List of pastoral visits of Pope John Paul II

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 1,167,000 km (725,000 mi). He consistently attracted large crowds on his travels, some among the 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.

Countries visited

Pope John Paul II visited 129 countries during his time as pope:

• Nine visits to Poland
• Eight visits to France (including one visit to Réunion)
• Seven visits to the United States (including two stopovers in Alaska)
• Five visits to Mexico and Spain
• Four visits to Brazil, Portugal, and Switzerland
• Three visits to Austria, Canada, Côte d'Ivoire, Croatia, Czech Republic (including one visit to Czechoslovakia), Dominican Republic, Germany, Guatemala, Kenya, Malta (including one stopover in Luqa,) and Slovakia (including one visit to Czechoslovakia)
• Two visits to Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Benin, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of the Congo, El Salvador, Hungary, India, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Philippines, Slovenia, South Korea, Uruguay, and Venezuela
• One visit to Albania, Angola, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Bangladesh, Belize, Bolivia, Botswana, Bulgaria, Burundi, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Chile, Colombia, Congo, Costa Rica, Cuba, Denmark, East Timor (then part of Indonesia), Ecuador, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Estonia, Fiji, Finland, Gabon, Gambia, Georgia, Ghana, Greece, Guam, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Haiti, Honduras, Iceland, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritius, Morocco, Mozambique, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Pakistan, Palestinian territories, Panama, Paraguay, Romania, Rwanda, Saint Lucia, San Marino, São Tomé and Príncipe, Senegal, Seychelles, Singapore, Solomon Islands, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Swaziland, Sweden, Syria, Tanzania, Thailand, Togo, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Uganda, Ukraine, United Kingdom, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

In addition, John Paul II made 146 pastoral visits within Italy.

Travels outside Italy

1970s

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. 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 for 75,000 people as well as at Shea Stadium to an audience of over 52,000. 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. 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.

1980s

On 3 June 1980, he made a pilgrimage to Lisieux in northern France, the home town of St. Therese of the Child Jesus of the Holy Face. In 1997 he declared St. Therese the third woman Doctor of the Church. His 1980 visit to France was the first by a pope since 1814 and his journey to West Germany in November 1980 was the first since 1782.

On 18 February 1981, he beatified several martyrs, including those later canonized, St. Lorenzo Ruiz and Magdalene of Nagasaki, in Manila. This was the first beatification to be held outside Vatican City. He became the first reigning pope to travel to the United Kingdom in 1982, where he met Queen Elizabeth II, the Supreme Governor of the Church of England. This trip was in danger of being cancelled due to the then current Falklands War (Spanish: Guerra de las Malvinas/Guerra del Atlántico Sur), against which he spoke out during the visit. In a dramatic symbolic gesture, he knelt in prayer alongside Archbishop of Canterbury Robert Runcie, in the See of the Church of England, Canterbury Cathedral, founded by St Augustine of Canterbury. They prayed at the site of the martyrdom of St. Thomas Becket, meant as a show of friendship between the Roman Catholic and Anglican churches. Pope John Paul II was the first Pontiff to visit Scotland, where about 300,000 of the Roman Catholic minority in that country celebrated Mass with the Pope at Bellahouston Park. On this visit the Pope faced protest from Protestant pastor Jack Glass and his followers. This visit had to be balanced for fairness with an unscheduled trip to Argentina that June.

Throughout his trips, he stressed his devotion to the Virgin Mary through visits to various shrines to the Virgin Mary, notably Knock in Ireland, Fatima in Portugal, Guadalupe in Mexico, Aparecida in Brazil and Lourdes in France.

In 1984, John Paul became the first Pope to visit Puerto Rico. Stands were specially erected for him at Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport in San Juan, where he met with governor Carlos Romero Barceló, and at Plaza Las Americas.

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.

1990s

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.

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. On 19 September 1996, the Pope traveled to Saint-Laurent-sur-Sèvre, France to meditate and pray at 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. 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.

2000s

In 2000, he became the first modern Catholic pope to visit Egypt, where he met with the Coptic Pope and the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Alexandria.

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.

He was the first Catholic Pope to visit and pray in a Mosque, in Damascus, Syria. He visited the Umayyad Mosque, where John the Baptist is believed to be interred.

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. The Pope's final visit was to the Marian Shrine of Lourdes in the south of France.

Travels in Italy

1970s

• 29 October 1978: Sanctuary of the Mentorella
• 5 November 1978: Assisi
• 18 May 1979: Montecassino
• 14 August 1979: Albano Laziale
• 26 August 1979: Canale d'Agordo, Malga Ciapela, Marmolada di Rocca, Belluno and Treviso
• 1 September 1979: Nettuno
• 3 September 1979: Albano Laziale
• 8 September 1979: Loreto and Ancona
• 9 September 1979: Grottaferrata
• 13 September 1979: Pomezia
• 21 October 1979: Pompeii

1980s

• 23 March 1980: Cascia and Norcia
• 13 April 1980: Turin
• 30 August 1980: Assergi, Traforo del Gran Sasso and L'Aquila
• 7 September 1980: Velletri
• 8 September 1980: Frascati
• 14 September 1980: Siena
• 20 September 1980: Montecassino and Cassino
• 28 September 1980: Subiaco
• 5 October 1980: Galatina and Otranto
• 25 November 1980: Potenza, Balvano and Avellino
• 19 March 1981: Terni
• 26 April 1981: Orio al Serio, Sotto il Monte and Bergamo
• 22 November 1981: Collevalenza and Todi
• 12 March 1982: Assisi
• 19 March 1982: Rosignano Solvay, Livorno and Sanctuary of Montenero
• 18 April 1982: Bologna and San Lazzaro di Savena
• 29 August 1982: Rimini
• 5 September 1982: Serra Sant'Abbondio and Fonte Avellana
• 12 September 1982: Rubano and Padua
• 19 September 1982: Albano Laziale
• 29 September 1982: Ghedi, Concesio and Brescia
• 20–21 November 1982: Ponte Valle, Belice and Palermo
• 2 January 1983: Rieti and Greccio
• 19 March 1983: San Salvo, Termoli and Pescara
• 20–22 May 1983: Milan, Desio, Seregno, Venegono, Monza and Sesto San Giovanni
• 18 August 1983: Palestrina
• 3 September 1983: Anzio
• 26 February 1984: Bari and Bitonto
• 27 May 1984: Viterbo
• 16–17 July 1984: Mount Adamello
• 12 August 1984: Fano
• 19 August 1984: Rocca di Papa
• 2 September 1984: Alatri
• 5–7 October 1984: Lamezia Terme, Serra San Bruno, Paola, Catanzaro, Cosenza, Crotone and Reggio di Calabria
• 2–4 November 1984: Milan, Varese, Pavia, Varallo and Arona
• 29 December 1984: Grottaferrata
• 24 March 1985: Fucino and Avezzano
• 11 April 1985: Loreto
• 26 May 1985: Salerno
• 15–17 June 1985: Vittorio Veneto, Riese Pio X, Treviso, Venice and Mestre
• 30 June 1985: Atri, Isola del Gran Sasso and Teramo
• 14 September 1985: Albano Laziale
• 21–22 September 1985: Genoa and Shrine of Nostra Signora della Guardia
• 18–20 October 1985: Cagliari, Iglesias, Oristano, Nuoro and Sassari
• 19 March 1986: Prato
• 8–11 May 1986: Forlì, Cesena, Imola, Faenza, Brisighella, Ravenna and Cervia
• 9 August 1986: Rocca di Mezzo and Piani di Pezza
• 31 August 1986: Anagni
• 6–7 September 1986: Aosta, Courmayeur and Mont Blanc
• 14 September 1986: Aprilia
• 18–19 October 1986: Fiesole and Florence
• 26 October 1986: Perugia
• 27 October 1986: Assisi In this trip, the pope has an encounter with leaders of several religions in a prayer for the peace.
• 19 March 1987: Civitavecchia
• 23–25 May 1987: San Giovanni Rotondo, Monte Sant'Angelo, Manfredonia, Foggia, San Severo, Lucera, Troia, Bovino, Ascoli Satriano and Cerignola
• 8–14 July 1987: Lorenzago di Cadore, San Pietro di Cadore and Fortogna
• 2 September 1987: Rocca di Papa
• 5 September 1987: Albano Laziale
• 7 September 1987: Grottaferrata
• 16–17 April 1988: Verona
• 1 May 1988: Castel Sant'Elia, Civita Castellana and Nepi
• 3–7 June 1988: Carpi, Modena, Fiorano, Fidenza, Piacenza, Castel San Giovanni, Reggio Emilia, Parma and Bologna
• 11–12 June 1988: Messina, Tindari and Reggio di Calabria
• 13–22 July 1988: Lorenzago di Cadore, Mount Adamello, Col Cumano, Sanctuary of Pietralba and Tesero
• 19 August 1988: Albano Laziale
• 21 August 1988: Rocca di Papa
• 2–4 September 1988: Turin, Castelnuovo Don Bosco, Colle Don Bosco and Chieri
• 30 December 1988: Fermo and Porto San Giorgio
• 21 May 1989: Grosseto
• 25 June 1989: Gaeta, Sanctuary of the Madonna della Civita and Formia
• 12–21 July 1989: Introd, Oropa, Pollone, Quart and Turin
• 18 September 1989: Orte and Trevignano Romano
• 22–24 September 1989: Pisa, Cecina, Volterra and Lucca
• 28–29 October 1989: Taranto and Martina Franca

1990s

• 18–19 March 1990: Ivrea, San Benigno Canavese, Scarmagno and Chivasso
• 17 June 1990: Orvieto
• 2 July 1990: Benevento
• 11–20 July 1990: Introd, Barmasc and Mont Blanc
• 20 September 1990: Albano Laziale
• 22–23 September 1990: Ferrara, Pomposa, Comacchio and Argenta
• 14 October 1990: Genoa
• 9–13 November: Naples, Torre del Greco, Pozzuoli, Nocera Inferiore, Pagani, Aversa, Trentola-Ducenta, Casapesenna and Lusciano
• 18–19 March 1991: San Severino Marche, Camerino, Fabriano and Matelica
• 27–28 April 1991: Matera, Pisticci and Potenza
• 22–23 June 1991: Mantua and Castiglione delle Stiviere
• 10–19 July 1991: Introd, Susa, Sacra di San Michele and Breuil-Cervinia
• 2 September 1991: Carpineto Romano
• 7–8 September 1991: Vicenza
• 29 September 1991: Le Ferriere
• 19 March 1992: Sorrento and Castellammare di Stabia
• 30 April – 3 May 1992: Aquileia, Pordenone, San Vito al Tagliamento, Concordia Sagittaria, Trieste, Gorizia, Gemona del Friuli, Udine and Redipuglia War Memorial
• 23–24 May 1992: Nola, Caserta, Santa Maria Capua Vetere and Capua
• 19–21 June 1992: Caravaggio, Crema, Lodi and Cremona
• 17 August – 2 September 1992: Lorenzago di Cadore and Domegge di Cadore
• 9–10 January 1993: Assisi
• 19 March 1993: Magliano Sabina, Vescovio, Poggio Mirteto, Abbey of Farfa and Monterotondo
• 22 April 1993: Genazzano
• 8–10 May 1993: Trapani, Erice, Mazara del Vallo, Agrigento and Caltanissetta
• 23 May 1993: Cortona
• 19–20 June 1993: Macerata, Foligno and Gran Sasso
• 7–16 July 1993: Lorenzago di Cadore and Santo Stefano di Cadore
• 17 September 1993: Sanctuary of La Verna and Camaldoli
• 25–26 September 1993: Asti and Isola d'Asti
• 17–27 August 1994: Introd
• 17–18 September 1994: Lecce
• 4–5 November 1994: Catania and Siracusa
• 10 December 1994: Loreto
• 19 March 1995: Campobasso, Monte Vairano, Castelpetroso and Agnone
• 29–30 April 1995: Trento
• 12–22 1995: Introd
• 9–10 September 1995: Loreto
• 23 November 1995: Palermo
• 30 March 1996: Colle Val d'Elsa
• 4–5 May 1996: Como
• 10–23 July 1996: Lorenzago di Cadore and Pieve di Cadore
• 14 August 1996: Albano Laziale
• 9–19 August 1997: Introd
• 6 September 1997: Marino
• 27–28 September 1997: Bologna
• 3 January 1998: Annifo, Cesi and Assisi
• 23–24 May 1998: Vercelli and Turin
• 8–21 July: 1998: Lorenzago di Cadore and Borno
• 18–20 September: Chiavari and Brescia
• 30 May 1999: Ancona
• 7–20 July 1999: Introd and Quart
• 4 September 1999: Pontecagnano-Faiano and Salerno

2000s

• 10–22 July 2000: Introd
• 9–20 July 2001: Introd
• 16 September 2001: Frosinone
• 24 January 2002: Assisi
• 5 May 2002: Ischia
• 24 July 2003: Gran Sasso
• 7 October 2003: Pompeii
• 5–17 July 2004: Introd
• 5 September 2004: Loreto

See also

• List of pastoral visits of Pope Paul VI
• List of pastoral visits of Pope Benedict XVI
• List of pastoral visits of Pope Francis
• List of pastoral visits of Pope Leo XIV
• List of meetings between the pope and the president of the United States
• Papal travel
• State visit

External links

• from the Vatican