chassis for Pope John Paul II's visit to the United Kingdom in May/June 1982
England John Paul II arrived in the United Kingdom on the morning of 28 May 1982, landing at
Gatwick Airport. After kissing the runway, he was greeted there by 3,500 singing children,
Basil Cardinal Hume,
Archbishop of Westminster and
Cormac Murphy-O'Connor,
Bishop of
Arundel and Brighton (the Roman Catholic diocese in which the airport is located). Also present was Anglican
Bishop Eric Kemp of
Chichester (the Anglican diocese in which the airport is located), already showing the visit's noteworthy reconciliatory character towards the
Church of England. The Pope later travelled from
Gatwick Airport railway station to
London Victoria by special train
975025 Caroline and from there went to Westminster Cathedral, where he celebrated his first Mass of the visit. During his first day in Britain he departed from his prepared text on three occasions, calling for peace in the Falklands and in
Northern Ireland. Afterwards, he travelled to
Liverpool, where over a million spectators lined the route of his journey from the airport in
Speke to the city. He attended services at the city's
Metropolitan Cathedral and the
Anglican cathedral. Two thousand people attended his Mass at the Metropolitan Cathedral. After Mass, the Pope greeted young people gathered outside the cathedral. , Manchester commemorating the visit On 31 May, the Pope visited
Manchester, where he met the
Chief Rabbi of the United Kingdom, Sir
Immanuel Jakobovits at the Convent of the
Poor Sisters of Nazareth. At
Heaton Park he celebrated Mass in front of a crowd of more than 200,000 people, during which he ordained twelve men to the priesthood, telling them; "You must be men of God, his close friends. You must develop daily patterns of prayer, and penance must be a regular part of your life." The Pope then travelled by helicopter to
Knavesmire Racecourse in
York where some 200,000 people gathered for a
Liturgy of the Word.
Scotland After the York ceremony, the Pope was taken to
RAF Leeming from where he flew by jet to Edinburgh in Scotland, landing at
RAF Turnhouse, Edinburgh. At
Murrayfield Stadium, he met with 45,000 young people and leaders of Protestant churches, before finishing the day with a visit to the city's Catholic cathedral. On 1 June, John Paul II firstly visited patients at St Joseph's Hospital in
Rosewell and addressed educators at
St Andrew's College, before celebrating Mass at
Bellahouston Park for 300,000 people. The Pope was presented with several symbolic gifts during the service, including a pipe banner with the Pope's coat of arms, a piece of Caithness glass, a firkin of whisky and a Scotland football shirt. He told worshippers "as believers, we are constantly exposed to pressures by modern society which would compel us to conform to the standards of this secular age, substitute new proprieties, restrict our aspirations at risk of compromising our Christian conscience."
Wales . In this photo, the artist's mother (Bridget Hall) can be seen presenting Dan. The Welsh leg of the trip took place on 2 June with the Pope's arrival in
Cardiff. After he was awarded the
Freedom of Cardiff, a city which received its royal charter from Queen
Elizabeth I in 1581, several years after she had been declared deposed by Pope
Pius V in his bull
Regnans in Excelsis (departing from his decision to avoid political meetings during his visit), John Paul II travelled to Pontcana Fields where he celebrated Mass for over 100,000 people, speaking briefly in Welsh to declare "Bendith Duw arnoch" – "the blessing of God be on you" – which was received with enthusiastic applause. Afterwards, he went on to
Ninian Park, home of
Cardiff City F.C., where he met with approximately 33,000 young people, again calling for peace in the South Atlantic and then calling on the young people of Britain to launch a crusade of prayer. In a direct reference to King
Henry VIII's book
Defence of the Seven Sacraments for which he received the title
Fidei defensor (Defender of the Faith) from Pope
Leo X, one of the Sacraments was highlighted at each papal venue.
Public opinion The speeches for John Paul's visit were written following consultation with British clerics, including the future archbishop of Westminster,
Vincent Nichols. These were largely well received by the public, with some two million people attending venues to see the Pope and hear him speak. According to the BBC's Michael Hirst, John Paul II's visit to the United Kingdom was the biggest event for British Catholics since
their emancipation during the 19th century. In contrast to the generally positive reaction, there were a small number of demonstrations, mostly by supporters of the Northern Ireland
Democratic Unionist Party leader, the Rev.
Ian Paisley, and other small groups. ==See also==