Pope John Paul II says mass in Grant Park

In Chicago, city and archdiocesan officials had a more earthly concern: whether the roof of an underground parking garage would collapse under the weight of viewers when an estimated 1.5 million people crowd Grant Park for the Pope's Mass. To show that the roof was safe, an engineering firm piled 430 tons of cinder blocks on it last week.

The man previously known as Cardinal Karol Wojtyla had been in Chicago before, most recently in 1976, when he had visited a Northwest Side church as a little-known Polish cardinal. But by the fall of 1979, he had become John Paul II, the first Polish pope in history, the 264th successor to the Apostle Peter, and head of the world's 700 million Roman Catholics. His visit this time would make him only the second pope to visit the United States and the first ever to come to Chicago.

The city held a double attraction as a stop on his first American tour, made less than a year after he became pope. With 2.4 million Catholics, the Chicago archdiocese was the largest in the country at the time. And, with some 500,000 residents of Polish ancestry, after Warsaw it was home to the second largest Polish community in the world. His stay in Chicago would last all of 40 hours, but it became one of those unique events that brought the city together, regardless of race, ethnicity or belief.

Large, joyful crowds greeted him wherever he went, from his arrival at O'Hare International Airport on the evening of Oct. 4 to his departure on the morning of the 6th.His schedule included an address to 350 American bishops at Quigley Preparatory Seminary South, where he said the Church under his leadership would continue to oppose abortion, extramarital sex, homosexuality and divorce.

Then he traveled to Grant Park for the largest mass ever celebrated in Chicago. "The skyscrapers of Chicago's Loop resembled cathedral spires as they soared over the crowd," reported the Tribune, which described the gathering of an estimated 200,000 people as "festive yet solemn, happy but devout." Many wore ethnic clothes, and worshipers of all ages, races and even religions came to see the pontiff. In his homily, John Paul II said, "Looking at you, I see people who have thrown their destinies together and now write a common history. . . . This is the way America was conceived; this is what she was c...

In October 1979, John Paul II became the first pope ever to visit Chicago, drawing a crowd of 1.2 million to Grant Park and bringing a rarely-seen spirit of unity across the city.

It was not the first time the man once known as Cardinal Karol Józef Wojtyła visited Chicago. He had most recently been to a Northwest Side church in his role as a Polish cardinal in 1976, the Chicago Tribune reported.

But two years later, Karol Józef Wojtyła became Pope John Paul II, and on Oct. 4 and 5, 1979, he drew warm and exuberant crowds at his every stop when he came to Chicago. And for the mere 40 hours in which he was in the city, he brought millions of Chicagoans together, just briefly setting aside their beliefs.

The morning after he arrived, the pope's first stop was in Chicago's Latino community, at the Providence of God Church, at 717 W. 18th St. in the Pilsen neighborhood. Parishioners said it was an act of God that brought the Holy Father to Pilsen, and many of them spent the night under a chilly Dan Ryan overpass, awaiting the arrival of el Papa Juan Pablo.

Even though Pope John Paul arrived half an hour late, it was to a tumultuous welcome. He addressed the Mexican-American audience in both English and Spanish, praising the Campaign for Human Development – the Church's anti-poverty program – and calling for a strengthening of faith among the poor, the elderly and the sick. The parishioners then presented the pope with flowers and a scroll expressing their concern over the plight of undocumented workers.

Within 15 minutes, the visit was over. After blessing the crowd, the pope was off again. But he left behind a memory that was destined to endure.

"I was so excited. I don't know who was more excited – myself or the children – but it was just such a beautiful experience," said Sister Dolorine Lopez. "This is something I'll never, never forget."

Later, Pope John Paul celebrated a mass in Polish in the Brighton Park neighborhood, where he received a w...