Pastoral Trips of Pope John Paul II - 1970s

1970s

Two of John Paul II's earliest official visits were to Mexico in January 1979 and Poland in June 1979. While there he held Mass in Victory Square in Warsaw before 3 million of his countrymen.

The Pope's visit to Ireland on 29 September drew immense crowds. 1.3 million people attended the opening Mass of the visit in Dublin's Phoenix Park, and 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 (more than had been expected).

John Paul II made his first visit to the United States in October 1979, 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. He also spent two days in New York City, where he addressed the United Nations General Assembly, took in a show at Madison Square Garden, and conducted Mass at Shea Stadium to an audience of over 52,000. His next stop was Chicago, where he celebrated Mass in Grant Park, meeting 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.

January 25 — February 1, 1979 -

• Dominican Republic
• Mexico
• The Bahamas

June 2 — June 10, 1979

• Poland

September 29 — October 8, 1979

• Ireland (centenary of the Knock apparitions)
• United States

November 28 — November 30, 1979

• Turkey