Pope’s Visit to the United States - Dave’s Midwestern Ohio Memories

A Series of Guest Blogs by an out-of-state Fish Report reader originally from this area about fond memories of growing up in Midwestern Ohio during the 50’s & 60’s.

Pope’s Visit to the United States

Pope John Paul II celebrates mass at the Pontiac Silverdome 

near Detroit in 1987 in front of 100,000 attendees

Pope Francis' visit to the US brought back memories of a long ago visit by a Pope to this country back in 1987. John Paul II came to Detroit and celebrated a mass at the Pontiac Silverdome, the home field of the Detroit Lions at the time. Thanks to a neighbor who was able to provide five tickets, my parents and in-laws traveled up from midwestern Ohio for the Mass. My wife joined them along with about 100,000 other faithful. Click on this link for more photos of the mass. I stayed at home to babysit our young son and to watch the mass on TV. Afterwards, my Mom, of deep religious belief, said attending the mass celebrated by the Pope and to see him in person was the most glorious event of her entire life. She even said at the time Pope John Paul II will be a saint someday, which occurred earlier this year along with her other favorite pope, John XXIII. To this day, my siblings still claim arranging for our parents to attend the Pope’s Silverdome Mass elevated me to “favorite son” status for life. And it didn’t hurt my standings with my in-laws either. (PS: See what the Pontiac Silverdome looks like now)