religious armada". He contributed to improving the relations of the Catholic Church with Judaism, Islam, the Orthodox Church and the Anglican Community.  John Paul II was the first Pope from outside Italy since the Dutch Pope Hadrian VI (1522-1523), and the second longest serving Pope in modern history after Pope Pius IX (1846-1878).