page_title: Pope John Paul II's visit to the United Kingdom
section_title: The visit
hierarchical_section_title: Pope John Paul II's visit to the United Kingdom / The visit
caption_attribution_description: English: SCW 533X, one of the two Popemobiles coachbuilt on Leyland Constructor chassis for Pope John Paul II's visit to the UK in 1982. There were also two Land Rover based Popemobiles used for the visit. This vehicle was used for the Coventry visit on 30 May and the Cardiff visit on 2 June. This vehicle is owned and kept by the British Commercial Vehicle Museum in Leyland, Lancashire. SCW 532X, the other Leyland Constructor based Popemobile, was used for the London Wembley Stadium visit on 29 May, the Liverpool visit on 30 May, the York and Manchester visits on 31 May and the Glasgow visit on 1 June.
context_page_description: The visit of Pope John Paul II to the United Kingdom in 1982 was the first visit there by a reigning Pope. The Pope arrived in the UK on Friday 28 May, and during his time there visited nine cities, delivering 16 major addresses. Among significant events were a meeting with Queen Elizabeth II, the Supreme Governor of the Church of England, a joint service alongside the then-Archbishop of Canterbury, Robert Runcie at Canterbury Cathedral, meeting with and addressing the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland at The Mound, and five large open air Masses in London, Coventry, Manchester, Glasgow, and Cardiff. Following his six-day visit which took him to locations in England, Scotland and Wales, he returned to the Vatican on 2 June.
  Unlike the 2010 papal visit of his successor, Pope Benedict XVI, John Paul II's was a pastoral rather than a state visit, and was consequently funded by the Catholic Church in the UK rather than the Government. The trip was almost cancelled because Britain was then at war with Argentina, which had invaded the British possession of the Falkland Islands. This visit had to be balanced for fairness with an unscheduled trip to Argentina that June.
context_section_description: 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, Cardinal Basil 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 Bishop 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. Also on that day he met Queen Elizabeth II, the Supreme Governor of the Church of England.
  On 29 May John Paul II visited Canterbury Cathedral, becoming the first pontiff to do so and participating in a historic meeting with Charles, Prince of Wales, before attending a ceremony with the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Robert Runcie. During the service, the two church leaders renewed their baptismal vows together, knelt in silent prayer at the spot where Thomas Becket was murdered in 1170, and issued a common declaration, thanking God for "the progress that has been made in the work of reconciliation" between the Catholic Church and the Church of England. Later that day, he went through Wembley by means of a procession which was organised and managed by Leslie Sharkey and celebrated Mass at Wembley Stadium in the presence of 80,000 people. The crowd gave him a standing ovation, and sang "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands".
  On 30 May, after a meeting with over 20,000 of his fellow Polish countrymen at the Crystal Palace stadium in London, the Pope travelled by helicopter to Coventry, where he celebrated Mass at the city's Baginton Airport in the presence of some 300,000 people. In his address, he described Coventry as a "city devastated by war but rebuilt in hope". Afterwards, he travelled to Liverpool, where over a million spectators lined the route of his journey from the airport at 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.
  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.
  After the 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 compromisi
caption: One of the two popemobiles coachbuilt on Leyland Constructor chassis for Pope John Paul II's visit to the United Kingdom in May/June 1982
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