Pope John Paul II arrived in the U.S. on Monday, Oct. 1, 1979 — touching down in Boston, and stopping in New York, Philadelphia, and Des Moines before arriving in Chicago on Thursday, Oct. 4.

The liturgical ceremony began in St. Peter’s Basilica at 10:00 a.m., when Leo XIV, wearing a white cope and mitre, and carrying the pastoral cross of Paul VI, that John Paul II and Francis also ...