Nation: John Paul's Triumphant Tour

For the U.S.: a message of spiritual leadership

Rarely if ever had the prospect of a foreigner's visit so stirred the country, but then the visit itself had no precedent. His Aer Lingus 747 was to touch down at Boston's Logan Airport—and then John Paul II would be the first Pope in history to tour the U.S. Huge throngs would gather at his every stop: some several hundred thousand were expected for Monday's Mass on Boston Common; as many as 5 million for his stops in New York City, which would include overflow audiences for Masses at Yankee and Shea stadiums; millions more in Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington and even Des Moines (pop. 194,000), where officials expected visitors from all over the West.

They were coming to see not just the head of the world's 710 million Roman Catholics but a man who during his first year as Pontiff has demonstrated that he is unlike any of his modern predecessors. Already this year John Paul has toured Mexico and his native Poland, hugging and blessing peasants, kissing babies and stirring vast outpourings of human emotion with folksy homilies. In his unique fashion, he is rapidly becoming parish priest to the world, and this mission could only be furthered by his U.S. visit. Said the Rev. James Finlay, president of Fordham University in New York City: "He is reaching beyond geographical, political and ecclesiastical boundaries to give the man in the street the feeling that he is there for him."

At each of John Paul's stops on this tour, local officials were hard pressed to cope with the intense public demand for a chance to see him. In Boston, authorities worried about paralyzing traffic jams and decided to ban automobiles on the city's major downtown thoroughfares.

Chicago planned to close virtually its entire Loop, about 80 square blocks, to incoming traffic while the Pope was in town. In the nation's capital, the 7,000 or so tickets issued by the White House for two presidential receptions in John Paul's honor were the most sought after invitations in years.

Catholics strained their superlatives, with reason, in assessing the significance of the visit. Said the Rev. John Finnegan, a theologian and pastor of Boston's St. Anne's Church: "The very fact that the Pope is coming to such an enormous welcome in the country, and that he will be received at the White House—well, it's something that could not have happened even a few short years ago. Remember, we are only 100 years or so away from 'Rum, Romanism and Rebellion' in our presidential campaigns." Said James Maher, a student at St. Joseph's Seminary in Yonkers, N.Y.: "This Pope is different from the others. Since he is not an Italian, I see him as an outsider—a breath of fresh air."

In heavily Catholic Boston, the Protestant Massachusetts Council of Churches and Jewish groups donated money to help the Catholic archdiocese pay for the visit. Among the gifts for John Paul: a matching silver ring and pectoral cross bearing the message UT UNAM SIMUS (that we may be one).