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.

Nations visited by Pope John Paul II

Countries visited

Pope John Paul II visited 129[1][2] countries during his time as pope:

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

Travels outside Italy

1970s

Millions cheer Pope John Paul II during his first visit to Poland as pontiff
Pope John Paul II, during his first U.S. visit in 1979, at Yankee Stadium, New York City

Pope John Paul II's first foreign journey was a three-country visit to the Dominican Republic, Mexico and the Bahamas in January 1979. Some 18 million people were believed to have greeted the Pope during his stay in Mexico.

The Pope's second foreign visit was to his homeland, Poland, in June 1979.[5] This was possibly the most significant of all his trips as it, according to some historians, set in train a series of events that led to the establishment of the Solidarity trade union, which was a key movement in the fall of Communism in eastern Europe. During his visit to Poland, John Paul visited Warsaw, Gniezno, Kraków, Nowy Targ, Auschwitz and Jasna Góra. The nine-day tour attracted millions of faithful.

The Pope's visit to Ireland on 29 September drew immense crowds. 1,250,000 people, one quarter of the population of the island of Ireland, one third of the population of the Republic of Ireland, attended the opening Mass of the visit in Dublin's Phoenix Park. Over 250,000 attended a Liturgy of the Word in Drogheda later that evening. Hundreds of thousands lined the streets of Dublin that night for a motorcade from Dublin Airport to the Presidential Residence in the Phoenix Park.

The following day, Sunday 30 September, included Masses in Galway (300,000), Knock (450,000) and a stop over at the monastic ruins of Clonmacnois (20,000). The final day of the visit began with a visit to the National Seminary in Maynooth (attended by 80,000). The final Mass of the visit was at Greenpark Racecourse in Limerick in the south of the country before 400,000 people which was more than had been expected.

John Paul II made his first visit to the United States in October 1979. He arrived in Boston on 1 October. The next two days were spent in New York City, where he addressed the United Nations General Assembly. There he condemned all uses of concentration camps and torture on the 40th anniversary year of World War II's start in 1939 and subsequent establishment of such camps by both the invading German Nazis and Soviet Communists, with Communism's camps and tortures continuing after the war's end in 1945. The pope later spoke to students gathered at Madison Square Garden, and conducted Mass at the original Yankee Stadium[6][7] for 75,000 people[8] as well as at Shea Stadium to an audience of over 52,000.[9] He arrived in Philadelphia on 3 October and Des Moines, Iowa on the next day before arriving in Chicago. There he celebrated Mass in Grant Park, met with civic leaders and Chicago's Polish community. Chicago was the largest Catholic archdiocese in the United States at the time and the home of the largest Polish community outside of Poland.[10] He concluded his pilgrimage to the U.S. in Washington, D.C. where he became the first Pope to visit the White House. He was greeted warmly by President Jimmy Carter, and they met privately in the Oval Office.

VoyageDates[11]Nations visited[11]Places visited[11]Information
125– 26 January 1979  Dominican RepublicSanto Domingo, Santiago de los Caballeros
26 January–1 February 1979  MexicoMéxico City, Oaxaca de Juárez, Guadalajara, MonterreyAttended the Third General Conference of the Latin American Bishops held in Puebla
1 February 1979  The BahamasNassauTechnical Stopover
22–10 June 1979  PolandWarsaw, Gniezno, Częstochowa, Kraków, Kalwaria Zebrzydowska, Wadowice, Brzezinka, Nowy TargCommemoration of the 900th Anniversary of the death of St. Stanislaus and the completion of the Diocesan Synod in Kraków
329 September–1 October 1979  IrelandDublin, Drogheda, Galway, Knock, Limerick, MaynoothCentenary of the Knock apparitions.
1–7 October 1979  United StatesBoston, New York City, Philadelphia, Des Moines, Chicago, Washington, D.C.Address to the United Nations General Assembly
428–30 November 1979  TurkeyIstanbul, İzmir, AnkaraMet with Patriarch Demetrios I of Constantinople and Patriarch Shenork I Kaloustian of Constantinople

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.[12] In 1997 he declared St. Therese the third woman Doctor of the Church.[13] 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.[14]

The Pope with U.S. President Ronald Reagan and First Lady Nancy Reagan, 1982

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.[15]

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 thePrime 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.

VoyageDates[11]Nations visited[11]Places visited[11]Information
52–6 May 1980  ZaireKinshasa, KisanganiCentenary of the Evangelization of Zaire and Ghana.
5 May 1980  Republic of the CongoBrazzaville
6–8 May 1980  KenyaNairobi
8–10 May 1980  GhanaAccra, Kumasi
10 May 1980  Upper VoltaOuagadougou
Pope John Paul II and Archbishop Paul Zoungrana
10–12 May 1980  Côte d'IvoireAbidjan, Adzopé
630 May–2 June 1980  FranceLisieuxFirst papal visit to France since 1814.[14] Pilgrimage and Visit to UNESCO
730 June–12 July 1980  BrazilBrasília, Belo Horizonte, Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Aparecida, Porto Alegre, Curitiba, Salvador, Recife, Teresina, Belém, Fortaleza, ManausInauguration of the 10th National Eucharistic Congress and the 25th Anniversary of CELAM.
In visit at S. Paulo, the car was driven by Og Pozzoli
815–19 November 1980  West GermanyCologne, Osnabrück, Mainz, Fulda, Altötting, MunichFirst papal visit to Germany since 1782.[14] Commemoration of the 700th Anniversary of the death of St. Albert the Great
916 February 1981  PakistanKarachiStopover
17–22 February 1981  PhilippinesManila, Parañaque, Quezon City, Cebu, Davao, Bacolod, Iloilo, Legazpi, Baguio, Morong[16]Beatification of Lorenzo Ruiz and Companions in Manila. The first beatification outside Rome since the institution of solemn beatification in 1662.[17]
22–23 February 1981  GuamAgañaStopover
23–26 February 1981  JapanTokyo, Hiroshima, Nagasaki
26 February 1981  United StatesAnchorageSecond visit to U.S.; Stopover
1012–17 February 1982  NigeriaLagos, Onitsha, Enugu, Kaduna, Ibadan
17 February 1982  BeninCotonou
18 February 1982  Equatorial GuineaMalabo, Bata
18–19 February 1982  GabonLibreville
1112–15 May 1982  PortugalLisbon, Fátima, Coimbra, Braga, PortoPilgrimage to Fatima in thanksgiving to Our Lady for saving him from the assassination attempt on his life.
1228 May–2 June 1982  United KingdomLondon, Canterbury, Coventry, Liverpool, Manchester, York, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Cardiff
134 June 1982  BrazilRio de JaneiroPlane transfer coming from Rome at the Galeão International Airport with a speech to the Brazilian people.
11–12 June 1982  ArgentinaBuenos AiresArgentina was at war at the time. Requested peace and to avert conflict between Argentina and United Kingdom.
1415 June 1982   SwitzerlandGenevaAddressed the 68th Session of the International Workers Conference
1529 August 1982  San MarinoSan Marino
1631 October–9 November 1982  SpainMadrid, Salamanca, Toledo, Segovia, Sevilla, Granada, San Sebastián, Javier, Zaragoza, Barcelona, Valencia, Santiago de CompostelaClosing of the 400th anniversary of the death of Teresa of Ávila. Beatified Angela de la Cruz Guerrero in Sevilla.
172 March 1983  PortugalLisbonSecond visit to Portugal; Technical Stopover
2–3 March 1983  Costa RicaSan José
4 March 1983  NicaraguaManagua, León
5 March 1983  PanamaPanama City
6 March 1983  Costa RicaSan José
6 March 1983  El SalvadorSan Salvador
6–7 March 1983  GuatemalaGuatemala City
8 March 1983  HondurasTegucigalpa, San Pedro Sula
9 March 1983  GuatemalaGuatemala City
9 March 1983  BelizeBelize City
9 March 1983  HaitiPort-au-PrinceClosing of the National Eucharistic and Marian Congress
1816–23 June 1983  PolandWarsaw, Częstochowa, Niepokalanów, Szczecin, Kamień Pomorski, Poznań, Katowice, Wrocław, KrakówSecond visit to Poland; 600th Anniversary of the arrival of Our Lady of Jasna Góra in Częstochowa. Beatification of Raphael Kalinowski, Albert Chmielowski in Kraków, and Ursula Ledóchowska in Poznań, visit with then newly released Lech Wałęsa.
1914–15 August 1983  FranceLourdesSecond visit to France; Pilgrimage to Lourdes on the occasion of the 125th Anniversary of the Lourdes Apparitions and the 50th Anniversary of the Canonization of St. Bernadette Soubirous.
2010–13 September 1983  AustriaViennaParticipation in the fourteenth Katholikentag
212 May 1984  United StatesFairbanksStopover. Third visit to U.S.
3-7 May 1984  South KoreaSeoul, Taegu, Busan200 Years of Roman Catholicism in Korea and Canonization of 103 martyrs in Seoul
7-8 May 1984  Papua New GuineaPort MoresbyCentenary of the Arrival of the first Missionaries in Papua New Guinea
9 May 1984  Solomon IslandsHoniara, Guadalcanal
10 May 1984  Papua New GuineaPort Moresby
10-11 May 1984  ThailandBangkok, Phanat Nikhom, SampranIn gratitude to the Thai people for accepting refugees from the Indochina Peninsula
2212–17 June 1984   SwitzerlandLugano, Einsiedeln, SionSecond visit to Switzerland; 1000th Anniversary of the Abbey of Einsiedeln.
239–20 September 1984  CanadaQuebec City, Cap-de-la-Madeleine, Montreal, St. John's, Toronto, Winnipeg, Edmonton, Moncton, HalifaxFirst visit to Canada; 200th Anniversary of the establishment of the Catholic Church in Newfoundland.
2410–11 October 1984  SpainZaragozaSecond visit to Spain
11-12 October 1984  Dominican RepublicSanto DomingoInauguration of the 9 year preparation for the 500th anniversary of the discovery and evangelization of the New World.
12 October 1984  Puerto RicoSan Juan
2526 -29 January 1985  VenezuelaCaracas
29 January-1 February 1985  EcuadorQuito, Latacunga, Cuenca, Guayaquil
1–5 February 1985  PeruLima, Cuzco, Arequipa, Callao
5 February 1985  Trinidad and TobagoPort of Spain
2611–15 May 1985  NetherlandsEindhoven, 's-Hertogenbosch, Utrecht, The Hague, Maastricht, Amersfoort
15–16 May 1985  LuxembourgLuxembourg
16–21 May 1985  BelgiumBrussels, Ghent, Mechelen, Beauraing, Namur, Laken, Leuven, Banneux
278–10 August 1985  TogoLomé, Togoville
10 August 1985  Côte d'IvoireAbidjanSecond visit to Ivory Coast; Dedication of the Cathedral in Abidjian.
10–14 August 1985  CameroonDouala, Yaoundé
14 August 1985  Central African RepublicBangui
14–16 August 1985  ZaireKinshasa, LubumbashiSecond visit to Zaire; Beatification of Marie-Clémentine Anuarite Nengapeta.
16–18 August 1985  KenyaNairobiConclusion of the 43rd International Eucharistic Congress
19 August 1985  MoroccoCasablanca
288 September 1985   SwitzerlandKlotenThird visit to Switzerland
8 September 1985  LiechtensteinEschenMauren, Vaduz
2931 January–10 February 1986  IndiaNew Delhi, Calcutta, Madras, Goa, Cochin, Ernakulam, Thrissur, Kottayam, Trivandrum, Bombay, Pune
301–7 July 1986  ColombiaBogotá, Chiquinquirá, Popayán, Tumaco, Cali, Chinchiná, Lérida, Armero, Pereira, Medellín, Bucaramanga, Cartagena de Indias, Barranquilla400th Anniversary of the Miraculous restoration of Our Lady of the Rosary of Chiquinquira
7 July 1986  Saint LuciaCastries
314–7 October 1986  FranceLyon, Ars-sur-Formans, Annecy, Paray-le-MonialThird visit to France; Beatification of Antoine Chevrier and Celebration of the 200th Anniversary of the birth of St. Jean Marie Vianney.
3219 November 1986  BangladeshDhaka
20 November 1986  SingaporeSingapore
21-22 November 1986  FijiSuva, Nadi
22–24 November 1986  New ZealandAuckland, Wellington, Christchurch
24 November–1 December 1986  AustraliaCanberra, Brisbane, Sydney, Hobart, Melbourne, Darwin, Alice Springs, Adelaide, Perth
1 December 1986  SeychellesVictoria
331 April 1987  UruguayMontevideo
1–6 April 1987  ChileSantiago, Valparaíso, Punta Arenas, Puerto Montt, Concepción, Temuco, Coquimbo, AntofagastaThanksgiving to God for a peaceful solution to the long-term territorial conflict between Argentina and Chile
6–12 April 1987  ArgentinaBuenos Aires, Bahía Blanca, Viedma, Mendoza, Córdoba, Salta, RosarioSecond visit to Argentina; celebration of World Youth Day in Buenos Aires
3430 April-4 May 1987  West GermanyAugsburg, Essen, Kevelaer, Münster, CologneSecond visit to West Germany; beatification in Cologne
358–14 June 1987  PolandWarsaw, Lublin, Tarnów, Kraków, Szczecin, Gdynia, Gdańsk, Częstochowa, ŁódźBeatification of Karolina Kózka and Michał Kozal and participation at the 2nd National Eucharistic Congress in Warsaw.
11 June 1987 Pope John Paul II arriving at the military airport at Gdynia on his third Papal visit to Poland.
3610–19 September 1987  United StatesMiami, Columbia, SC, New Orleans, San Antonio, Phoenix, Los Angeles, Monterey, San Francisco, Detroit, Hamtramck, PontiacSpeech to motion picture, television, magazine publishing, broadcasting and music recording executives at Registry Hotel (Los Angeles, 15th).
20 September 1987  CanadaFort SimpsonSecond visit to Canada; Visit to the indigenous people, who he couldn't visit during his first Canadian trip in 1984 due to bad weather conditions.
377–9 May 1988  UruguayMontevideo,Florida,Melo, SaltoSecond visit to Uruguay
9–14 May 1988  BoliviaLa Paz, Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Trinidad
14–16 May 1988  PeruLimaSecond visit to Peru; Closing of the 5th Eucharistic and Marian Congress in Lima
16–18 May 1988  ParaguayAsunción, Villarrica, Mariscal Estigarribia,Canonization of St. Roque Gonzalez and Companions
3823–27 June 1988  AustriaVienna, Linz, St. Pölten, Trausdorf an der Wulka, Gurk, Salzburg, Innsbruck, EisenstadtSecond visit to Austria
3910–13 September 1988  ZimbabweHarare, Bulawayo
13–14 September 1988  BotswanaGaborone
14–16 September 1988  LesothoMaseru  South Africa was excluded from the itinerary because of apartheid, although the flight to Maseru Airport was redirected to Johannesburg Airport and the pope travelled overland to Lesotho.[18]
16 September 1988  SwazilandMbabane
16–19 September 1988  MozambiqueBeira, Maputo, Nampula
408–11 October 1988  FranceStrasbourg, Metz, Nancy, MulhouseFourth visit to France. Address to the European Parliament in Strasbourg. Was the target on the 11th of heckling by Ian Paisley.
4128 April–1 May 1989  MadagascarAntananarivoBeatification of Victoria Rasoamanarivo
1–2 May 1989  RéunionSaint-DenisFifth visit to France (Réunion); Beatification of Jean-Bernard Rousseau
2–4 May 1989  ZambiaLusaka, Ndola, Kitwe
5–6 May 1989  MalawiBlantyre, Lilongwe
421–3 June 1989  NorwayOslo, Trondheim, Tromsø
3–4 June 1989  IcelandReykjavík, Þingvellir
4–6 June 1989  FinlandHelsinki, Turku
6–7 June 1989  DenmarkCopenhagen, Øm
8–10 June 1989  SwedenStockholm, Uppsala, Linköping, Vadstena
4319–21 August 1989  SpainSantiago de Compostela, CovadongaThird visit to Spain; Celebration of World Youth Day in Santiago de Compostela
447–9 October 1989  South KoreaSeoulSecond visit to South Korea, 44th International Eucharistic Congress
9–13 October 1989  IndonesiaJakarta, Yogyakarta, Maumere, Dili, Medan
14–16 October 1989  MauritiusPort Louis, Moka, Rodrigues, Sainte-Croix

1990s

Plaque in the Almudena Cathedral, Madrid, marking a 1993 visit by John Paul II

The Pope's foreign travel programme for 1994 was suspended due to a fall resulting in hip-replacement surgery. Visits to Belgium, the United States, and Lebanon were cancelled as a result. The visits to Belgium and the United States took place in 1995, while the visit to Lebanon was delayed until 1997.

Pastoral visit of Pope John Paul II to Bosnia and Herzegovina

There was a plot to assassinate the Pope during his visit to Manila in January 1995, as part of Operation Bojinka, a mass terrorist attack that was developed by Al-Qaeda members Ramzi Yousef and Khalid Sheik Mohammed. A suicide bomber dressed as a priest and planned to use the disguise to get closer to the Pope's motorcade so that he could kill the Pope by detonating himself. Before 15 January, the day on which the men were to attack the Pope during his Philippine visit, an apartment fire brought investigators led by Aida Fariscal to Yousef's laptop computer, which had terrorist plans on it, as well as clothes and items that suggested an assassination plot. Yousef was arrested in Pakistan about a month later, but Khalid Sheik Mohammed was not arrested until 2003. During this trip to the Philippines, on 15 January 1995, the Pope offered Mass to an estimated crowd of 4–5 million in Luneta Park, Manila, the largest papal crowd ever.[19][20] On 19 September 1996, the Pope traveled to Saint-Laurent-sur-Sèvre, France to meditate and pray st the adjacent tombs of Saint Louis de Montfort and Blessed Marie Louise Trichet. On 22 March 1998, during his second visit to Nigeria, he beatified the Nigerian monk Cyprian Michael Iwene Tansi.[21] In 1999, John Paul II made a final trip to the United States, this time celebrating Mass in St. Louis in the Trans World Dome. Over 104,000 people attended the 27 January Mass, making it the biggest indoor gathering in the United States.[22]

VoyageDate[11]Nations visited[11]Cities visited[11]Notes
4525–27 January 1990  Cape VerdePraia
27–28 January 1990  Guinea-BissauBissau
28–29 January 1990  MaliBamako
29–30 January 1990  Burkina FasoOuagadougouSecond visit to Ouagadougou, then in the Republic of Upper Volta
30 January 1990 – 1 February  ChadN'Djamena
4621–22 April 1990  CzechoslovakiaPrague, Bratislava
476–13 May 1990  MexicoMexico City, Veracruz, San Juan de los Lagos, Cuernavaca, Durango, Chihuahua, Tuxtla Gutiérrez, Villahermosa, ZacatecasSecond visit to Mexico; Preparations for the celebration of the 500th anniversary of the evangelization of the Americas.
13 May 1990  CuraçaoWillemstad
4825–27 May 1990  MaltaValletta, Mellieħa, Gozo, Cottonera, Sliema, Floriana, RabatPilgrimage to the places associated with St. Paul
491 September 1990LuqaStopover[4]
1–5 September 1990  TanzaniaDar es Salaam, Mwanza, Tabora, Moshi
5–7 September 1990  BurundiBujumbura
7–9 September 1990  RwandaKigali, Kabgayi
10 September 1990  Côte d'IvoireYamoussoukroThird visit to Ivory Coast; consecration of the Basilica of Our Lady of Peace of Yamoussoukro
5010–13 May 1991  PortugalLisbon, Ponta Delgada, Funchal, FátimaThird visit to Portugal; Pilgrimage to Fatima on the 10th anniversary of Ağca's assassination attempt on his life and 74th of the 1917 Marian apparitions there
511–9 June 1991  PolandKoszalin, Rzeszów, Przemyśl, Lubaczów, Kielce, Warsaw, Łomża, Białystok, Olsztyn, Włocławek, PłockFourth visit to Poland; Beatification of Józef Sebastian Pelczar, Bolesława Lament and Rafał Chyliński.
5213–15 August 1991Kraków, Wadowice, CzęstochowaFifth visit to Poland; Beatification of Angela Salawa; Celebration of World Youth Day in Częstochowa in post-Communist, Wałęsa-presidency era Poland
16–20 August 1991  HungaryBudapest, Esztergom, Pécs, Nyíregyháza, Máriapócs, Debrecen, Szombathely
5312–21 October 1991  BrazilNatal, São Luís, Brasília, Goiânia, Cuiabá, Campo Grande, Florianópolis, Vitória, Maceió, SalvadorSecond visit to Brazil; Participation of the 12th National Eucharistic Congress
5419–23 February 1992  SenegalDakar, Ziguinchor, Popenguine-Ndayane, Gorée
23–24 February 1992  The GambiaBanjul
24–25 February 1992  GuineaConakry
554–10 June 1992  AngolaLuanda, Huambo, Lubango, Cabinda500th anniversary of Christianity in Angola
6–7 June 1992  São Tomé and PríncipeSão Tomé
569–14 October 1992  Dominican RepublicSanto DomingoThird visit to Dominican Republic; 4th Latin American Episcopal Conference and the 5th Centenary of the evangelization of Latin America
573–5 February 1993  BeninCotonou, ParakouSecond visit to Benin
5–10 February 1993  UgandaGulu, Kampala
10 February 1993  SudanKhartoum
5825 April 1993  AlbaniaTirana, ShkodërInauguration of St Stephen Main Cathedral, Holy Mass in Shkodër

Consecrated 4 Bishops of Albania

Speech at Scanderbeg Square in Tirana

Meets Mother Teresa in Tirana, Albania's capital

5912–17 June 1993  SpainSevilla, La Rábida Friary, Huelva, MadridFourth visit to Spain; 45th International Eucharistic Congress in Sevilla; 500th anniversary of the evangelization of Latin America; consecration of the Almudena Cathedral.
609–11 August 1993  JamaicaKingston
11–12 August 1993  MexicoMérida, IzamalThird visit to Mexico
12–15 August 1993  United StatesDenver, ColoradoFifth visit to U.S.; Celebration of World Youth Day[23]
614–7 September 1993  LithuaniaVilnius, Kaunas, Šiauliai, Šiluva600th anniversary of the Baptism of Lithuania and visit to the Hill of Crosses.
A painting of Pope John Paul II inside the Church of St. Peter and St. Paul depicting him in Vilnius.
8–9 September 1993  LatviaRiga, Aglona
10 September 1993  EstoniaTallinn
6210–11 September 1994  CroatiaZagreb900th anniversary of the Archdiocese of Zagreb
6312–16 January 1995  PhilippinesManilaSecond visit to Philippines; celebration of World Youth Day 1995 in Manila; The second-largest papal gathering in history. 400th anniversary of the establishment of the first ecclesiastical provinces in the Philippines
16–18 January 1995  Papua New GuineaPort MoresbySecond visit to Papua New Guinea; Beatification of Peter To Rot
18–20 January 1995  AustraliaSydneySecond visit to Australia; Beatification of Mary MacKillop.
20–21 January 1995  Sri LankaColomboBeatification of. Joseph Vaz.
6420–21 May 1995  Czech RepublicPrague, Olomouc, OstravaSecond visit to Czech Republic, previously western part of Czechoslovakia. Canonization of John Sarkander & Zdislava of Lemberk in Olomouc
22 May 1995  PolandSkoczów, Bielsko-Biała, ŻywiecSixth visit to Poland. Commemoration of John Sarkander, patron saint of Silesia and Moravia
653–4 June 1995  BelgiumBrusselsSecond visit to Belgium, beatification of Father Damien
6630 June–3 July 1995  SlovakiaBratislava, Nitra, Šaštín, Košice, Prešov, LevočaSecond visit to Slovakia, previously eastern part of Czechoslovakia; Canonization of the Martyrs of Košice
6714–16 September 1995  CameroonYaoundéSecond visit to Cameroon
16–18 September 1995  South AfricaJohannesburgsigning of the Post-Synodal Exhortation Ecclesia in Africa
18–20 September 1995  KenyaNairobiThird visit to Kenya
684–9 October 1995  United StatesNewark, East Rutherford, New York City, Yonkers, BaltimoreSixth visit to U.S.[24] Visited the United Nations on the 50th anniversary of its creation.[25]
695–6 February 1996  GuatemalaGuatemala CitySecond visit to Guatemala
7–8 February 1996  NicaraguaManaguaSecond visit to Nicaragua; closing of the National Eucharistic-Marian congress
8 February 1996  El SalvadorSan SalvadorSecond visit to El Salvador
9–10 February 1996  GuatemalaGuatemala City
9–11 February 1996  VenezuelaMaiquetia, Caracas, GuanareSecond visit to Venezuela
7014 April 1996  TunisiaTunis
7117–19 May 1996  SloveniaLjubljana, Postojna, Maribor
7221–23 June 1996  GermanyLippstadt, Paderborn, BerlinThird visit to Germany; Beatification of Bernard Lichtenberg and Karl Leisner.
736–7 September 1996  HungaryBudapest, GyőrSecond visit to Hungary, 1,000th anniversary of Pannonhalma Archabbey's foundation
7419–22 September 1996  FranceTours, Saint-Laurent-sur-Sèvre, Sainte-Anne-d'Auray, Reims,Sixth visit to France; 15th centenary of the Baptism of King Clovis & 16th Centenary of the death of St. Martin of Tours
7512–13 April 1997  Bosnia and HerzegovinaSarajevo
7625–27 April 1997  Czech RepublicPrague, Hradec KrálovéThird visit to Czech Republic, 1,000th anniversary of Adalbert of Prague's martyrdom
7710–11 May 1997  LebanonBeirut, Harissa-Daraounsigning of the Post-Synodal Exhortation A New Hope for Lebanon
7831 May–10 June 1997  PolandWrocław, Legnica, Gorzów Wielkopolski, Gniezno, Poznań, Gniezno, Kalisz, Częstochowa, Zakopane, Ludźmierz, Kraków, DuklaSeventh visit to Poland; 46th International Eucharistic Congress in Wrocław, 1,000th anniversary of the death of St. Adalbert of Prague, Beatification of Bernardyna Maria Jabłońska and Maria Karłowska and canonization of Bl. Queen Jadwiga of Anjou
7921–24 August 1997  FranceParisSeventh visit to France; Celebration of the 12th World Youth Day and the beatification of Frederic Ozanam
802–6 October 1997  BrazilRio de JaneiroThird visit to Brazil; II World Meeting of Families with the Pope
8121–26 January 1998  CubaHavana, Camagüey, Santiago de Cuba, Santa Clara
8221–23 March 1998  NigeriaAbujaSecond visit to Nigeria; celebration of the 100th anniversary of the evangelization of Nigeria and the beatification of Cyprian Iwene Tansi.
8319 June 1998  AustriaSalzburg, Sankt Pölten, ViennaThird visit to Austria; beatified Maria Restituta Kafka, Jakob Kern and Anton Maria Schwartz.
842–4 October 1998  CroatiaZagreb, SplitSecond visit to Croatia, beatified Cardinal Aloysius Stepinac
8522–26 January 1999  MexicoMexico CityFourth visit to Mexico; Closing of the Special Assembly for America of the Synod of Bishops and signing of the Post-Synodal Exhortation Ecclesia in America
26–27 January 1999  United StatesSt. LouisSeventh visit to U.S.
867–9 May 1999  RomaniaBucharestFirst papal visit to an Orthodox-majority nation.
875–17 June 1999  PolandGdańsk, Pelplin, Elbląg, Licheń, Bydgoszcz, Toruń, Ełk, Wigry, Siedlce, Drohiczyn, Warsaw, Sandomierz, Zamość, Łowicz, Sosnowiec, Kraków, Stary Sącz, Wadowice, Gliwice, CzęstochowaEighth visit to Poland; Closing of the 2nd National Plenary Synod, Beatification of 108 Martyrs of World War II in Warsaw
8819 September 1999  SloveniaMariborSecond visit to Slovenia, beatification of Anton Martin Slomšek
896–8 November 1999  IndiaNew DelhiSecond visit to India; signing of the Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Ecclesia in Asia
8–9 November 1999  GeorgiaTbilisi, Mtskheta

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

VoyageDate[11]Nations Visited[11]Places Visited[11]Notes
9024–26 February 2000  EgyptCairo, Mount SinaiGreat Jubilee pilgrimage to Mount Sinai
9120–21 March 2000  JordanAmman, Mount Nebo, Al-MaghtasGreat Jubilee pilgrimage to the Holy Land
21–22 March 2000  IsraelTel Aviv, Nazareth, Jerusalem, Capernaum
21–22 March 2000  Palestinian National AuthorityBethlehem, Dheisheh
9212–13 May 2000  PortugalFátimaFourth visit to Portugal. Great Jubilee pilgrimage to the Marian shrine in Fátima.
934–5 May 2001  GreeceAthensGreat Jubilee pilgrimage in the footsteps of St. Paul
5–8 May 2001  SyriaDamascus, Quneitra
8–9 May 2001  MaltaGudja, Floriana, ĦamrunThird visit to Malta; Great Jubilee pilgrimage to the footsteps of St. Paul, beatification.
9423–27 June 2001  UkraineKyiv, Lviv
9522–25 September 2001  KazakhstanAstana
25–27 September 2001  ArmeniaYerevan, Etchmiadzin
9622–23 May 2002  AzerbaijanBaku
23–26 May 2002  BulgariaSofia, Rila Monastery, Plovdiv
9723–29 July 2002  CanadaTorontoThird visit to Canada; Celebration of the 17th World Youth Day 2002 in Toronto.
29–30 July 2002  GuatemalaGuatemala CityThird visit to Guatemala
30 July–2 August 2002  MexicoMexico CityFifth visit to Mexico; Canonization of Juan Diego
9816–19 August 2002  PolandKrakówNinth visit to Poland; Dedication of the Shrine of Divine Mercy in Kraków, Beatification and 400th Anniversary of the Dedication of the Basilica of Our Lady of the Angels in Kalwaria Zebrzydowska
993–4 May 2003  SpainMadridFifth visit to Spain; Canonization in Madrid
1005–9 June 2003  CroatiaRijeka, Osijek, Dubrovnik, ZadarThird visit to Croatia
10122 June 2003  Bosnia and HerzegovinaBanja LukaSecond visit to Bosnia and Herzegovina; beatification of Ivan Merz
10211–14 September 2003  SlovakiaBratislava, Trnava, Banská Bystrica, RožňavaThird visit to Slovakia
1035–6 June 2004   SwitzerlandBernFourth visit to Switzerland to attend a rally of Swiss Catholic youth.
10414–15 August 2004  FranceTarbes, LourdesEighth and last visit to France, as well as his last papal visit, to mark the 150th anniversary of the promulgation of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception.

Travels in Italy

1970s

1980s

In this trip, the pope has an encounter with leaders of several religions in a prayer for the peace.[29]

1990s

2000s

See also

References

External links