Life stories of Benedict XVI & John Paul 2

MANILA, Philippines - GMA News TV looks back on the life stories of the two last Popes, who had once took on the role of leading more than a billion Catholic faithful. The two biographical documentaries air back-to-back tomorrow night.

Biography: Pope Benedict XVI tells the story of Joseph Ratzinger from his place of birth in a little village in Bavaria, Germany to his appointment as Pope in Rome. Friends, family members and colleagues, who have known him for decades, describe his career from a Catholic Bavarian boy to a much valued theologian and close associate of John Paul II.

Experts discuss his much-criticized membership in the Hitler Youth and how the events of the Second World War might have influenced him. Vatican insiders illustrate how the Pope has lived and worked in Rome. With numerous interviews and archive footage from nearly eight decades, viewers will get first-hand insight into the life of the 265th Pope, who just last month, became the first Pope to resign in nearly 600 years.

When he was elected Pope John Paul II in 1978, Karol Wojtyla became the first Polish ever to take the seat of St. Peter. His pontificate, one of the longest in the history of the Church, lasted nearly 27 years. During that time, he would change the image of the papacy forever, with a mass appeal never before seen in the history of the Church. John Paul the Great: A Pope Who Made History takes viewers through the extraordinary life of one of the 21st century’s greatest men.

Dubbed in Filipino, Biography: Pope Benedict XVI airs at 10 p.m., followed by John Paul the Great at 11 p.m. on GMA News TV Channel 11.