First in a three-part series On 16 October 1978, Karol Wojtyla , the Cardinal Archbishop of Krakow in Poland, was elected to the papacy. He was the youngest pope in a century and the first non-Italian in 450 years. He chose the name John Paul n. At the time, outside Poland, little or nothing was known about a man who has since become one of the best known popes in history. Papa Wojtyla goes behind the public face of the papacy to discover the human being. You Could Steal Horses with Wojtyla ... The behind-the-scenes story of how Wojtyla came to be elected, while at the same time tracing his early life and career. Wojtyla himself talks to Richard Denton about his late vocation and his own response to his election.