Claim: Pope John Paul II is a limited series.

Pope John Paul II is a 2005 television miniseries dramatizing the life of Pope John Paul II -LRB- Karol Józef Wojtyła -RRB- from his early adult years in Poland to his death at age 84 .   The miniseries was written and directed by John Kent Harrison and aired in the United States on the CBS network on 4 and 7 December 2005 . It was first released in Vatican City on 17 November 2005 and ten days later throughout Italy on Rai 1   Jon Voight portrays an older Karol Wojtyła -LRB- after his investiture as pope in 1978 -RRB- , while Cary Elwes portrays Wojtyła in his earlier life from 1939 to 1978 . Voight was nominated for an Emmy Award for his performance .   Pope John Paul II co-stars James Cromwell as Archbishop Adam Stefan Cardinal Sapieha , Ben Gazzara as Agostino Cardinal Casaroli , and Christopher Lee as Stefan Cardinal Wyszyński . Polish actor Mikolaj Grabowski is seen twice playing Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger of Germany , who would succeed John Paul II as Pope Benedict XVI .