16 Oktober 1978, pukul 5:15 sore, Kardinal Karol Wojtyla terpilih sebagai Paus yang ke-264. Menghormati pendahulunya, Paus Yohanes Paulus I, Sri Paus memilih nama Yohanes Paulus II.

The words of Pope John Paul II the day he was elected. :

"Praise be Jesus Christ! Dear brothers and sisters, we are all still grieved after the death of our most beloved John Paul I. And now the eminent cardinals have called a new Bishop of Rome. They have called him from a far country: far, but always near through the communion of faith and in the Christian tradition. I was afraid to receive this nomination, but I did it in the spirit of obedience to our Lord Jesus Christ and in total confidence in his Mother, the most holy Madonna. "I don´t know if I can make myself clear in your -- in our -- Italian language. If I make a mistake, you will correct me. And so I present myself to you all, to confess our common faith, our hope, our trust in the Mother of Christ and of the Church, and also to start anew on this road of history and the Church, with the help of God and with the help of men."