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The Mass at Glasgow's Bellahouston Park on Tuesday was the emotional high point of the papal visit. On 175 well-groomed acres, more than 300,000 people gathered, a staggering number considering that the entire Scottish Catholic population totals 800,000. Families and groups of youths came with picnic baskets. To soccer-style chants and crescendos of applause, the Popemobile—a custom-made, bulletproof vehicle—rolled up and down aisles carrying the Pope high over the crowds. At Communion time the multitude adopted a respectful silence. By the time dusk had fallen, John Paul was being serenaded by the audience to the familiar strains of Auld Lang Syne. Michael Goodwillie, an unemployed young man who had waited through the night in the Glasgow park with his pregnant wife Mary, reflected on the unexpected crowd response. "He doesn't hate anyone. He just comes out and says what he believes. He believes in us, so we should believe in him. He has made us stronger in our faith already." Said Glasgow Youth Joyce Kilty: "He has a natural magnetism, especially for young people. Maybe it is because he gives us something to hope for. It's nice to catch a glimpse of him." Said another teenager: "Could it just be his wee smile?"
The mood of picnicking and celebration carried over into Wednesday as John Paul arrived in Cardiff, Wales. His final Mass of the tour drew a turnout of 100,000 at Pontcanna Fields, the largest Christian gathering the city had ever witnessed. The peacemaking theme remained vivid: "In every place where human blood is shed, and in the power of the blood of Christ, may we find peace, reconciliation and eternal life."
Although the peace theme captured the headlines of a war-conscious Britain, the long-run significance of the trip will probably be its effect on the fortunes of Christianity in Britain—and on the Vatican's future course on Christian ecumenism. The Pope's agenda reflected not the imperial hand of the Vatican conservative old guard, but the more cosmopolitan touch of Britain's Catholic hierarchy. All observers agreed that the Pope's visit was without doubt his most ecumenical tour. Two significant interchurch services took place in Canterbury and Liverpool, and there were several conferences with non-Catholic clergy, who received personal invitations from John Paul to continue the discussions later at the Vatican. "Next time in Rome," the Pope told them.
In Edinburgh, John Paul held two discussions with the Rt. Rev. John Mclntyre, the titular head (Moderator) of the Church of Scotland—the first time that a Pope had met Scotland's leading Protestant on Scottish soil. The meeting occurred in the shadow of the stern gaze of a statue of 16th century Calvinist Reformer John Knox, who once said, "The venom and malice of Satan reigneth in all Papists." Mclntyre seemed unintimidated by the setting: "If you are concerned at all for the unity of the church in Scotland, where we have a very bad record," he said, "it is a very significant event." The Pope's visit, Mclntyre added, would give Scots an entirely new opinion of "the character and nature of the papal office." John Paul nodded.