Thousands of people converged on Knavesmire when Pope John Paul II visited York. ROSSLYN SNOW looks back 23 years to that historic day.

THE whole city seemed to gather on the racecourse on the day Pope John Paul II visited York.

Shops closed down for the day, traffic stopped flowing and the papal visit became the focus of everyone's attention.

It was a visit that many thought would never happen.

Just a year earlier, the Pope had been gravely ill in hospital after being gunned down by a fanatic in Rome.

The outbreak of the Falklands War also threw the trip into doubt.

His Holiness appealed to both Britain and Argentina to bring the conflict to a peaceful end. Then, after a few anxious days, he confirmed the visit was on.

The Pope arrived on British soil at Gatwick Airport on May 28, 1982. He bent to kiss the tarmac, by now a trademark of his papacy, before heading to take Mass at Westminster Cathedral.

Security on the British visit was understandably tight. Throughout his stay the Pope was shadowed by his own personal bodyguard, Archbishop Paul Marcinkus.

The 16-stone, 6ft 4ins former American footballer earned himself the nickname the Pope's Gorilla.

Over the next three days, the Pope's schedule was relentless. He visited the Queen, held a service at Canterbury Cathedral, took Mass at Wembley, Coventry Airport and Liverpool Cathedral, and toured many destinations in between.

Finally, York's big day, Bank Holiday Monday, May 31, 1982, arrived.

More than 2,000 pilgrims had spent the night on Knavesmire, the site of his visit. Thousands began to join them from the break of dawn onwards. Many had walked several miles after leaving their cars on Clifton airfield, even though dozens of park-and-ride services had been laid on.

Some of the early-birds took part in a special Mass that began at 7.30am. Meanwhile, 26,000 people arrived on special trains. They made their way to Knavesmire in a vast human column.

On the way, they could buy a whole range of official souvenirs from one of 30 stalls. Profits were earmarked to help offset the £1 million spent on the York visit.

In the event, however, £220,000-worth of stock was left unsold.

A well-oiled police operation kept York a virtual traffic-free zone.

The few city centre shopkeepers that had bothered to open waited forlornly for customers. The whole city, it seemed, was on the racecourse.

By the time His Holiness was due to arrive, some 210,000 people were gathered there. They were standing in 1,000-strong corrals, separated by crash barriers.

The Pope had spent the morning in Manchester. When his helicopter touched down on York turf, it was 2.08pm- some 23 minutes late.

He embraced the Archbishop of York, Dr Stuart Blanch, before climbing into the famed Pope-mobile to tour among the huge crowd.

Among that crowd were Kenneth Le Ray and his wife, Joyce, from Huntington.

The couple had arrived at about 6am and brought sandwiches and drinks in order to spend the whole day there.

They were just yards from the Pope when he rode by them. "I was told when I was at school that the Pope would come to Britain," Mrs Le Ray told the Evening Press that day.

"It has happened - and in my lifetime."

In his address to the York pilgrims, the Pope reaffirmed his belief in marriage and family life as the basis of society. He prayed for the families in Britain and Argentina "who bear the heavy weight of pain and sorrow because of the loss of loved ones in the South Atlantic".

After he left York, heading for Edinburgh, the many thousands of pilgrims faced long delays to their journeys home. But they did so with a joyful heart, knowing that they had been there when history was made.

The visit to York came four years after Karol Wojtyla, the Cardinal of Cracow, Poland, was named as the new Pope, just a month after the death of his predecessor, John Paul.

Cardinals deliberated for two days over a suitable successor. Then, on October 16, 1978, Cardinal Pericle Felici stepped onto the balcony of St Peter's Basilica to announce: "We have a new Pope."

The name was not familiar to the crowd gathered in St Peter's Square, but as Pope John Paul II, his face would soon be familiar to people around the globe.

At 58, he was the youngest Pope for over a century. He made the most of his comparative youth by travelling the world with a zeal never seen before.

Thankfully, for the people of York, that zeal brought him to their city.


:: Story first published on Saturday, April 2, 2005