Westminster Cathedral Mass
10.10am, Friday, 28 May 1982
Having cleared Gatwick Airport, Pope John Paul II took a special train thirty miles north to the capital to celebrate Mass at Westminster Cathedral. The focus of his first Mass in Britain was the Baptismal Rite.
During his homily the Holy Father said: "Today, for the first time in history, a Bishop of Rome sets foot on English soil. I am deeply moved at this thought. This fair land, once a distant outpost of the pagan world, has become, through the preaching of the Gospel, a beloved and gifted portion of Christ's vineyard.”
Peter Jennings remembers the Mass well. He was responsible for writing the official book to mark the Papal visit:
“I was in the gallery looking down over the sanctuary and was able to take a few pictures, which was terrific,” he recalls. “Pope John Paul was very much at ease with everything. He was doing the seven Sacraments and began with baptism and I think it was four people that were baptised in Westminster Cathedral that morning during the Mass.”
Click here to hear Peter Jennings on the Westminster Mass
At the end of the service Pope John Paul went to the West Door balcony of the Cathedral and blessed the cheering crowds in the piazza below.
Margaret Le Foe lived alongside the square and has strong memories of the night after the Mass:
“It was the most extraordinary feeling because everyone in Victoria was so happy. That night had been the most extraordinarily warm night and at about one o’clock in the morning I went onto my balcony and the whole piazza was crowded with people just milling about and talking to each other saying: ‘I’m not a Catholic but isn’t it lovely… oh he’s so gorgeous!’ And this sort of upsurge of lovely feelings for him was just fantastic.”
Click here to hear Margaret Le Foe’s reflections
Peter Jennings and Eamonn McCabe’s book The Pope in Britain sold over 55,000 copies and remains a beautifully crafted chronicle of the UK visit.
Peter remembers how difficult it was to produce a book in such a short space of time, but says he’s proud of it:
“I had the opportunity to present the book to Pope John Paul II in Rome at the end of his general audience,” he says. “He came over and must have spent ten minutes or so actually looking at the book.
“I thought I was just going to give it to him but he actually looked at most of the pages. I was busy trying to turn the pages over for him, and he was putting his hand up and pulling it back because he was looking at it so intently – that was a lovely moment.”
Click here to listen to Peter Jennings discussing the book: The Pope in Britain
Cardinal Cormac Murphy O’Connor, Archbishop of Westminster
 Twenty-five years ago, Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor was the Rt Revd Murphy-O’Connor, Bishop of Arundel and Brighton – responsible for greeting Pope John Paul II at Gatwick Airport. Of all the events of the six-day visit, he remembers the Westminster Mass with particular affection:
“After arriving in London, the Holy Father celebrated Mass with all the bishops of England and Wales. This was deeply significant for me because it was an example of the kind of unity that there is between the Pope and the bishops – the bishops always in communion with the Pope, and the Pope with the bishops.”
Click here to listen to Cardinal Cormac’s overview of the 1982 visit
The Cardinal also reflects on the significance of Pope John Paul II’s visit:
“I think the Catholics of this country felt enormously proud, not so much proud to be Catholics – although that was true – but also proud to be part of a church not afraid to hold its head high with its priests, with its bishops, Pope, and lay people from all over the country and every kind celebrating together.
“It was an exhibition to every country that the Catholic Church comprises every part of the community of this country, and that we are genuinely part of the Christian witness and life of England and Wales.”
Click here to listen to Cardinal Cormac on the historic importance of the visit
Not long after Pope John Paul II had returned to Vatican City after a hugely successful trip around the British Isles, Cardinal Cormac spoke to a brother cardinal in Rome and got some interesting feedback on the ’82 visit:
“I remember when I went out to Rome sometime later and met a cardinal very close to the Pope. He said to me that he had visited the Pope the day after he had arrived back, and he said the Pope had said to him: ‘Eminence, you know that visit to Great Britain was the best of all my visits.’ He was obviously very pleased with it himself.”
Click here to listen to Cardinal Cormac on the feedback from Rome
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