Manchester

Three quarters of an hour before Mass at Manchester's Heaton Park on Monday morning, Pope John Paul II met the Chief Rabbi of the United Kingdom, Sir Immanuel Jakobovits at the Convent of the Poor Sisters of Nazareth in Manchester.

He then travelled to Heaton Park where he ordained twelve men to the priesthood in front of a crowd of more than 200,000 people.

During his sermon Pope John Paul had a message for the newly ordained:

“You must be men of God, his close friends. You must develop daily patterns of prayer, and penance must be a regular part of your life.”

Pope John Paul II ordains priests in Manchester in 1982

Pope Saint John Paul II celebrates Mass with priestly ordinations in Heaton Park, Manchester in 1982.