10 May 1984

Pope makes inaugural visit

Unable to control their emotion, 1,000 people ignored security measures to mob Pope John Paul II as he was about to leave the National Stadium, where he led Mass for 45,000 Thai Catholics. Smiling, he tried to touch as many people as possible before security men separated him from the crowd.

Making the first visit to Thailand by a head of the Catholic Church, the pope had an audience with the King and Queen, visited Phanat Nikhom refugee camp, ordained 23 Thai priests and celebrated another Mass attended by 40,000 Catholics at St Joseph’s College in Nakhon Pathom during his two-day stay.

In an emotional speech at a Government House reception, he criticised communist Indochina, describing the persecutions that caused refugees to leave their homelands and risk their lives as ‘repugnant’.

10 May 1984

Pope makes inaugural visit

Unable to control their emotion, 1,000 people ignored security measures to mob Pope John Paul II as he was about to leave the National Stadium, where he led Mass for 45,000 Thai Catholics. Smiling, he tried to touch as many people as possible before security men separated him from the crowd.

Making the first visit to Thailand by a head of the Catholic Church, the pope had an audience with the King and Queen, visited Phanat Nikhom refugee camp, ordained 23 Thai priests and celebrated another Mass attended by 40,000 Catholics at St Joseph’s College in Nakhon Pathom during his two-day stay.

In an emotional speech at a Government House reception, he criticised communist Indochina, describing the persecutions that caused refugees to leave their homelands and risk their lives as ‘repugnant’.