March 29, 1985: First WYDPope St. John Paul II had such a lifelong interest in anniversaries (and in jubilee years). George Weigel, in Witness to Hope, sights John Paul’s conviction that God’s action in history has sanctified time. For Christians, time is no mere chronology; time is the dramatic arena that God chose to enter for the salvation of the world. Anniversaries.. are occasions to bring the depth dimension of history to the surface of Christian consciousness. (Witness to Hope, p. 471)
I’d like to express to you my conviction that the point of Papal Artifacts’ remembrance of so many dates and anniversaries on this site is for the same reason Pope John Paul II expresses above: these events concerning our pontiffs, saints & blesseds and notable individuals indicate God’s actions in history. Time is sanctified in often dramatic fashion in the events of their lives. And John Paul believed there are no mere coincidences; God is present in all of these circumstances. So we will continue to honor those events by bringing them to you on their anniversaries or as they are happening. —-Father Richard Kunst.
World Youth Day began with John Paul II’s invitation to young people in 1984 to come to Rome for Palm Sunday.
More than 300,000 turned out for the celebration. The following year – 1985 – coincided with the United Nations International Year of Youth. On Palm Sunday that year, young Catholics came to Rome once again.
Saint John Paul II, Pray for Us
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- Bookmark from the 1940s Signed as John Paul II
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- Polish Silver Coin from 1983 with an Image of Pope John Paul II: A Zlotych
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- Easton Press Collectible Books with Signature of Pope John Paul II
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- The Site in St. Peter’s Square where Pope John Paul’s Attempted Assassination Occurred
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- John Paul II at World Youth Day in Denver, 1993
