pope john paul ii visit to usa 1987

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Recalling St John Paul II’s seven visits to the United States

CNA Staff, Apr 2, 2020 / 09:02 am

St. John Paul II was the most traveled pope in history, logging some 700,000 miles and visiting nearly 130 countries.

One of the first countries the pope visited after his election was the United States. As Cardinal Karol Wojtyla, he had visited the US in 1976, two years before his election, stopping at places such as Michigan, Ohio, and Montana, and was eager to return.

Over the course of his nearly 27-year pontificate, St. John Paul II would make seven visits to the US- five of significant length, and two brief stopovers during which he nevertheless left a lasting impression on the memories of the locals.

St. John Paul II died April 2, 2005. On the anniversary of the saint's death, we take a look back at his seven visits to the United States.

Visit 1 , October 1-9, 1979

Where : Boston, New York City, Philadelphia, Des Moines, Chicago, Washington, D.C.

St. John Paul II's first visit to the United States as pope was a whirlwind six-city tour that began with a gathering of 100,000 at Boston Common. He then went to New York where he held a youth rally at Madison Square Garden, gave a speech at the United Nations and celebrated Mass before a congregation of 80,000 at Yankee Stadium. He also received a ticker-tape parade in Philadelphia.

After a warm welcome in Chicago, St. John Paul II made his way to Des Moines, ostensibly after a Catholic Iowa farmer wrote to the pope to invite him to see life in "rural America, the heartland and breadbasket of our nation." A crowd of 350,000 greeted him at a farm just outside the city.

The visit also marked the first time a pope had entered the White House, as he met with President Jimmy Carter in Washington. The two leaders discussed situations in the Philippines, China, Europe, South Korea, and the Middle East, and the pope emphasized to Carter the need for the United States to keep ties open to the largely Catholic people of Eastern Europe, then under the throes of Communism.

Finally, St. John Paul II celebrated Mass on the National Mall.

What the pope said:

"Dear young people: do not be afraid of honest effort and honest work; do not be afraid of the truth. With Christ's help, and through prayer, you can answer his call, resisting temptations and fads, and every form of mass manipulation. Open your hearts to the Christ of the Gospels-to his love and his truth and his joy. Do not go away sad!" -Mass at Boston Common

"Fourteen years ago my great predecessor Pope Paul VI spoke from this podium. He spoke memorable words, which I desire to repeat today: 'No more war, war never again! Never one against the other,' or even 'one above the other,' but always, on every occasion, 'with each other.'" -Address to the United Nations

"We cannot stand idly by, enjoying our own riches and freedom, if, in any place, the Lazarus of the twentieth century stands at our doors. In the light of the parable of Christ, riches and freedom mean a special responsibility. Riches and freedom create a special obligation. And so, in the name of the solidarity that binds us all together in a common humanity, I again proclaim the dignity of every human person: the rich man and Lazarus are both human beings, both of them equally created in the image and likeness of God, both of them equally redeemed by Christ, at a great price, the price of 'the precious blood of Christ" (1 Pt 1 :19).'" -Mass at Yankee Stadium

"To all of you who are farmers and all who are associated with agricultural production I want to say this: the Church highly esteems your work. Christ himself showed his esteem for agricultural life when he described God his Father as the "vinedresser" (Jn 15 :1). You cooperate with the Creator, the "vinedresser", in sustaining and nurturing life. You fulfill the command of God given at the very beginning: "Fill the earth and subdue it" (Gen 1 :28). Here in the heartland of America, the valleys and hills have been blanketed with grain, the herds and the flocks have multiplied many times over. By hard work you have become masters of the earth and you have subdued it." -Mass in Des Moines

"All human beings ought to value every person for his or her uniqueness as a creature of God, called to be a brother or sister of Christ by reason of the Incarnation and the universal Redemption. For us, the sacredness of human life is based on these premises. And it is on these same premises that there is based our celebration of life-all human life. This explains our efforts to defend human life against every influence or action that threatens or weakens it, as well as our endeavors to make every life more human in all its aspects. And so, we will stand up every time that human life is threatened." -Mass on the National Mall

Visit 2, February 26, 1981

FBI investigating threats against ‘multiple faith communities’ in Pennsylvania

Where: Stopover in Anchorage

The pope's first visit to Alaska was brief- a stopover lasting just over four hours on his way back to Rome after a pastoral visit to the Philippines, Guam, and Japan- but left a lasting impression.

An estimated 100,000 people came to downtown Anchorage to see the pope, which remains the largest gathering of people in the history of the state.

Then-Archbishop Francis Hurley of Anchorage recalled that as he was escorting the pope downtown, he made a special point of greeting the elderly who waved at him out of the windows of a senior living facility.

When he arrived at Holy Name Cathedral, he took the time to greet the diabled and elderly who had come to see him. One disabled child- who died shortly after the encounter- handed him a bouquet of forget-me-nots; St. John Paul II made a point of mentioning the child and the flowers the next time he visited Alaska, saying that "her loving gesture is not forgotten."

The visit "pulled a lot of Catholics out of the woodwork we didn't know were Catholic" and inspired them back to the practice of their faith, Archbishop Hurley told the archdiocesan newspaper.

(Story continues below)

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"My brothers and sisters in Christ: Never doubt the vital importance of your presence in the Church, the vital importance of religious life and of the ministerial priesthood in the mission of proclaiming the mercy of God. Through your daily life, which is often accompanied by the sign of the cross, and through faithful service and persevering hope, you show your deep faith in the merciful love of God, and bear witness to that love, which is more powerful than evil and stronger than death." -Address to priests and religious in the Anchorage cathedral

Visit 3, May 2, 1984

Where: Stopover in Fairbanks

Once again, Alaska served as a midpoint for the pope between Rome and the Pacific, as he embarked on his pastoral journey to Korea, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, and Thailand.

This time, St. John Paul II appeared with President Ronald Reagan, who was himself returning from a trip to China, at the Fairbanks airport. During the pope's brief, three-hour refuelling stop, Reagan praised him as a defender of human freedom, and as a source of "solace, inspiration, and hope."

"In some ways, Alaska can be considered today as a crossroads of the world...Here in this vast State sixty-five languages are spoken and peoples of many diverse backgrounds find a common home with the Aleuts, Eskimos and Indians. This wonderful diversity provides the context in which each person, each family, each ethnic group is challenged to live in harmony and concord, one with the other. To achieve this aim requires a constant openness to each other on the part of each individual and group. An openness of heart, a readiness to accept differences, and an ability to listen to each other's viewpoint without prejudice. Openness to others, by its very nature, excludes selfishness in any form. It is expressed in a dialogue that is honest and frank-one that is based on mutual respect. Openness to others begins in the heart." -Address to authorities and people of Alaska

Visit 4, September 10-19, 1987

Where: Miami, Columbia, SC, New Orleans, San Antonio, Phoenix, Los Angeles, Monterey, San Francisco, Detroit

This trip was the longest of St. John Paul II's visits to the US, and his first to the contiguous West Coast. Reagan greeted him once again, this time in Miami.

Notable episodes from the visit included the pope's Mass in Miami being cut short because of a storm; addressing representatives of black Catholics at the Superdome in New Orleans; attending an ecumenical conference on the University of South Carolina campus; Mass in San Antonio with about 275,000 in attendance; touring a Catholic hospital and attending the Tekakwitha Conference- a national gathering of Native American Catholics- at the Arizona State Fair Grounds Coliseum in Phoenix; and addressing representatives from the communications industry in Los Angeles.

Though the pope encountered some protests in San Francisco, and crowds were not as large as some had expected, his visit still drew at least 300,000 in California.

"God loves you! God loves you all, without distinction, without limit. He loves those of you who are elderly, who feel the burden of the years. He loves those of you who are sick, those who are suffering from AIDS and from AIDS-Related Complex. He loves the relatives and friends of the sick and those who care for them. He loves us all with an unconditional and everlasting love." -Address at Mission Dolores Basilica, San Francisco

"The obligation to truth and its completeness applies not only to the coverage of news, but to all your work. Truth and completeness should characterize the content of artistic expression and entertainment. You find a real meaning in your work when you exercise your role as collaborators of truth – collaborators of truth in the service of justice, fairness and love." -Address to people of the communications industry, Los Angeles

"From the very beginning, the Creator bestowed his gifts on each people. It is clear that stereotyping. prejudice, bigotry and racism demean the human dignity which comes from the hand of the Creator and which is seen in variety and diversity. I encourage you, as native people belonging to the different tribes and nations in the East, South, West and North, to preserve and keep alive your cultures, your languages, the values and customs which have served you well in the past and which provide a solid foundation for the future. Your customs that mark the various stages of life, your love for the extended family, your respect for the dignity and worth of every human being, from the unborn to the aged, and your stewardship and care of the earth: these things benefit not only yourselves but the entire human family. Your gifts can also be expressed even more fully in the Christian way of life. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is at home in every people. It enriches, uplifts and purifies every culture. All of us together make up the People of God, the Body of Christ, the Church. We should all be grateful for the growing unity, presence, voice and leadership of Catholic Native Americans in the Church today." -Address to Native American Catholics

"I express my deep love and esteem for the black Catholic community in the United States. Its vitality is a sign of hope for society. Composed as you are of many lifelong Catholics, and many who have more recently embraced the faith, together with a growing immigrant community, you reflect the Church's ability to bring together a diversity of people united in faith, hope and love, sharing a communion with Christ in the Holy Spirit. I urge you to keep alive and active your rich cultural gifts. Always profess proudly before the whole Church and the whole world your love for God's word; it is a special blessing which you must forever treasure as a part of your heritage. Help us all to remember that authentic freedom comes from accepting the truth and from living one's life in accordance with it – and the full truth is found only in Christ Jesus. Continue to inspire us by your desire to forgive – as Jesus forgave – and by your desire to be reconciled with all the people of this nation, even those who would unjustly deny you the full exercise of your human rights." -Address to black Catholics

"America, your deepest identity and truest character as a nation is revealed in the position you take towards the human person. The ultimate test of your greatness in the way you treat every human being, but especially the weakest and most defenceless ones." -Farewell Address

Visit 5: World Youth Day, August 12-15, 1993

Where: Denver

At the time it was chosen, Denver seemed to many to be an odd choice for a host for World Youth Day- the international gathering of young people that he himself had instituted in 1985. The city was experiencing a surge in crime, and many feared that the septuagenarian pope would not be successful in attracting young people to the event.

Nevertheless, World Youth Day in Denver was a huge success, with an estimated 750,000 people attending the final Mass at Cherry Creek State Park. Young people from all over the world showed their willingness to sacrifice and experience pilgrimage by lodging in parish halls en route to Denver, trudging through the heat to Cherry Creek State Park, sleeping on the ground there, and enduring other discomforts.

Upon St. John Paul II death in 20115, then-Archbishop Charles Chaput said that the Pope's visit to Denver was "a Transfiguration for the Church in Northern Colorado - a moment when Jesus smiled on us in a special, joyful, vivid way and invited us into his mission to the world."

"Pilgrims set out for a destination. In our case it is not so much a place or a shrine that we seek to honor. Ours is a pilgrimage to a modern city, a symbolic destination: the "metropolis" is the place which determines the life–style and the history of a large part of the human family at the end of the twentieth century. This modern city of Denver is set in the beautiful natural surroundings of the Rocky Mountains, as if to put the work of human hands in relationship with the work of the Creator. We are therefore searching for the reflection of God not only in the beauty of nature but also in humanity's achievements and in each individual person. On this pilgrimage our steps are guided by the words of Jesus Christ: 'I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.'" -Welcome ceremony at Mile High Stadium

"Do not be afraid to go out on the streets and into public places, like the first Apostles who preached Christ and the Good News of salvation in the squares of cities, towns and villages. This is no time to be ashamed of the Gospel (Cfr. Rom 1,16). It is the time to preach it from the rooftops (Cfr. Matt 10,27). Do not be afraid to break out of comfortable and routine modes of living, in order to take up the challenge of making Christ known in the modern 'metropolis.' It is you who must 'go out into the byroads' (Matt 22,9) and invite everyone you meet to the banquet which God has prepared for his people. The Gospel must not be kept hidden because of fear or indifference. It was never meant to be hidden away in private. It has to be put on a stand so that people may see its light and give praise to our heavenly Father." -Mass at Cherry Creek State Park

Visit 6, October 4-9, 1995

Where: Newark, East Rutherford, NJ, New York City, Yonkers,  NY, Baltimore

This marked the pope's second visit to New York City, and he visited several other cities on the Eastern seaboard. It was his first visit to New Jersey, where he made stops in Newark- celebrating Mass at Sacred Heart Cathedral- and East Rutherford, saying Mass at Giants Stadium.

Upon returning to New York, the pope addressed the United Nations for a second time.

"Freedom is not simply the absence of tyranny or oppression. Nor is freedom a licence to do whatever we like. Freedom has an inner 'logic' which distinguishes it and ennobles it: freedom is ordered to the truth, and is fulfilled in man's quest for truth and in man's living in the truth. Detached from the truth about the human person, freedom deteriorates into license in the lives of individuals, and, in political life, it becomes the caprice of the most powerful and the arrogance of power. Far from being a limitation upon freedom or a threat to it, reference to the truth about the human person - a truth universally knowable through the moral law written on the hearts of all - is, in fact, the guarantor of freedom's future." -Address to the United Nations

"As a Christian, my hope and trust are centered on Jesus Christ, the two thousandth anniversary of whose birth will be celebrated at the coming of the new millennium. We Christians believe that in his Death and Resurrection were fully revealed God's love and his care for all creation. Jesus Christ is for us God made man, and made a part of the history of humanity. Precisely for this reason, Christian hope for the world and its future extends to every human person. Because of the radiant humanity of Christ, nothing genuinely human fails to touch the hearts of Christians. Faith in Christ does not impel us to intolerance. On the contrary, it obliges us to engage others in a respectful dialogue. Love of Christ does not distract us from interest in others, but rather invites us to responsibility for them, to the exclusion of no one and indeed, if anything, with a special concern for the weakest and the suffering. Thus, as we approach the two thousandth anniversary of the birth of Christ, the Church asks only to be able to propose respectfully this message of salvation, and to be able to promote, in charity and service, the solidarity of the entire human family." -Address to the United Nations

"At the end of your National Anthem, one finds these words: "Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just, And this be our motto: 'In God is our trust!'" America: may your trust always be in God and in none other. And then, "The star–spangled banner in triumph shall wave o'er the land of the free and the home of the brave." Thank you, and God bless you all!" -Farewell address at the Baltimore airport

Visit 7, January 26-27, 1999

Where: St. Louis

The pope's final visit to the United States took him to St. Louis, sometimes called "The Rome of the West" for its many Catholic churches. His visit included a youth rally at an arena, Mass at the city's stadium, and vespers at the Cathedral Basilica of Saint Louis.

Along the way, he met with President Bill Clinton, civil rights leader Rosa Parks, and baseball players Mark McGuire and Stan Musial.

He asked then-governor Mel Carnahan to spare the life of triple-murderer Darrell Mease, whose original execution date had been set for that day- which the governor did, commuting his sentence to life without parole.

Though the pope's age- 78- showed during his 31-hour visit, his enthusiasm and joy attracted thousands of people and left a lasting impression on the city. The Mass he celebrated at the then-Trans World Dome is said to be the largest indoor gathering ever held in the U.S.

"I am told that there was much excitement in St. Louis during the recent baseball season, when two great players (Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa) were competing to break the home-run record. You can feel the same great enthusiasm as you train for a different goal: the goal of following Christ, the goal of bringing his message to the world. Each one of you belongs to Christ, and Christ belongs to you.

At Baptism you were claimed for Christ with the Sign of the Cross; you received the Catholic faith as a treasure to be shared with others. In Confirmation, you were sealed with the gifts of the Holy Spirit and strengthened for your Christian mission and vocation. In the Eucharist, you receive the food that nourishes you for the spiritual challenges of each day.

I am especially pleased that so many of you had the opportunity today to receive the Sacrament of Penance, the Sacrament of Reconciliation. In this Sacrament you experience the Savior's tender mercy and love in a most personal way, when you are freed from sin and from its ugly companion which is shame. Your burdens are lifted and you experience the joy of new life in Christ.

Your belonging to the Church can find no greater expression or support than by sharing in the Eucharist every Sunday in your parishes. Christ gives us the gift of his body and blood to make us one body, one spirit in him, to bring us more deeply into communion with him and with all the members of his Body, the Church. Make the Sunday celebration in your parishes a real encounter with Jesus in the community of his followers: this is an essential part of your 'training in devotion" to the Lord!' -Address to young people

"I will always remember St. Louis. I will remember all of you." -Final words at the cathedral of St. Louis

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John Paul II in the U.S.: The 1987 Papal Visit

John Paul II in the U.S.: The 1987 Papal VisitThe Sept. 10-19 visit of Pope John Paul II to the United States was his second major U.S. trip, following that of Oct. 1-7 1979 when, following a stop in Ireland, he visited Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Des Moines, Chicago and Washington, D.C. During his 27-year pontificate, Pope John Paul also made trips in August 1993 to Denver (for World Youth Day); in October 1995 to Newark, New York and Baltimore (in conjunction with the United Nations’ 50th anniversary); and in January 1999 to St. Louis, as well as brief stops in Anchorage (February 1981) and Fairbanks (May 1984), on his way to or from Asia.The 1987 visit was his longest and — in addition to Eucharistic celebrations — included numerous meetings with groups representing many areas of U.S. Catholic life, the U.S. institutional church (ordained, religious and lay), and the ecumenical and interfaith community. To view the addresses and homilies presented by Pope John Paul II, visit www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/index.htm and click on “Travels.”Thursday, Sept. 10: Miami. Addresses to people at St. Mary’s Cathedral, to priests of the U.S. at St. Martha Church, and to President Ronald Reagan at Vizcaya Museum.Friday, Sept. 11: Miami and Columbia, S.C. Meeting with representatives of U.S. Jewish organizations, Miami; Mass in Tamiami Park, Miami. Address to people at St. Peter Church, Columbia; meet with students and staff at University of South Carolina; meeting with representatives of Christian churches and ecclesial communities; ecumenical service at South Carolina Stadium.Saturday, Sept. 12: New Orleans. Address to people at St. Louis Cathedral; separate meetings with Black Catholic community, representatives of Catholic elementary and secondary schools and leaders in religious education, and young people of New Orleans, all at Louisiana Superdome; meeting with representatives of Catholic universities at Xavier University; Mass at Eastern Campus, University of New Orleans.Sunday, Sept. 13: San Antonio. Mass at Westover Hills; Angelus; meeting with members of Catholic Charities USA at San Antonio Municipal Auditorium; meeting with seminarians at San Fernando Cathedral; meeting with Hispanic Catholic community at Plaza de Nuestra Se√±ora de Guadalupe.Monday, Sept. 14: Phoenix. Radio message to people of New Mexico; address to people of Southwest at Basilica of St. Mary Civic Plaza, Phoenix; address to leaders of Catholic health care at Phoenix Convention Center; visit to the Cathedral of Saints Simon and Jude; meeting with Native peoples of the Americas at Memorial Coliseum; Mass and celebration of the anointing of the sick at Arizona State’s Sun Devil Stadium. Tuesday, Sept. 15: Los Angeles. Motorcade from LAX to downtown; address to faithful at St. Vibiana’s Cathedral; address to communications industry professionals at Universal City Registry Hotel; teleconference with youth in four cities at Universal Amphitheater; Mass with people of Los Angeles Province at Memorial Coliseum.Wednesday, Sept. 16: Los Angeles. Celebration of Lauds at San Fernando Mission; meeting with U.S. Bishops at Queen of Angels Seminary High School, Mission Hills; meeting with elementary school students of Immaculate Conception School, L.A.; meeting with representatives of world religions and religious leaders at Japanese Cultural Center; Mass with U.S. Bishops and Act of Entrustment to the Virgin Mary at Dodger Stadium.Thursday, Sept. 17: Monterey and San Francisco. Mass for the rural workers at Laguna Seca Raceway; meeting with the faithful at San Carlos Borromeo Mission, Carmel, and at Mission Dolores Basilica, San Francisco; meeting with the religious of the U.S. at Cathedral of St Mary. Friday, Sept. 18: San Francisco and Detroit. Meeting with representatives of Catholic laypeople at Cathedral of St Mary; Mass at Candlestick Park; visit to Blessed Sacrament Cathedral, Detroit; visit with Polish community at Terreno di Hamtramck.Saturday, Sept. 19: Detroit. Meeting with permanent deacons at Ford Auditorium; meeting with the people of Detroit at Hart Plaza; Mass at Pontiac Silverdome.Pope John Paul then traveled on Sunday, Sept. 20 to Fort Simpson, Canada, where he celebrated Mass with the Native peoples of Canada at the Camp Ground of Fort Simpson. He had been scheduled to visit there in May 1984 as part of a visit to Canada, but thick fog prevented his plane from landing.In all, his 104 trips outside Italy made Pope John Paul II by far the most widely traveled pope in history. —Mike Nelson {gallery width=100 height=100}gallery/2012/0914/visitside/{/gallery}

Mike Nelson

Angelus news.

Mike Nelson is the former editor of The Tidings (predecessor of Angelus).

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Collection on Pope John Paul II's visits to the United States

• Print Generating
• Collection Overview
• Collection Organization
• Container Inventory

Scope and Contents

The Collection on Pope John Paul II's visits to the United States describes and shows the build up, events, and aftermath of the Pope's visit. The contents center around Pope John Paul II's visit to Newark's Sacred Heart Cathedral and Giants Stadium on October 4, 1995. Additionally, this collection contains material related to the Pope's past visits to the United States as well as memorabilia and artifacts. These events are exhibited through newspaper clippings, photographs, itineraries, background information on the Pope, and videos of the Papal masses at Giants Stadium and Sacred Heart Cathedral. Background information on the Pope is provided as are task force documents, the Pope's schedule and the entire planning that went into this event in history. Artifacts include t-shirts, caps, and a figure of the Pope.

• Creation: 1979-1996 (bulk 1995)
• Creation: Majority of material found in 1995 - 1995

Conditions Governing Access

No restrictions.

Conditions Governing Use

All materials available in this collection (unless otherwise noted) are the property of the Monsignor William Noé Field Archives & Special Collections Center and Seton Hall University, which reserves the right to limit access to or reproduction of these materials. Reproduction of materials or content is subject to United States copyright restrictions and may be subject to federal or state privacy regulations. Permission to publish exact reproductions must be obtained from the Director of the Archives and Special Collections Center.

Biographical / Historical

Pope John Paul II was elected to the papacy of the Roman Catholic Church in October of 1978. At 58, he was the youngest pope in more than one hundred years, and was the first non-Italian pope since 1523. Born Karol Józef Wojty?a on 18 May 1920 in Wadowice, Poland, he was ordained a priest on 1 November 1946. As Auxiliary Bishop of Kraków, Bishop Wojtyla participated in the Second Vatican Council that began in 1962. He participated in the Synod of Bishops, and in 1964 Pope Paul VI appointed him Archbishop of Kraków, then promoted him to the Sacred College of Cardinals in 1967. Cardinal Wojtyla participated in the papal enclave that elected Pope John Paul I, who died after only 33 days into his papal reign, then was elected pope himself shortly after. Pope John Paul II was considered conservative on issues of doctrine, including the ordination of women, birth control, and same-sex marriage, and progressive in other areas, allowing the validity of the theory of evolution, opposing apartheid in South Africa, and affirming the basic human dignity and rights of homosexual people. He was an outspoken opponent of the war in Iraq begun in 2003 by the United States, and is believed to have had a significant role in the collapse of dictatorships in South America and the collapse of Communism in Central and Eastern Europe, particularly in Poland. Pope John Paul II made strong efforts to improve relations between the Roman Catholic Church and other religions, and traveled extensively to meet political and religious leaders around the world. Several of Pope John Paul II's visits abroad were to the United States, in 1979, 1987, 1993, 1995, and 1997, and he was the first pope to visit the White House in 1979. His visit in 1979 included New York City, with stops at the United Nations, Yankee Stadium, and Madison Square Garden. In 1995, Pope John Paul II visited Newark, NJ, and East Rutherford, NJ, as well as New York and Baltimore. While in New Jersey, he celebrated Mass at Sacred Heart Cathedral Basilica in Newark, celebrated Mass at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, and met with President Bill Clinton at the residence of Archbishop Theodore McCarrick. After a respiratory ailment, Pope John Paul II died 2 April 2005, in Vatican City.

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Additional description.

Pope John Paul II was elected to the papacy of the Roman Catholic Church in October of 1978. In 1995, Pope John Paul II visited Newark, NJ, and East Rutherford, NJ, as well as New York and Baltimore. While in New Jersey, he celebrated Mass at Sacred Heart Cathedral Basilica in Newark. The Collection on Pope John Paul II's visits to the United States describes and shows the build up, events, and aftermath of the Pope's visit. The bulk of the material covers Pope John Paul II's visit to Newark on October 4, 1995, but additional material is included on the Pope's trip to Baltimore on October 8, 1995 and past trips to the United States.

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Preservica Access

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Shelf find presumed to be collected by the Archives and Special Collections Center and/or the Archdiocese of Newark. Original accession number is FRS.07.10.25 and previous collection number was ADN 15.1

Related Materials

Collection on Pope Pius IX, 1878, Mss 0045 , in the Monsignor William Noé Field Archives & Special Collections Center, Seton Hall University. Collection on Pope Paul VI, 1964, Mss 0046 , in the Monsignor William Noé Field Archives & Special Collections Center, Seton Hall University. Collection on Pope Benedict XVI, 2008, Mss 0047 , in the Monsignor William Noé Field Archives & Special Collections Center, Seton Hall University.

Processing Information

Collection was partially processed by the Seton Hall Archives and Special Collections Center in October 2007. Basic finding aid created as part of Overhaul Project survey by Jacqui Bowen and Tracy M. Jackson, 2013.

Genre / Form

• Photographs
• Popes -- John Paul -- II

Style / Period

• Papacy -- History -- 20th century
• Catholic Church -- Liturgy.
• Papal visits.

Finding Aid & Administrative Information

Physical storage information.

• Box: 1 (Mixed Materials)
• Box: 2 (Mixed Materials)
• Box: 8 (Mixed Materials)
• Box: 7 (Mixed Materials)
• Box: 9 (Mixed Materials)
• Box: 4 (Mixed Materials)
• Box: 3 (Mixed Materials)
• Box: 6 (Mixed Materials)
• Box: 5 (Mixed Materials)

External Documents

• TypeCollection

Repository Details

Part of the The Monsignor Field Archives & Special Collection Center Repository

Collection organization

Collection on Pope John Paul II's visits to the United States, 1979-1996 (bulk 1995), Mss 0044, in the Monsignor William Noé Field Archives & Special Collections Center, Seton Hall University.

Cite Item Description

Collection on Pope John Paul II's visits to the United States, 1979-1996 (bulk 1995), Mss 0044, in the Monsignor William Noé Field Archives & Special Collections Center, Seton Hall University. https://archivesspace-library.shu.edu/repositories/2/resources/211 Accessed April 19, 2024.

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What Pope’s Visit to L.A. Is All About

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When the future Pope John Paul II visited Los Angeles 11 years ago, he got to do a little leisurely sightseeing, going to Marineland, Griffith Park and Forest Lawn. But then, he was only a Polish cardinal.

No time for any of that on Tuesday and Wednesday: The Southland schedule of the supreme head of the Roman Catholic Church has been laid out to the last minute as he segues from event to event in a whirlwind of meticulously planned appearances.

The Pope’s agenda encompasses spectacular Masses, an unusual interfaith dialogue and an important private meeting with restive American bishops. And millions in the city will have their lives brightened--or disrupted--by a parade, the only event that does not require a ticket or an invitation.

John Paul will not only be extremely busy in the City of the Angels, his presence will represent a number of “firsts,” “mosts” and “onlys.”

For starters, it will be the first time a Pope has set foot in California. And Los Angeles is where the Pope:

Stays the longest during his 10-day U.S. tour--46 1/2 hours.

Has the longest parade--7.2 miles.

Holds the most events--12.

Also, Los Angeles is the only city on the trip where the Pope:

Holds two large-scale Masses--at the Coliseum and at Dodger Stadium.

Meets with the U.S. Catholic hierarchy--a private talk with 320 prelates.

Concelebrates Mass with all the U.S. bishops--at Dodger Stadium.

Speaks to an audience of influential secular leaders--communications executives.

Visits a parochial school and talks to students--Immaculate Conception.

Engages in dialogues with leaders of four non-Christian religions--Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist and Hindu.

When the leader of the world’s 850 million Roman Catholics deplanes Tuesday morning at Los Angeles International Airport on the sixth day of his journey, he will step into the nation’s largest archdiocese--2.6 million members. It is also the one with the largest concentration of Latinos, which has been estimated as high as 65%.

The city’s huge population of minority groups will be a top concern for John Paul: Ethnic diversity, communications and non-Christian religions are the three themes he will highlight here.

‘Affirm the Welcome’

“I think the focus of the Pope will be very much to affirm the welcome of the Hispanic community into the full life of the church,” said Los Angeles Archbishop Roger M. Mahony. “It will be a very prominent theme that you’ll find virtually throughout” his visit.

“I intend to pick up on the Pope’s challenges and say to our people, ‘Hey, this is what the Pope wants us to do, folks.’ ”

Papal visit planners in Los Angeles have been at work nearly two years arranging a minute-by-minute schedule. More than two dozen committees have been reporting to the archbishop through Walter McGuire, a San Francisco consultant who was the advance man for the Carter Administration and who organized the 1984 Olympic torch relay.

And there is a volunteer cast of hundreds.

“At the first meeting, 500 showed up,” Mahony said recently. “They do everything from manning the different checkpoints to driving, to escorting, to making sure the press gets to the various press platforms. . . . People out there want to get into this.”

Mahony has set a ceiling of $3 million on the church’s share of the Los Angeles leg of the trip. The funds are being raised through parish collections, and gifts from individuals and from several wealthy foundations.

The Pope’s sweep of the Southland will begin with little fanfare. A closed limousine will speed John Paul to a fire station, where he will transfer into the bulletproof Popemobile for a procession at parade speed through Koreatown, Chinatown, Little Tokyo and the downtown business district.

The motorcade, scheduled to begin at 10:30 a.m., will start from the Western Avenue off-ramp of the Santa Monica Freeway and--if John Paul stays on schedule--will end 45 minutes later at St. Vibiana’s Cathedral downtown.

Accompanied by Host

By tradition the host bishop stands beside the Pope in the rear of the Popemobile, but Mahony has said that because he is “quite a bit taller than the Pope,” he wants to sit so he will not block people’s view.

“I mean, they can see me any time they want,” the archbishop said in a recent interview, “and I really think they should have a chance to see him.”

The Pope will see a kaleidoscope of banners, musical groups and uniformed parochial schoolchildren along the route. Most of the archdiocese’s 284 parishes are planning to bus contingents to points along the way.

The Pope will be greeted at the cathedral door by the pastor, Msgr. Royale M. Vadakin, and will conduct a 30-minute prayer service attended by bishops and local and state government officials.

St. Vibiana’s has been spruced up for the occasion, streets in the surrounding Skid Row area will be cleared before the Pope arrives, and transients will be kept away until after he leaves Thursday. Because of security provisions imposed by the Secret Service, food and other services for the transients who usually line the sidewalks around the Union Rescue Mission, next door to the cathedral, will be provided elsewhere.

Satellite Link

After lunch in the cathedral rectory, the Pope will take a helicopter to the Universal Amphitheater for a youth rally. Billed as “Papal Spacebridge ‘87,” it will link 6,000 young California Catholics assembled in the amphitheater with a total of 6,000 more gathered in Denver, St. Louis and Portland, Ore., via two-way television satellite.

The format calls for the Pope to first pray with the groups, ages 15 to 25, address them, listen to their questions and respond. Each group will also present the pontiff with a symbolic gift.

“It could be a song, it could be a dance, it could be a project that they’re involved in with the poor, for the homeless,” said Father Liam Kidney, the event’s organizer. He added that the Pope will know in advance the questions asked by the youth but he will not give scripted answers.

Next, the Pope is scheduled to address 1,500 national representatives from the print media, television, radio and the recording and motion picture industries at the adjacent Registry Hotel.

100,000 at Coliseum

Immediately afterward, the Pope will take his helicopter to USCnearby Memorial Coliseum for a Mass that will be celebrated in English and Spanish.

The crowd of 100,000 expected to jam the stadium will already have been in their seats for at least two hours, and the Pope will have missed the 90-minute opening ceremonies featuring opera, choirs, song and dance.

During Mass, the Pope will distribute Communion to 100 people selected to represent a cross section of participating dioceses, and 22 musical pieces--some written especially for the Mass--will be performed.

Session With Bishops

John Paul’s schedule on Wednesday is to begin early. After breakfast with Mahony and a few close associates, he will helicopter to Our Lady Queen of the Angels Seminary in Mission Hills, arriving by 9 a.m. for a meeting with 320 U.S. bishops that will consume much of the day. Controversial topics the pontiff is expected to address before the hierarchy here include personal and social morality, obedience to church authority, the role of women, the priesthood and church vocations, and relations between the U.S. Catholic Church and the Vatican.

After an informal lunch with the bishops in the mission garden, which Mahony said will include a little “just leisurely strolling-about time,” the Pope, accompanied by First Lady Nancy Reagan, has an afternoon appointment at Immaculate Conception Elementary School at 8th and Green streets in downtown Los Angeles, where he will talk to selected students.

‘Structured Dialogue’

He is due next at the Japanese American Cultural and Community Center in Little Tokyo for a meeting with local non-Christian religious leaders.

About 800 invited guests, including 100 representatives each of the Jewish, Buddhist, Muslim and Hindu faiths, will take part in the hourlong “structured dialogue.”

The speakers, in addition to the Pope, are to be Rabbi Alfred Wolf, past president of the Board of Rabbis of Southern California; Havanpola Ratanasara of the Buddhist Sangha Council of Southern California; Dr. Maher Hathout of the Islamic Center of Southern California and Swami Swahananda, of the Vedanta (Hindu) Society of Southern California. Rinban Gyoko Saito, bishop of the Higashi Honganji Buddhist Temple, is to welcome the Pope.

While the meeting with non-Christians is going on, a crowd of about 60,000 will be watching a pre-Mass pageant at Dodger Stadium. The ceremony--which promises to inject a little Hollywood into the religious pageantry--is planned to end just as the Pope arrives by helicopter for a 6:15 p.m. entrance.

The 90-minute festival preceding the Mass will feature special effects and religious testimony from celebrities. The event is produced by Lucille Walker, whose late husband, Tommy, produced such spectaculars as the 1984 Summer Olympics opening and closing ceremonies and New York’s Liberty Weekend celebration.

Walker said the show will feature a 300-member youth choir that will sing and decorate the altar, which is to be in center field facing home plate. Actor Ricardo Montalban will be master of ceremonies, and performer Ann Jillian will sing. Performances by ethnic groups representing Japan, Vietnam, Croatia, Mexico, Ireland, Scotland and Poland--as well as Aztecs and Latinos--will be included.

Ethnic Diversity

The theme of the Mass is the ethnic diversity in the Catholic Church of Southern California; about two dozen languages will be used during the rite. The Pope and the bishops, who will celebrate Mass with him, will wear red vestments, honoring the feast day of Sts. Cornelius and Cyprian, martyrs of the early church.

“The procession of 320 U.S. bishops into the stadium will be one of the most powerful and visually exciting elements of the celebration,” said Father Vivian Ben Lima, liturgical designer for the event.

Mahony pointed to the Dodger Stadium homily as a high point of the pontiff’s Los Angeles stay. Noting that the audience will represent a large slice of the area’s diverse ethnic communities, Mahony said:

“He’s very, very interested in the diversity of peoples . . . immigrants and refugees. . . . I think his . . . message will touch very, very pointedly on . . . our responsibility to these people.”

Bright and early Thursday morning, the pontiff will bid farewell to Los Angeles. The papal chopper will fly from the Civic Center area to Los Angeles International Airport. From there, the Pope and his entourage are to leave for Monterey.

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Pieces of History

Papal visits to the United States

Pope Francis’s visit this September marks the 10th time a Pope has visited the United States.

Since the Federal Government is heavily involved in a papal visit, and the National Archives holds the records of the Federal Government, we have documents related to all these events.

The first Pope to visit the United States was Pope Paul VI, who met with President Lyndon Johnson at the Waldorf Astoria hotel in New York City. This was Paul VI’s only visit to the United States.

Nearly 15 years passed before another papal visit. In 1979, Pope John Paul II came to the United States and became the first Pope to visit the White House. Pope John Paul II visited the United States a total seven of times.

On April 16, 2008, on his 81st birthday, Pope Benedict XVI visited President George W. Bush at the White House. This was the most recent papal visit until this week.

Search our Online Catalog for more documents and photographs of papal and other dignitaries’ visits.

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APOSTOLIC JOURNEY TO THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AND CANADA

MEETING WITH THE NATIVE PEOPLES OF THE AMERICAS

  ADDRESS OF HIS HOLINESS JOHN PAUL II

Memorial Coliseum, Phoenix Monday, 14 September 1987

Dear Brothers and Sisters ,

1. I have greatly looked forward to this visit with you, the original peoples of this vast country. I greet you with love and respect. And as I greet you, I wish to tell you how pleased I am to find among you one of your sons raised to the episcopate - Bishop Pelotte. I thank you for inviting me to be with you and for sharing with me some aspects of your rich and ancient culture.

I have listened to your concerns and hopes. As your representatives spoke, I traced in my heart the history of your tribes and nations. I was able to see you as the noble descendants of countless generations of inhabitants of this land , whose ways were marked by great respect for the natural resources of land and rivers, of forest and plain and desert. Here your forefathers cherished and sought to pass on to each new generation their customs and traditions, their history and way of life. Here they worshipped the Creator and thanked him for his gifts. In contact with the forces of nature they learned the value of prayer, of silence and fasting, of patience and courage in the face of pain and disappointment.

2. The early encounter between your traditional cultures and the European way of life was an event of such significance and change that it profoundly influences your collective life even today . That encounter was a harsh and painful reality for your peoples. The cultural oppression, the injustices, the disruption of your life and of your traditional societies must be acknowledged.

At the same time, in order to be objective, history must record the deeply positive aspects of your people’s encounter with the culture that came from Europe. Among these positive aspects I wish to recall the work of the many missionaries who strenuously defended the rights of the original inhabitants of this land . They established missions throughout this southwestern part of the United States. They worked to improve living conditions and set up educational systems, learning your languages in order to do so. Above all, they proclaimed the Good News of salvation in our Lord Jesus Christ, an essential part of which is that all men and women are equally children of God and must be respected and loved as such. This Gospel of Jesus Christ is today, and will remain forever, the greatest pride and possession of your people .

3. One priest who deserves special mention among the missionaries is the beloved Fray Junipero Serra , who travelled throughout Lower and Upper California. He had frequent clashes with the civil authorities over the treatment of Indians. In 1773 he presented to the Viceroy in Mexico City a Representación , which is sometimes termed a "Bill of Rights" for Indians. The Church had long been convinced of the need to protect them from exploitation. Already in 1537, my predecessor Pope Paul III proclaimed the dignity and rights of the native peoples of the Americas by insisting that they not be deprived of their freedom or the possession of their property (Pauli III, Pastorale Officium , 29 maggio 1537: Denz.-S. 1495) . In Spain the Dominican priest, Francisco de Vitoria, became the staunch advocate of the rights of the Indians and formulated the basis for international law regarding the rights of peoples.

Unfortunately not all the members of the Church lived up to their Christian responsibilities. But let us not dwell excessively on mistakes and wrongs, even as we commit ourselves to overcoming their present effects. Let us also be grateful to those who came to this land, faithful to the teachings of Jesus, witnesses of his new commandment of love. These men and women, with good hearts and good minds, shared knowledge and skills from their own cultures and shared their most precious heritage, the faith, as well. Now, we are called to learn from the mistakes of the past and we must work together for reconciliation and healing , as brothers and sisters in Christ.

4. It is time to think of the present and of the future. Today, people are realizing more and more clearly that we all belong to the one human family, and are meant to walk and work together in mutual respect, understanding, trust and love. Within this family each people preserves and expresses its own identity and enriches others with its gifts of culture , tradition, customs, stories, song, dance, art and skills.

From the very beginning, the Creator bestowed his gifts on each people. It is clear that stereotyping. prejudice, bigotry and racism demean the human dignity which comes from the hand of the Creator and which is seen in variety and diversity. I encourage you, as native people belonging to the different tribes and nations in the East, South, West and North, to preserve and keep alive your cultures, your languages, the values and customs which have served you well in the past and which provide a solid foundation for the future. Your customs that mark the various stages of life, your love for the extended family, your respect for the dignity and worth of every human being, from the unborn to the aged, and your stewardship and care of the earth: these things benefit not only yourselves but the entire human family.

Your gifts can also be expressed even more fully in the Christian way of life. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is at home in every people. It enriches, uplifts and purifies every culture . All of us together make up the People of God, the Body of Christ, the Church. We should all be grateful for the growing unity, presence, voice and leadership of Catholic Native Americans in the Church today.

Jesus speaks of the word of God as the seed which falls on good ground and produces abundant fruit (Cfr. Matth 13, 4ss.). The seed has long since been planted in the hearts of many of you. And it has already produced the fruits which show its transforming power - the fruits of holiness. The best known witness of Christian holiness among the native people of North America is Kateri Tekakwitha , whom I had the privilege, seven years ago, of declaring "Blessed" and of holding up to the whole Church and the world as an outstanding example of Christian life. Even when she dedicated herself fully to Jesus Christ, to the point of taking the prophetic step of making a vow of perpetual virginity, she always remained what she was, a true daughter of her people , following her tribe in the hunting seasons and continuing her devotions in the environment most suited to her way of life, before a rough cross carved by herself in the forest. The Gospel of Jesus Christ, which is the great gift of God’s love, is never in contrast with what is noble and pure in the life of any tribe or nation, since all good things are his gifts.

5. I would like to repeat what I said at my meeting with native peoples at the Shrine of Saint Anne de Beaupré during my visit to Canada in 1984 : "Your encounter with the Gospel has not only enriched you; it has enriched the Church. We are well aware that this has not taken place without its difficulties and, occasionally, its blunders. However, and you are experiencing this today, the Gospel does not destroy what is best in you. On the contrary, it enriches, as it were from within, the spiritual qualities and gifts that are distinctive of your cultures" (Ioannis Pauli PP. II, Allocutio ad indigenas populationes Canadenses , 3, die 10 sept. 1984: Insegnamenti di Giovanni Paolo II , VII/2 [1984] 407). The American Bishops’ Statement on Native Americans rightly attests that our Catholic faith is capable of thriving " within each culture, within each nation, within each race, while remaining the prisoner of none" (Statement of 4 May 1977).

Here too I wish to urge the local Churches to be truly "catholic" in their outreach to native peoples, and to show respect and honour for their culture and all their worthy traditions . From your ranks have come a bishop, a number of priests, many permanent deacons, men and women religious and lay leaders. To all of you who have an active part in the Church’s ministry I wish to express my gratitude and support. But the Church has some special needs at this time. And for this reason I directly appeal to you, especially to you young Native Americans, to discover if Jesus is calling you to the priesthood or to the religious life . Hear him and follow him! He will never let you down! He will lead you, in the Church, to serve your own peoples and others in the best way possible, in love and apostolic generosity.

At the same time I call upon your native Catholic communities to work together to share their faith and their gifts, to work together on behalf of all your peoples. There is much to be done in solving common problems of unemployment, inadequate health care, alcoholism and chemical dependency. You have endured much over hundreds of years and your difficulties are not yet at an end. Continue taking steps towards true human progress and towards reconciliation within your families and your communities, and among your tribes and nations.

6. One day Jesus said: “The thief comes only to steal and slaughter and destroy. I came that they might have life and have it to the full” ( Io . 10, 10).

S urely, the times has come for the native peoples of America to have a new life in Jesus Christ - the new life of adopted children of God, with all its consequences:

A life in justice and full human dignity!

A life of pride in their own good traditions, and of fraternal solidarity among themselves and with all their brothers and sisters in America!

A deeper life in charity and grace, leading to the fullness of eternal life in heaven!

All consciences must be challenged . There are real injustices to be addressed and biased attitudes to be changed. But the greatest challenge is to you yourselves, as Native Americans. You must continue to grow in respect for your own inalienable human dignity, for the gifts of Creation and Redemption as they touch your lives and the lives of your peoples. You must unyieldingly pursue your spiritual and moral goals. You must trust in your own future.

As Catholic Native Americans, you are called to become instruments of the healing power of Christ’s love , instruments of his peace. May the Church in your midst - your own community of faith and fellowship - truly bear witness to the new life that comes from the Cross and Resurrection of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

© Copyright 1987 -  Libreria Editrice Vaticana  

Copyright © Dicastero per la Comunicazione - Libreria Editrice Vaticana

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POPE PLANNING TO VISIT 8 CITIES IN U.S. IN 1987

• Nov. 6, 1986

Pope John Paul II will visit eight Southern and Western cities in the United States next year, celebrating a series of outdoor masses like the ones that drew millions of Americans on his 1979 trip to Eastern and Middle Western cities, the nation's bishops announced today.

The cities he will visit in September 1987, announced officially for the first time, are Miami; Columbia, S.C.; New Orleans; San Antonio, Tex.,; Phoenix, Ariz.; Los Angeles; Monterey, Calif., and San Francisco.

Besides the open-air Roman Catholic masses and meetings with Catholic groups, he is also to meet with Jewish leaders in Miami and take part in a prayer service with representatives of various faiths at a stadium in Columbia, S.C., according to the National Conference of Catholic Bishops.

The Pope and Vatican officials have been in the news in this country in recent months mostly in regard to actions against American prelates deemed too liberal on sexual and other social issues. Recent Vatican Criticisms

Action against such men as Archbishop Raymond Hunthausen of Seattle and the Rev. Charles E. Curran, a theologian at the Catholic University of America, have upset some within the church in the United States. But the Pope is still considered very popular among the nation's 52 million Catholics, and church officials believe he will receive a joyous welcome, much as he did on his first visit.

In a statement accompanying today's announcement, the president of the bishops' national conference, Bishop James Malone of Youngstown, Ohio, said, ''The Pope will listen to the story of the Catholic experience in the United States, and, it is hoped, the nation and the world will hear it in a way that is only possible with the attention his pastoral visit will attract.'' Following is the tentative schedule: Sept. 10: The Pope arrives in Miami. While there, he will meet with priests and representatives of the Jewish community.

Sept. 11: He will celebrate an outdoor mass in Miami, then travel to Columbia, where he will meet with national ecumenical leaders and take part in a joint prayer service at the University of South Carolina stadium. Then he will fly to New Orleans.

Sept. 12: In New Orleans, he will meet with leaders of Catholic schools, take part in a youth rally, celebrate an outdoor mass, take part in a prayer service with Catholic permanent deacons and their wives.

Sept. 13: The Pope flies to San Antonio. There he will celebrate another outdoor mass, meet with Catholic charity leaders and social action leaders and meet with young women and men.

Sept. 14: The Pope will fly to Phoenix, where he will meet with Catholic health care leaders, visit the sick in a hospital, meet with Indians and celebrate mass at the Arizona State University stadium.

Sept. 15-16: After flying to Los Angeles, the Pope will meet with United States bishops, take part in sessions with communications industry leaders, conduct a conference by television directed at young people in several cities, meet with leaders of non-Christian religions and celebrate two outdoor masses.

Sept. 17: He will fly to Monterey, where he will give an address on agriculture. Then he will travel to San Francisco where he will speak and celebrate mass with representatives of religious orders.

Sept. 18: The Pope will meet with lay Catholic leaders and celebrate an outdoor mass before leaving for Rome.

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A reflection of pope john paul ii's 1987 visit to the valley.

• 1987 Pope Visit.mp3

Pope John Paul II arrived in Phoenix on Sept. 14, 1987. Among his several scheduled stops was a visit to St. Joseph’s Hospital.

He toured of the Catholic hospital, including the pediatric unit. His first public address in the Valley was to the crowd outside the hospital.

"It is a special privilege for me, special grace to visit hospital,” he said.

The Valley got a sight of the Holy Father in the traditional, and famous, glass-covered popemobile. Central Avenue was lined with people on both sides of the street as he made his way to St. Mary’s Basilica in downtown Phoenix. The Basilica designation is made by the Pope, granting the church special privileges. Father Warren Rouse was the pastor of St. Mary’s at the time.

“I had talked with Bishop O’Brien, oh maybe a year and a half before when we got St. Mary’s Church declared a Basilica. I said, 'Well, if the Pope ever comes to Phoenix he has to go to the Basilica because it’s his own now.' And we both laughed, and we were not laughing a year later," Father Warren Rouse said.

During the Pontiff’s time in the church, Pope John Paul II stopped to pray. This was his time away from the crowd. There were only a few people around him, including Pastor Rouse, Bishop O’Brien and Carol Lynde. She was the only cameraperson transmitting the private image to the world.

“I come from news where you cover a lot of bad. And then here was the absolute epitome of grace and goodness and holiness,” Carol Lynde said.

Lynde said she’s not catholic or dedicated to church. But working on this day was a poignant moment for her. She realized it while recording the Pope in the church.

“I’m in this moment, and I’m trying to follow focus with my camera as he’s moving, and the director who’s out in this big production truck is screaming in my ear. I guess my focus wasn’t perfect all the times ‘focus, focus, you blankity, blank, blank.’ so that’s going in my headset, while I’m having this incredible holy experience.”

After his moment of prayer, he stepped outside the St. Mary’s Basilica balcony and addressed the mass crowd in English and Spanish.

“I extend all of you, the people of Phoenix and American southwest, my greetings of joy and peace,” he said.

Among his most memorable stops was his participation at the Tekakwitha Conference at the Arizona State Fair Grounds Coliseum. It’s a national gathering of Native American Catholics.

The Pontiff was blessed and received an eagle feather. It’s the symbol of peace, love and respect.

"Present this feather to you on behalf of all the Native Americans in the North American continent," said Emmett White, of the Gila River Indian Community, who presented the Pontiff with an eagle feather.

The Pope’s visit ended with a mass for about 75,000 people at Sun Devil Stadium.

Father Warren Rouse said he remembered this event vividly.

“To me that was really a big thing, when at the proper time, whatever thousand people during the all joined together singing the our father,” he said.

The audio from Pope John Paul II's visit to Phoenix was provided courtesy of The Roman Catholic Diocese of Phoenix.

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Pope John Paul II’s Historic Visit Stirred Faith of New Orleans’ Black Catholics

PROSPECT HEIGHTS — The national media converged on New Orleans Sept. 12, 1987, when Pope John Paul II — now a saint — became the first pontiff to visit the historic city at the edges of Louisiana’s bayous.

Reporters from large news organizations joined thousands of welcoming spectators for the pope’s whirlwind visit. Riding in the “popemobile” he darted throughout the “Big Easy” to complete multiple stops, including St. Louis Cathedral, the Louisiana Superdome, and Xavier University of Louisiana.

Excitement especially flowed from black Catholics who were just hitting their strides in incorporating African American culture into the liturgy with lively gospel music and spirituals.

The Second Vatican Council had encouraged new forms of worship some 20 years earlier. Meanwhile, a new black Catholic spirit grew alongside victories in the civil rights movement. 

Father Jeffery Ott was a junior at Xavier back then, and the editor of the college newspaper, the Xavier Herald. He also sang in the 50-member gospel choir during the pope’s stop at the university. 

“I remember as a young person feeling part of the Church — really connected and joyful about serving,” Father Ott said. “And in my mind, Pope John Paul II was like a rock star.” 

But Father Ott, pastor of Our Lady of Lourdes Parish in Atlanta, recently told The Tablet that many years passed before he fully realized the impact of the papal visit, and how it influenced his own story. 

Still, the national media understood the significance and sent news crews to capture this historic moment. The pope — canonized in 2014 — went to the Superdome specifically to meet with the black Catholic community of New Orleans.

At the time, Auxiliary Bishop James Lyke (1939-1992) of Cleveland told the Los Angeles Times that this was the first time a pope had met with black Catholics as a body in the U.S.

“His visit will mean many things,” Bishop Lyke added. “But, above all, it certainly is going to dispel the myth that the Church is a white Church. That message should be loud and clear.”

And it was a message black Catholics had longed to hear. Their struggles were outlined in the same Times article by Father Fernand Cheri, then the 35-year-old pastor of St. Francis de Sales Parish in New Orleans. 

He described how black Catholics had been treated like “second-class citizens” in local Catholic churches. He said they had to sit in back pews or choir lofts and had to wait until white parishioners received Communion before they could approach the altar. 

“The miracle of the Church today is that we still have black Catholics after enduring what we have had to endure,” Father Cheri said in 1987. He went on to become an auxiliary bishop in New Orleans and served until his death last year.

Pope John Paul II told his Superdome audience that he empathized with black Catholics’ fight to shed the shackles of racial injustices. 

“Even in this wealthy nation, committed by its Founding Fathers to the dignity and equality of all persons, the black community suffers a disproportionate share of economic deprivation,” Pope John Paul II said. 

“Far too many of your young people,” he continued, “receive less than an equal opportunity for a quality education and for gainful employment.” 

The pope said the Church must help to correct all imbalances and disorders of a social nature.

“Indeed,” he added, “the Church can never remain silent in the face of injustice, wherever it is clearly present.” 

The pope went on to praise the civil rights movement. He called its nonviolent strategy for social justice a “monument of honor” to the black community of the U.S. 

He mentioned the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s providential role “in contributing to the rightful human betterment of black Americans and therefore to the improvement of American society itself.” 

Father Ott said he did not remember which songs the gospel choir performed for the pope, but the pontiff was genuinely moved by the performance. 

After his speech, he rushed over to the singers and greeted them with an exuberant affirmation in his thick Polish accent: “Choir! Choir! Choir!” 

“We were just a bunch of screaming young people,” Father Ott said. “And he shook our hands — individually. It just blew my mind. I ran around for a good long time saying, ‘I shook the pope’s hand!’” 

Still, the experience was like a seed planted that would remain dormant for several years because, at that time, Father Ott had no desire to be a priest. 

He graduated from Xavier and moved to New York City to pursue a graduate degree in urban planning at Columbia University. 

He wasn’t active in church until he heard about a parish on Dean Street in Brooklyn — Our Lady of Charity, which is now part of St. Matthew Parish in Crown Heights.

Father Ott had heard the services were lively with gospel-oriented music.

He recalled thinking, “Oh, I want to go to church there,” and so he did. He eventually moved from Harlem to Brooklyn to be closer to the parish. 

Father Ott then recalled his interaction with the pope, and a seed of renewed spirituality sprouted. Soon he was pursuing a vocation with the Dominicans.

Now, as the pastor of an urban parish, he has a different appreciation of Pope John Paul II’s visit in 1987 and how it shaped his own future. 

“All these years later,” Father Ott said, “it was an affirmation that my faith is important to me. And yeah, it made me excited about my walk with Jesus.”

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One thought on “ Pope John Paul II’s Historic Visit Stirred Faith of New Orleans’ Black Catholics ”

Bishop Philip Hannan was an Army military Chaplain during WWII and served with the 82nd Airborne. He was very close to President Kennedy and his family and gave the homily at the President’s funeral Mass and later for Robert Kennedy and Jackie Kennedy Onasis.

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Remembering John Paul II’s First US Visit 40 Years Ago

COMMENTARY: Karol Wojtyla’s return to America, this time as pope, had many meaningful moments — and lighter ones.

Pellegrini was among a crowd of 400,000 that greeted Pope John Paul II that Oct. 1, 1979, his first day on U.S. soil as pope, arriving directly from Ireland. It would be the first of seven visits to a country beloved by the Polish pope.

To say that the future saint was greeted like a “rock star” is actually an understatement.

Elvis and the Beatles didn’t get responses like this.

The Pope visited several major cities, where he was greeted by phenomenal crowds, including the throng at a ticker-tape parade in Philadelphia. He celebrated Mass at sites as diverse and expansive as Yankee Stadium, the Washington Mall, Chicago’s Grant Park, and St. Matthew’s Cathedral in Washington, D.C.

The Mass at Yankee Stadium was packed with 80,000 people. The Grant Park crowd approached a half-million, drawn from the ethnically Polish and Slavic Chicago environs. At Philadelphia’s Logan Circle, the mass reached more than a million.

In Philadelphia on Oct. 3, the Pope spoke at the Cathedral of Sts. Peter and Paul, which made him feel not too far from his home church in Rome, St. John Lateran, which houses the skulls of Sts. Peter and Paul. The parallel was not lost on the Bishop of Rome.

“This cathedral links you to the great apostles of Rome, Peter and Paul,” noted the Pope. He added that he felt home in Philadelphia, where he had visited three years earlier for the Eucharistic Congress amid America’s bicentennial. Back then, he was a relatively unknown cardinal from Krakow. But now, he told the people of Philadelphia, “by the grace of God, I come here as Successor of Peter to bring you a message of love and to strengthen you in your faith.”

Karol Wojtyla’s return to America, this time as pope, had many such meaningful moments — and lighter ones.

He attended an event with President Jimmy Carter on Oct. 6 on the White House lawn. The Southern Baptist president was gracious and playful with the leader of the Roman Catholic Church.

“You are welcome with us, Your Holiness,” said Carter. Turning to the press and White House staff, Carter said: “As you know, he comes to us as a pastor, as a scholar, as a poet, as a philosopher, but I think primarily as a pastor.” He then turned to the Pope and quipped, “Do you agree? As a pastor?”

The Chief Pastor of the universal Church smiled and said, “You are right.”

It was a fun moment, and everyone took it in stride.

But surely the most serious of John Paul II’s moments during his inaugural trip to America was his speech to the United Nations , only the second papal appearance before the stately body, behind only Paul VI, and ultimately the first of two U.N. stops by the Holy Father during his long papacy. It came early in his visit, on Oct. 2. It was a striking oration in length alone, requiring a full hour to deliver.

The Pope told the assembled delegates that he was taking advantage of this major opportunity to send his greetings to literally “all the men and women living on this planet,” to “every man and every woman, without any exception whatever.” This was a sweeping ambition, to be sure, but it was nonetheless doable (at least symbolically) in this unique forum.

The Pope told them:

“Each one of you, distinguished ladies and gentlemen, represents a particular state, system and political structure, but what you represent above all are individual human beings; you are all representatives of men and women … each of them a subject endowed with dignity as a human person.”

Those were words that this international body badly needed to hear.

John Paul then hit upon one of the worst recent violations of that dignity. He recalled that the world had just marked the grim anniversary of the September 1939 invasion of Poland and the start of World War II four decades earlier. It was a picture, said the Polish Pope, that “I still have before my mind.”

Speaking of some of the consequences of that invasion, he brought up Auschwitz: “This infamous place is unfortunately only one of the many scattered over the continent of Europe.”

He condemned any and all past and present examples of such repression — “everything that is a continuation of those experiences under different forms, namely the various kinds of torture and oppression, either physical or moral, carried out under any system, in any land.”

This was surely a reference to Soviet communism and its repression and camps in the gulag archipelago. The Pope’s advisers knew that it was. The Soviets, who reportedly were unhappy with the remarks, also knew of whom the Pope was speaking. How could they not? They were the embodiment, after all.

“You will forgive me, ladies and gentlemen, for evoking this memory,” John Paul said. “But I would be untrue to the history of this century, I would be dishonest with regard to the great cause of man, which we all wish to serve, if I should keep silent.”

The Pope said that he wanted to also draw attention to “a second systematic threat to man in his inalienable rights in the modern world.” This was the threat posed to religious liberty and conscience. This, too, was a reference to the jackboot of atheistic Soviet communism. And, sadly, it applies prophetically to our 21st-century world today, whether in the secular West or the Islamic Middle East.

And likewise highly relevant still today, the Pope urged the need for “respect for the dignity of the human person.” He smartly noted that the United Nations had proclaimed 1979 the “Year of the Child.” He was now holding them to it, and maybe in a way they didn’t expect or want.

He implored the audience to respect life from its earliest stages with “concern for the child, even before birth, from the first moment of conception and then throughout the years of infancy and youth.” This, he said, was the “primary and fundamental test of the relationship of one human being to another.”

It was a strong speech, no question. It never once used the words “Russia,” “Soviet Union,” “USSR,” “Bolshevism,” “communism” or “Marxism-Leninism.” It clearly, however, dealt with those phantoms. It was subtle but still clear.

Still, even as John Paul II had not eviscerated an “Evil Empire,” what he said had rattled the Kremlin.

For the hypersensitive Soviets, this was interpreted as a vile, belligerent stance of confrontation by the Bishop of Rome. Coming on the heels of John Paul’s historic visit to Poland the previous June, the Soviets were extremely concerned about the actions of this new pope.

They would seek ways to respond, with vengeance. They wanted him stopped. But alas, that’s another story and remembrance for another time.

As for October 1979, Pope John Paul II’s remarkable path through history included a memorable stop here in the United States.

No one could have seen it then, but it was just the start of a pontificate that would run until April 2005, and one that would truly change the course of history.

Americans had never seen or heard anything like it, and probably never will again.

Paul Kengor  is a professor of political science at Grove City College in Grove City,

Pennsylvania. His books include  A Pope and a President: John Paul II, Ronald Reagan and the Extraordinary Untold Story of the 20th Century .

• paul kengor
• pope st. john paul ii

Paul Kengor Paul Kengor is professor of political science at Grove City College in Grove City, Pennsylvania. His books include A Pope and a President , The Divine Plan and The Politically Incorrect Guide to Communism , The Devil and Karl Marx: Communism's Long March of Death, Deception, and Infiltration .

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