The Vatican kicked off the countdown to the beatification of Pope John Paul the II with a YouTube video of his first papal

speech. The video, a series of clips from the first year of his 27-year pontificate, featured his famous first papal speech in which he asked the crowd to correct him if he made any mistakes while speaking Italian.

The first clip in the video shows then-Cardinal Karol Wojtyla entering the Vatican for the election of a new Pope in 1978. As white smoke rose from the Sistine Chapel’s chimney, John Paul II came out onto the balcony, greeted by the cheers of thousands gathered in St. Peter’s Square. Speaking Italian, he broke tradition and addressed the crowd, saying, “if I make mistakes, if I make mistakes you will correct me.”

John Paul was one of the most popular popes in the history of the Catholic Church, and also one of the most travelled. He visited 129 countries during his pontificate and could speak fourteen languages, including Italian, Latin, and Polish, his native language. He beatified 1,340 people and canonized 483 saints, the most for any pope. The pontificate of John Paul was the second-longest in church history; only Pope Pius IX served longer. Also, he is the only Polish Pope.

Calls for John Paul to be canonized began immediately after his death, with shouts of “Santo Subito!” or “Sainthood immediately!” at his funeral mass. On December 19, 2009, his successor, Pope Benedict XVI, proclaimed John Paul “venerable,” which is two steps away from being canonized.

The beatification is set to take place on May 1, and it is the final step before John Paul could be canonized a saint. It is expected to be a morale booster for the church, which is under much scrutiny because of the recent clerical abuse scandals. Some believe that the scandals, which occurred during John Paul’s papacy, have tarnished his otherwise memorable legacy.