During his reign, Pope John Paul II ("The Pilgrim Pope") made 146 pastoral visits within Italy and 104 foreign trips, more than all previous popes combined. In total he logged more than 1,167,000km (725,000mi). He consistently attracted large crowds on his travels, some among largest ever assembled. While some of his trips (such as to the United States and Israel) were to places that were previously visited by Paul VI (the first pope to travel widely), many others were to countries that no pope had previously visited.
In addition, John Paul II made 146 pastoral visits within Italy.
Travels Outside Italy
1970s
Millions cheer Pope John Paul II during his first visit to Poland as pontiffPope John Paul II, during his first U.S. visit in 1979, at Yankee Stadium, New York City
Pope John Paul II's first foreign journey was a three-country visit to the Dominican Republic, Mexico and the Bahamas in January 1979. Some 18 million people were believed to have greeted the Pope during his stay in Mexico.
The Pope's second foreign visit was to his homeland, Poland, in June 1979.[5] This was possibly the most significant of all his trips as it, according to some historians, set in train a series of events that led to the establishment of the Solidarity trade union, which was a key movement in the fall of Communism in eastern Europe. During his visit to Poland, John Paul visited Warsaw, Gniezno, Kraków, Nowy Targ, Auschwitz and Jasna Góra. The nine-day tour attracted millions of faithful.
The Pope's visit to Ireland on 29 September drew immense crowds. 1,250,000 people, one quarter of the population of the island of Ireland, one third of the population of the Republic of Ireland, attended the opening Mass of the visit in Dublin's Phoenix Park. Over 250,000 attended a Liturgy of the Word in Drogheda later that evening. Hundreds of thousands lined the streets of Dublin that night for a motorcade from Dublin Airport to the Presidential Residence in the Phoenix Park.
The following day, Sunday 30 September, included Masses in Galway (300,000), Knock (450,000) and a stop over at the monastic ruins of Clonmacnois (20,000). The final day of the visit began with a visit to the National Seminary in Maynooth (attended by 80,000). The final Mass of the visit was at Greenpark Racecourse in Limerick in the south of the country before 400,000 people which was more than had been expected.
John Paul II made his first visit to the United States in October 1979. He arrived in Boston on 1 October. The next two days were spent in New York City, where he addressed the United Nations General Assembly. There he condemned all uses of concentration camps and torture on the 40th anniversary year of World War II's start in 1939 and subsequent establishment of such camps by both the invading German Nazis and Soviet Communists, with Communism's camps and tortures continuing after the war's end in 1945. The pope later spoke to students gathered at Madison Square Garden, and conducted Mass at the original Yankee Stadium[6][7] for 75,000 people[8] as well as at Shea Stadium to an audience of over 52,000.[9] He arrived in Philadelphia on 3 October and Des Moines, Iowa on the next day before arriving in Chicago. There he celebrated Mass in Grant Park, met with civic leaders and Chicago's Polish community. Chicago was the largest Catholic archdiocese in the United States at the time and the home of the largest Polish community outside of Poland.[10] He concluded his pilgrimage to the U.S. in Washington, D.C. where he became the first Pope to visit the White House. He was greeted warmly by President Jimmy Carter, and they met privately in the Oval Office.
The pope made a pastoral trip to Singapore in 1986, and was received by the Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew in the Istana. Following that, the Pope made pastoral speeches concerning the Catholic doctrines in the National Stadium of Singapore, which was viewed by a large audience.
Beatification of Lorenzo Ruiz and Companions in Manila. The first beatification outside Rome since the institution of solemn beatification in 1662.[17]
Second visit to France; Pilgrimage to Lourdes on the occasion of the 125th Anniversary of the Lourdes Apparitions and the 50th Anniversary of the Canonization of St. Bernadette Soubirous.
Beatification of Karolina Kózka and Michał Kozal and participation at the 2nd National Eucharistic Congress in Warsaw.11 June 1987 Pope John Paul II arriving at the military airport at Gdynia on his third Papal visit to Poland.
Plaque in the Almudena Cathedral, Madrid, marking a 1993 visit by John Paul II
The Pope's foreign travel programme for 1994 was suspended due to a fall resulting in hip-replacement surgery. Visits to Belgium, the United States, and Lebanon were cancelled as a result. The visits to Belgium and the United States took place in 1995, while the visit to Lebanon was delayed until 1997.
Pastoral visit of Pope John Paul II to Bosnia and Herzegovina
There was a plot to assassinate the Pope during his visit to Manila in January 1995, as part of Operation Bojinka, a mass terrorist attack that was developed by Al-Qaeda members Ramzi Yousef and Khalid Sheik Mohammed. A suicide bomber dressed as a priest and planned to use the disguise to get closer to the Pope's motorcade so that he could kill the Pope by detonating himself. Before 15 January, the day on which the men were to attack the Pope during his Philippine visit, an apartment fire brought investigators led by Aida Fariscal to Yousef's laptop computer, which had terrorist plans on it, as well as clothes and items that suggested an assassination plot. Yousef was arrested in Pakistan about a month later, but Khalid Sheik Mohammed was not arrested until 2003. During this trip to the Philippines, on 15 January 1995, the Pope offered Mass to an estimated crowd of 4–5 million in Luneta Park, Manila, the largest papal crowd ever.[19][20] On 19 September 1996, the Pope traveled to Saint-Laurent-sur-Sèvre, France to meditate and pray st the adjacent tombs of Saint Louis de Montfort and Blessed Marie Louise Trichet. On 22 March 1998, during his second visit to Nigeria, he beatified the Nigerian monk Cyprian Michael Iwene Tansi.[21] In 1999, John Paul II made a final trip to the United States, this time celebrating Mass in St. Louis in the Trans World Dome. Over 104,000 people attended the 27 January Mass, making it the biggest indoor gathering in the United States.[22]
Third visit to Portugal; Pilgrimage to Fatima on the 10th anniversary of Ağca's assassination attempt on his life and 74th of the 1917 Marian apparitions there
Second visit to Philippines; celebration of World Youth Day 1995 in Manila; The second-largest papal gathering in history. 400th anniversary of the establishment of the first ecclesiastical provinces in the Philippines
Fourth visit to Mexico; Closing of the Special Assembly for America of the Synod of Bishops and signing of the Post-Synodal Exhortation Ecclesia in America
In May 2001, the Pope took a pilgrimage that would trace the steps of his co-namesake, Saint Paul, across the Mediterranean, from Greece to Syria to Malta. John Paul II became the first Pope to visit Greece in 1291 years. The visit was controversial, and the Pontiff was met with protests and snubbed by Eastern Orthodox leaders, none of whom met his arrival.
In Athens, the Pope met with Archbishop Christodoulos, the head of the Greek Orthodox Church in Greece. After a private 30 minute meeting, the two spoke publicly. Christodoulos read a list of "13 offences" of the Roman Catholic Church against the Orthodox Church since the Great Schism, including the pillaging of Constantinople by Crusaders in 1204. He also bemoaned the lack of any apology from the Roman Catholic Church, saying that "until now, there has not been heard a single request for pardon" for the "maniacal crusaders of the 13th century".
The Pope responded by saying, "For the occasions past and present, when sons and daughters of the Catholic Church have sinned by action or omission against their Orthodox brothers and sisters, may the Lord grant us forgiveness", to which Christodoulos immediately applauded. John Paul also said that the sacking of Constantinople was a source of "deep regret" for Catholics.
Later, John Paul and Christodoulos met on a spot where Saint Paul had once preached to Athenian Christians. They issued a "common declaration", saying, "We shall do everything in our power, so that the Christian roots of Europe and its Christian soul may be preserved. ... We condemn all recourse to violence, proselytism and fanaticism, in the name of religion." The two leaders then said the Lord's Prayer together, breaking an Orthodox taboo against praying with Catholics.
In September 2001 amid post-September 11 concerns, he travelled to Kazakhstan, with an audience of largely Muslims, and to Armenia, to participate in the celebration of the 1700 years of Christianity in that nation.[26] The Pope's final visit was to the Marian Shrine of Lourdes in the south of France.
Ninth, and last visit to his native Poland; Dedication of the Shrine of Divine Mercy in Kraków, Beatification and 400th Anniversary of the Dedication of the Basilica of Our Lady of the Angels in Kalwaria Zebrzydowska
Eighth and last visit to France, as well as his last papal visit, to mark the 150th anniversary of the promulgation of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception.
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↑ Weigel, George (2005). Witness to Hope: The Biography of Pope John Paul II. Harper Perennial. p.350. ISBN0060732032. On the night of his UN address, John Paul celebrated Mass for 75,000 in Yankee Stadium.
↑ "God Bless America! Pope Bids Farewell". Eternal Word Television Network. 28 January 1999. Archived from the original on 16 June 2013. Retrieved 30 June 2013. Lines several deep wrapped around the Trans World Dome, home of the St. Louis Rams, to enter a temporary cathedral for what is believed to be the largest indoor gathering ever in the United States.
↑ It is unclear from the citation whether the visit included the two neighbouring municipalities of Venegono Inferiore and Venegono Superiore or only one of them.
↑ Allen Jr., John (10 June 2011). "Top Ten Papal Trips". National Catholic Reporter. Kansas City: National Catholic Reporter Publishing Company. Retrieved 2 February 2018.
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