| Although he had established himself as aformidable intellectual presence -- as well as an able administrator andfund-raiser -- few suspected that the Sacred College of Cardinals would chooseWojtyla as the next pope after the death of John Paul I in September of 1978.
But when the cardinals were unable toagree on a candidate after seven rounds of balloting, Wojtyla was chosen on theeighth round late in the afternoon of October 16.
He reportedly formally accepted hiselection before the cardinals with tears in his eyes. (Associates say the popeis an emotional man, and is often moved to tears by children.)
Wojtyla chose the same name as hispredecessor -- whose reign lasted just 34 days before he died of a heart attack-- and added another Roman numeral in becoming the first Slavic pope. He wasalso the first non-Italian pope in 455 years (the last was Adrian VI in 1523)and, at 58, the youngest pope in 132 years.
‘‘I was afraid to receive thisnomination,’‘ he told the crowd from a balcony overlooking St. Peter's Square,‘‘but I did it in the spirit of obedience to Our Lord and in the totalconfidence in His mother, the most holy Madonna.’‘
Weigel says that when Wojtyla's electionwas announced, Yuri Andropov, leader of the Soviet Union's KGB intelligenceagency, warned the Politburo that there could be trouble ahead. He was right.
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