Polish Pope before 1900

Karol Wojtyla before 1900 despite hundreds of years of Italian popes ? Could this have been possible, and if not, what butterlies would be requested to allow this to happen ? Polish Partitions would mean no Polish citizen but maybe a citizen of Grand Duchy of Warsaw for example ?
 
It would be tough, really tough.

Most popes since 1000 or so have been Italian, and the others have been (mostly) from France or the German parts of the HRE. A few from Iberia.

Poland, for most of its history was pretty peripheral to Europe, and not nearly as important as the other major states that got their guy elected.

The fact that one of the Iberians was Portuguese, and that Adrian IV was English does suggest that a peripheral region CAN get a pope elected from their territory, but it's going to be tough.

Well. That's why it's challenge, eh?

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How about some major bishop who gets a reputation for 'converting' thousands of Orthodox in the PLC (Ukraine, Belarus). Maybe an earlier 'uniate' Byzantine Rite church, and with a Polish Bishop spearheading the change, not a King.
 
That depends how the Austrian Emperors feel about this, remember that they held the Jus Exclusivae, and it was used in 1903.
 
How about some major bishop who gets a reputation for 'converting' thousands of Orthodox in the PLC (Ukraine, Belarus). Maybe an earlier 'uniate' Byzantine Rite church, and with a Polish Bishop spearheading the change, not a King.
Piotr Skarga could fit the bill (he converted more Polish Protestants than Orthodox, though), but he was just a priest, and it seems he never tried to ascend higher in the hierarchy. Furthermore, this Jesuit was a social justice warrior before it became fashionable. Still, Skarga was a great orator, good university administrator, founder of a Catholic bank... These qualities should have made him into a prime candidate for the papacy - if only he was a cardinal.
 
Would this require a much more powerful Polish state? (probably at the expense of Germany, Russia, and maybe Austria) If Poland can be a major political player, it would have a better chance. And a larger Poland with more people would have more candidates as well.
 
Maybe Jan Kazimierz Denhoff? He lived in Italy and was Bishop of Cesena, he might be seen as "less foreigner".
 
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