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First papal visit to a majority Orthodox country: 1999 trip by St. John Paul II to Romania

May 31, 2019
Ramona Nita | World Record Academy

Romania, that tradition names with the beautiful title of "Garden of Virgin Mary", I come to you in the name of Jesus Christ, Son of God and of the Holy Virgin Mary.

Pope John Paul II conducted, between May 7-9, for the first time, a visit to Romania, the first visit by a pontiff to a mainly Eastern Orthodox Christian country in almost 1-thousand years; the Pope's visit was part of his drive for reconciliation among the various Christian denominations as the new millennium approaches; it sets the world record for being the First papal visit to a majority Orthodox country, according to the World Record Academy.

BUCHAREST, Romania -- Pope John Paul II conducted, between May 7-9, for the first time, a visit to Romania, the first visit by a pontiff to a mainly Eastern Orthodox Christian country in almost 1-thousand years;the Pope's visit was part of his drive for reconciliation among the various Christian denominations as the new millennium approaches; it sets the world record for being the First papal visit to a majority Orthodox country , according to the World Record Academy.

"It is for the first time that Divine Providence offered me the possibility to make an apostolic journey to a country predominantly orthodox", said Pope John Paul II, thanking Patriarch Teoctist of the Romanian Orthodox Church, as the latter greeted him on the airport.

During his pontificate, Pope John Paul II conducted a great number of trips in different countries of the world and highly valued ecumenical dialogue between the different rites of the Christian religion and other religions.

He was also the first Pope to visit a synagogue and a mosque.

The visit of Pope John Paul II in Romania took place between May 7-9, 1999.

His Holiness Pope John Paul II uttered a speech in Romanian: "With great joy I come, today, to Romania, a nation dear to me and that I wished for a long time to visit. With great emotion I kissed the ground, grateful before anything to God almighty that, in His provident goodwill, allowed me to see this thought accomplished. (...) I trust that my visit will help heal the wounds produced in time between our Churches in the fifty years that passed and will open a up a new season of reciprocal collaboration full of trust (...)"

Pope John Paul II encouraged the Romanian people by saying: "Romania, bridge country between Orient and Occident, turning point between Central and Oriental Europe, Romania, that tradition names with the beautiful title of "Garden of Virgin Mary ", I come to you in the name of Jesus Christ, Son of God and of the Holy Virgin Mary.

"On the eve of a new millennium, build your future upon the hard rock of the Gospel. With the help of Christ, you will be the protagonist in a new period of enthusiasm and courage. You will be a prosperous nation, a land rich with goodness, a solidarity and peace-creating people. May God favor you and bless you always!"

On two occassions the Pope and Patriarch Teoctist, the leader of the Orthodox Church in Romania (in 1999), embraced each other, a symbolic gesture indicating the formerly strained relations between the two churches was close to being healed.

A pope has not set foot in a predominantly Orthodox Christian country since the Great Schism of 1054, when the Eastern church definitively split from Rome.

Thousands of people lined the roadway of the 11-kilometre (6-mile) journey from the airport, wave flags and cheering.

The visit became possible only after the Orthodox and Romania's Catholics agreed to set aside a dispute over ownership of thousands of Catholic churches seized by the communists in 1948 and transferred to Orthodox parishes.

Pope John Paul II passed away on April 2, 2005.
On May 1, 2011, Pope John Paul II was beatified by his successor Benedict XVI, and on April 27, 2014, Pope Francis declared him a saint in front of a crowd of hundreds of thousands of believers coming from all around the world.

On May 31st, 2019, Pope Francis began a three-day pilgrimage to Romania that in many ways is completing the 1999 trip by St. John Paul II that marked the first-ever papal visit to a majority Orthodox country.

Francis referred to that historic trip during his opening speech before Romanian government authorities, praising the progress the once-communist country has achieved since it was “liberated from a regime that oppressed civil and religious liberty.”

“This visit by Pope Francis is in continuity with the visit of John Paul II in 1999. That same atmosphere can be found today, because today Francis is welcomed by the same people. A people that can be defined with two key words: hospitality and welcome.” Father Teleanu Bogdan-Aurel, from the Press Office of the Romanian Orthodox Patriarchate, described to SIR the climate in the Orthodox world ahead of Pope Francis’ visit to Romania.

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