CHICAGO — The Windy City has never been the same since October 1979, when Pope John Paul II visited, a year into his pontificate.

“There has been an immense pride in this city ever since,” explained Rebecca Hartman, associate archivist at the Museum of the Archdiocese of Chicago. “We have the largest Polish population of any city outside of Warsaw, and that visit was a moment in time that will never be forgotten.”

To commemorate the visit — and the 25th anniversary of John Paul's election on Oct. 16, 1978 — the Archdiocese of Chicago will devote three rooms of its museum to a Pope John Paul II exhibit beginning Oct. 9 and running through November.

Chicago, however, is far from alone in celebrating the silver anniversary of John Paul's pontificate. Throughout the United States, the anniversary is being marked with book-launch parties, museum exhibits, pilgrimages to Rome, special issues of diocesan newspapers and special liturgical events.

The celebration will be worldwide, of course. In Rome, anniversary events will conclude with the beatification of Mother Teresa of Calcutta on Oct. 19. That's also World Mission Sunday, and the Pope and the founder of the Missionaries of Charity, who were friends, shared a passion for mission and service to the poor.

An international anniversary concert will celebrate the Pope's jubilee Oct. 19 in Gdansk, Poland, birthplace of the solidarity labor union once banned by the former Soviet Union. The concert will include more than 500 singers from five continents, including the choir of St. Eulalia Church in Winchester, Mass. The concert will also feature the Baltic Symphony Orchestra and showcase an African-style Mass from Kenya and original compositions from the United States, Poland and Canada. U.S. celebrations began in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 10, when the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops introduced two books at a reception: a coffee-table volume titled John Paul II: A Light for the World and The Poetry of John Paul II — Roman Triptych: Meditations.

Leaders Gather

In New York, the Holy See Mission to the United Nations will host a symposium Oct. 7 titled “Peace on Earth” in conjunction with the Pope's anniversary and to commemorate the 40th anniversary of Pope John XXIII's encyclical Pacem in Terris (Peace on Earth).

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan plans to participate in the symposium along with Archbishop Celestino Migliore, the Holy See's permanent observer to the United Nations, according to Olivetta Danese, Holy See mission attaché.

Other dignitaries include Julian Hunte of St. Lucia, president of the 58th session of the U.N. General Assembly; Archbishop Renato Martino, president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace and former permanent observer to the United Nations; Archbishop Jean-Louis Tauran, Vatican secretary for relations with states; and Cardinal Edward Egan, archbishop of New York.

Just a few blocks up First Avenue, Cardinal Egan on Oct. 6 will host the national unveiling of John Paul II: A Light for the World during a reception at the headquarters of the archdiocese.

Civic leaders from throughout New York have been invited to the reception as well as Archbishops Martino, Tauran, Migliore and several other Catholic leaders in the New York area, said Joseph Zwilling, Cardinal Egan's spokesman.

“The audience will know the magnificence of Pope John Paul II's pontificate,” Zwilling said, adding that the book John Paul II: A Light in the World does a good job of capturing the significance of the Pope's 25-year reign.

Back in Chicago, two exhibit halls of the archdiocese museum will feature 25 pictures of the Pope provided by Reuters news service that have never been shown in the United States. The other exhibit room will be devoted entirely to photos and memorabilia from the 1978 papal visit to the city.

“This Pope's contact with Chicago has been outstanding,” said James Dwyer, director of the office of communications for the Archdiocese of Chicago.

Museum archivist Hartman was only 4 years old when the Pope visited Chicago. Like other Chicagoans her age, Hartman has grown up hearing stories about the visit. Through stories and research, Hartman knows that hundreds of thousands of Chicago residents lined the streets — despite cold, windy conditions — trying to catch a glimpse of the Pope's motorcade as it made its way through the city.

She's grown up knowing how close John Paul was with Cardinal John Cody, the archbishop of Chicago at the time of the Pope's visit. Cardinal Cody, as a portion of the visit exhibit will explain, was a friend of Cardinal Karol Wojtyla many years before he became Pope John Paul II.

“We've uncovered all sorts of documentation about the Pope's visit,” Hartman said of the exhibits she is helping to prepare. “There were ‘sellout’ crowds at every event pertaining to his visit.”

Other events commemorating the Pope's 25th anniversary include:

• Cardinal Theodore McCarrick of Washington, D.C., will lead a pilgrimage of 260 people to Rome on Oct. 12-20. Cardinal McCarrick will also celebrate Mass at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception on Oct. 26 at noon.

• Cleveland Bishop Anthony Pilla will celebrate Mass on Oct. 22 at St. John's Cathedral.

• The Diocese of Youngstown, Ohio — which this year celebrates it 16th anniversary — will close its anniversary celebrations Oct. 16 with a Mass marking both the diocese's anniversary and the Pope's jubilee.

Wayne Laugesen is based in Boulder, Colorado.