BEHIND THE POPE'S HISTORIC VISIT TO AMERICA - Gene H Hogberg - December 1979

Gene H Hogberg

Millions of people were swept off their feet by the magnetic personality of John Paul II. After only one year in office the Polish pope is emerging as the moral leader of the hero-starved Western world. Where does he go from here? It was one of the most extraordinary weeks in American history. Rarely had any individual, visitor or native, commanded such crowds. Everywhere Pope John Paul II went-to Boston, New York City, Philadelphia, Des Moines, Chicago, Washington, D.C.-millions of people strained for fleeting glimpses of the man who captured the imagination of Catholics and non-Catholics alike. The pope's mere physical presence seemed to mesmerize the huge throngs. Often it took only the slightest gesture of his hands or the utterance of a quaintly mispronounced word to draw rounds of thunderous applause. The jam-packed seven-day affair also turned out to be the biggest media event in the nation's history. Coverage by the news media was phenomenal. - Information Supplied By: Herbert W Armstrong Library