The Pope In America: It Was Woo-hoo-woo

A gentle shepherd with a will of steel, John Paul II thrilled the U.S. with a glorious pilgrimage that won hearts—and challenged the nation

"He makes me think that the world and the people in it are not as bad as they seem."

—Mary Ellen Bickel, a Boston personnel manager

Only the rarest leaders inspire that kind of confidence in the basic goodness of humanity. As he led his triumphant seven-day journey of joy through the U.S., Pope John Paul II confirmed what his earlier tours of Mexico and Poland had intimated: after only a...