In 1964, Paul VI inaugurated the traveling papacy when he became the first pontiff to leave Italy since Pius VII was carted off to France at gunpoint by Napoleon Bonaparte’s soldiers in 1809. John Paul II made the papal tour not merely a pastoral visit, but an event of weighty political significance. In Poland, he galvanized his compatriots to rise up against their communist masters; in Cuba, he condemned human-rights abuses by the Castro regime.
He undertook peace-making efforts in conflict-torn African countries and made trips to Britain and Argentina in quick succession while those two countries were actually at war. Copyright ©2026 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8
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