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October 2012

1986 Papal Visit

Introduction

On the 24th of November 1986 Pope John Paul II began his tour of Australia in Canberra where he held a Mass for around 85,000 people at the National Exhibition Centre (now EPIC: http://www.epic.act.gov.au/).  The ACT Government holds the following ten files documenting the preparations for this Papal visit: 

• 86/689: Bus Services for Papal Visit - November 1986
• 86/708: Transport Planning - Papal Visit
• 86/787: Papal Visit 1986
• 86/2623: Secretariat Branch - Papal Visit 1986
• 86/3005: Tourist Bureau - Papal Visit to Australia 1986
• 86/4863: Traffic and Transport Branch - Transport Planning - Papal Visit
• 86/6773: Budget Operations Branch - Financial Arrangements - Papal Visit
• 76/8057: Technical Services Branch, General Works Division, Papal Visits 1986 – Signs
• 86/9079: Legislation & Legal Policy Branch - Papal Mass - Determination of Bus Fares
• 86/9708: Public Transit Branch - Bus Services for Papal Visit - November 1986

These files cover preparing the National Exhibition Centre to host the Mass, organising ACTION bus services from all parts of Canberra to transport an expected 25,000 passengers and road closures to ensure the Pope remained on schedule.  What follows are just a handful of the folios found on these files.

Transport Preparations

Preparations began in January 1986 with a meeting of the Department of Territories John Turner and other involved parties with representatives from the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet.  The following pages from the file '86/689: Bus Services for Papal Visit - November 1986' documents this meeting.  

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This file also holds the minutes for the Papal Visit 1986 - Transport Sub-Committee.  Reading through these you can see how preparations for transport arrangements were fine-tuned leading up to the event:

• First Transport Sub-Committee Meeting - Papal Visit Nov. 1986 - Friday, 21 March 1986: ( PDF 1.09Mb)
• Papal Visit 1986 - Transport Sub-Committee - Second Meeting - Friday, 4 April 1986: ( PDF 1.87Mb)
• Papal Visit Transport Sub-Committee - Third Meeting - 11 June 1986: ( PDF 387Kb)
• Papal Visit Transport Sub-Committee - Fourth Meeting - 3 September 1986: ( PDF 257Kb)

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ACTION Bus Services

The file '86/9708: Public Transit Branch - Bus Services for Papal Visit - November 1986' has a photocopy of special Papal Mass Bus Services tickets:

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The file '86/689: Bus Services for Papal Visit - November 1986' has a copy of the Papal Mass - Special ACTION Bus Services memorandum and the List of Workshop Personnel for Papal Visit who were on call for any breakdowns:

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Final Preparations

As final preparations took place the Papal Visit Transport Working Group presented its report on the expected attendance at the mass.  Its estimate of about 80,000 was close to the 85,000 attendees reported by the media the following day.  The file '86/4863: Traffic and Transport Branch - Transport Planning - Papal Visit' contains this report as well as Department of Territories Media Statements notifying the public of temporary road closures and predicting a record breaking day for ACTION:

• Working Group Report to Transport Sub-Committee 7 October 1986: ( PDF 1.69Mb)

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Flyers & Tickets

From the same file we have the following promotional flyers, a sample ticket and a draft 'traffic arrangements' advertisement for the Canberra Times:

• Canberra Tourist Bureau - Canberra Australia's Showplace: ( PDF 338Kb)
• ACT Papal Visit Office - Pope John Paul II Canberra: ( PDF 363Kb)

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Click on this image for a larger view.

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Letters of Gratitude

The file '86/4863: Traffic and Transport Branch - Transport Planning - Papal Visit' also contains the following letters of gratitude:

Links to external sites

• Holy Cross Parish - Papal Alter: http://helensburghcatholic.org.au/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=112:the-papal-altar&catid=49:history&Itemid=101  
• National Library of Australia - Papal visit mass, Exhibition Ground, Canberra, 1986 [picture]: http://nla.gov.au/nla.pic-an24881548 
• National Museum of Australia - Papal Visit Collection: http://www.nma.gov.au/collections-search/results?search=adv&ref=coll&collname=Papal+Visit+Office+collection 
• Pope John Paul II - Canberra Mass ( PDF 20.4Kb):  http://www.cg.catholic.org.au/_uploads/rsfil/01454.pdf 
• Wikipedia – Pope John Paul II : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_John_Paul_II 

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