On his first trip to Poland in 1979, Pope John Paul II visited the shrine of Our Lady of Czestochowa.  He said, “The call of a son of Poland to the Cathedral of St. Peter contains an evident and strong link with this holy place, with this Shrine of great hope:  Totus tuus (“I am all yours”), I had whispered in prayer so many times before this Image” (June 4, 1979).

Located in southern Poland, Czestochowa was the location of the 1991 global WYD gathering – the first major world event after the fall of the Iron Curtain, and which also marked the first time youth from Eastern European countries were able to set foot in the Western half.