1978
October 16 - Cardinal Karol Wojtyla is elected successor to Pope John Paul I, the 264th Pope of the Catholic Church and takes the name John Paul II.
October 17 - First Urbi et Orbi radio message of John Paul II.
October 22 - Solemn inauguration of his ministry as universal Pastor of the Church.
October 23 - John Paul II's historic embrace of Cardinal Wyszynski.
October 25 - First visit Castelgandolfo: visit to the parish church and papal villa.
October 29 - Visit to the Shrine of the Blessed Virgin Mary at Mentorella, Rome.
November 5 - Visit in Assisi to venerate the tomb of St Francis, patron of Italy, and to the Basilica of Santa Maria sopra Minerva to venerate the tomb of St Catherine, patroness of Italy.
November 12 - As Bishop of Rome, John Paul II takes possession of St John Lateran Basilica.
December 5 - First visit to the parishes in the diocese of Rome: St Francesco Saverio at Garbatella.

1979
January 24 - John Paul II accepts the request made by Argentina and Chile for the Holy See's mediation in solving the controversy between the two countries.
January 24 - John Paul II receives in audience the Soviet Foreign Minister, Andrei Gromyko.
January 25 - Pastoral visit Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic), Mexico for the Third General Conference of the Latin American Bishops and the Bahamas (January 25-February 1).
March 4 - First Encyclical letter Redemptor hominis - Jesus Christ the Redeemer of Man, published March 15.
June 2 - Pastoral visit in Poland (2-10 June).
June 2 - Historic homily of John Paul II at Victory Square in Warsaw: "It is not possible to understand the history of the Polish nation without Christ".
September 29 - Pastoral visit in Ireland, the UN and the United States of America (29 September 29-Octocber 8).
October 2 - John Paul II addresses the General Assembly of the UN in New York.
November 28 - Pastoral visit in Turkey (November 28-30).

1980
April 4 - Good Friday: John Paul II hears confessions of the faithful for the first time in St Peter's Basilica.
May 2 - Pastoral visit in Zaire, Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Ghana, Upper Volta and Ivory Coast (May 2-12).
May 16 - State visit by the President of Portugal, General Antonio Ramalho Eanes.
May 30 - Pastoral visit in France (May 30- June 2).
June 2 - John Paul II's address to Unesco in Paris.
June 21 - John Paul II receives in audience the President of the United States of America, Jimmy Carter.
June 30 - Pastoral visit in Brazil (June 30- July 12).
August 20 - For the first time John Paul II alludes to the events happening in Poland regarding Solidarnoshch.
September 28 - Pastoral visit to Subiaco and meeting with the European Bishops.
October 17 - State visit of HM Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain and of HRH Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.
November 15 - Pastoral visit in West Germany (November 15-19).
November 25 - Pastoral visit to Capodichino (Naples), Potenza, Balvano and Avellino, after the earthquake.
December 19 - State visit of President of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Cvijetin Mijatovic.

1981
January 15 - John Paul II receives in audience a delegation headed by Lech Walesa of the Polish Independent Syndicate Solidarnoshch.
February 8 - John Paul II meets with Rome's Chief Rabbi Elio Toaff during his pastoral visit to the parish of Saints Carlo e Biagio in Catinari.
February 16 - Pastoral visit in Pakistan, Philippines, Guam (US), Japan and Anchorage (US) (February 16-27).
May 13 - At 5.19 p.m. a young turk Mehmet Alì Agca makes an attempt on the Pope's life while he was circling St Peter's Square before his General Audience. Severely wounded, the Pope was operated on for six hours at Gemelli hospital.
May 17 - John Paul II recites the Angelus at Gemelli hospital: "Pray for the brother who shot me, whom I have sincerely forgiven".
May 31 - John Paul II creates a Council of Cardinals to study the organisational and economic problems of the Holy See.
June 3 - John Paul II returns to the Vatican after 22 days of recovery at Gemelli Hospital.
June 20 - John Paul II is newly hospitalised for a cytomegalovirus infection. On August 5 he undergoes a second operation. He returns to the Vatican on August 14 and from there goes to Castelgandolfo on August 16.
December 12 - John Paul II sends a delegation from the Pontifical Academy of Sciences to the Presidents of the US, USSR, Great Britain, France, and the UN, to present their scientific document on the consequences of an eventual use of nuclear arms in Europe and in the world.
December 13 - John Paul II invites prayers for the Polish nation, calling the situation a state of emergency.

1982
February 12 - Pastoral visit in Nigeria, Benin, Gabon and Equatorial Guinea (February 12-19).
April 7 - State visit of the President of Greece, Costantino Karamanlis.
May 12 - Pastoral visit in Portugal, one year after the assassination attempt on his life in St. Peter's Square (May 12-15).
May 13 - Before the statue of Our Lady of Fatima, John Paul II recites the Act of consecration and entrustment of the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
May 28 - Pastoral visit in Great Britain (May 28-June 2).
May 29 - Joint statement of John Paul II and the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Robert Runcie , at the end of the ecumenical celebration in the Anglican Canterbury Cathedral.
June 7 - John Paul II receives in audience the President of the United States of America, Ronald Reagan. They pledge to work for world peace and justice.
June 10 - Pastoral visit to Rio de Janeiro and in Argentina, in relation to the war between Argentina and Great Britain regarding the Falkland Islands/Malvinas (June 10-13).
June 15 - Pastoral visit in Genève.
June 15 - Speech by John Paul II at the 68th Session of the International Workers Conference in Geneva.
August 29 - Pastoral visit in the Republic of San Marino and Rimini.
September 15 - John Paul II receives in audience Yasser Arafat.
September 15 - Renewed appeal for peace in Lebanon after the murder of President-elect Bechir Gemayel.
October 10 - Canonisation of Fr Maximilian Kolbe. Present at the canonisation ceremony was Franciszek Gajownizek, the man for whom Fr Maximilian offered his life in the concentration camp at Auschwitz.
October 19 - Meeting with the President of Italy, Sandro Pertini at Castelporziano.
October 28 - Official visit of the President of the Federal Republic of Germany, Karl Carstens.
October 31 - Pastoral visit in Spain for the closure of the Fourth Centenary of the death of St Teresa of Ávila (October 31-November 9).
November 9 - Message to the peoples of Europe from the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela.
November 26 - John Paul II announces the Holy Year of Redemption from Lent 1983 to Easter 1984.

1983
February 2 - Second Consistory of John Paul II for the creation of 18 cardinals.
March 2 - Pastoral visit in Lisbon (Portugal) and Central America (Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Panama, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Belize and Haiti) (March 2-10).
March 25 - Opening of the Holy Year of the Redemption 1983 (March 25-April 22).
June 16 - Pastoral visit in Poland (June 16-23).
August 14 - Pastoral visit in Lourdes (August 14-15).
September 10 - Pastoral visit in Austria (September 10-13).
October 16 - In St Peter's Square, John Paul II together with the cardinals and bishops participating in the Synod of Bishops, repeats the Act of entrustment and consecration of the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, which had already been pronounced in Fatima on May 13, 1982.
November 5 - Letter for the 500th anniversary of the birth of Martin Luther.
December 11 - Meeting with the Evangelic-Lutheran community in Rome.
December 27 - Visit to the Rebibbia prison and meeting with Alì Agca, the Turk who made an attempt on the life of John Paul II on May 13, 1981.

1984
January 10 - Diplomatic relations between the Holy See and the United States of America.
February 18 - Agreement between the Holy See and the Italian Republic on the revision of the Lateran Concordat: new Concordat signed.
March 25 - Jubilee of Families. Before the statue of Our Lady of Fatima in St Peter's Square, John Paul II in spiritual union with all the bishops of the world repeats the Act of entrustment of mankind and all peoples to Mary Most Holy.
April 22 - Closing of the Holy Year of Redemption 1983-1984.
May 1 - Apostolic letter Les grands Mystères - on the problem of Lebanon.
May 2 - Pastoral visit in Korea, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Thailand (May 2-12).
May 21 - Official visit of the President of Italy, Sandro Pertini.
June 2 - Official visit of John Paul II to the President of Italy, Sandro Pertini (Quirinale, Rome).
June 12 - Pastoral visit in Switzerland (June 12-17).
July 16 - Visit to the massif of Adamello and meeting with the Italian President Sandro Pertini (July).
September 3 - Publication of the Instruction of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith on certain aspects of theology of liberation.
September 9 - Pastoral visit in Canada (September 9-20).
October 10 - Pastoral visit in Zaragoza (Spain), Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic) and San Juan (Puerto Rico) (October 10-13).
December 11 - Publication of the Post-Synodal Apostolic exhortation Reconciliatio and Poenitentia - on Reconciliation and Penance in the Mission of the Church Today (signed December 2).

1985
January 26 - Pastoral visit in Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru and Trinidad and Tobago (January 26-February 6).
February 19 - John Paul II receives in audience the Israeli Prime Minister, Simon Peres.
February 27 - John Paul II receives in audience the Foreign Minister of the USSR, Andrei Gromyko.
March 30 - International Youth Meeting in Rome (March 30-31).
April 11 - Pastoral visit to Loreto and meeting with Italian Bishops.
May 11 - Pastoral visit in The Netherlands, Luxembourg and Belgium (May 11-21).
May 25 - Third Consistory of John Paul II for the creation of 28 new Cardinals.
August 8 - Pastoral visit in Togo, Ivory Coast, Cameroon, Republic of Central Africa, Zaire, Kenya and Morocco (August 8-19).
September 8 - Pastoral visit in Kloten (Switzerland) and Liechtenstein.
October 4 - Official visit of President of Italy, Francesco Cossiga.
November 17 - Personal message of the Pope to Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbaciov for the Geneva summit.

1986
January 18 - Official visit of John Paul II to Italian President Francesco Cossiga.
January 31 - Pastoral visit in India (January 31-February 10).
February 19 - John Paul II receives in audience President of Lebanon Amin Gemayel.
March 6 - State visit of the Governor General of Canada, Jeanne Sauvé.
April 13 - John Paul II makes a visit to Rome's main Synagogue.
July 1 - Pastoral visit in Colombia and St Lucia (July 1-8).
October 4 - Pastoral visit in France (East-Central region) (October 4-7).
October 27 - John Paul II attends the First World Day of Prayer for Peace which he convoked in Assisi.
October 31 - Official visit of the President of the Republic of Cameroon, Paul Biya.
November 18 - Pastoral visit in Bangladesh, Singapore, Fiji Islands, New Zealand, Australia and Seychelles (18 November 18 - December 1).

1987
January 13 - John Paul II receives in audience the President of the Council of the People's Republic of Poland, Wojciech Jaruzelski.
March 31 - Pastoral visit in Uruguay, Chile and Argentina and celebration in Buenos Aires of the II World Youth Day (March 31-April 13).
April 30 - Pastoral visit in the Federal Republic of Germany (April 30-May 4).
June 6 - State visit of the President of the United States of America, Ronald Reagan.
June 6 - On the vigil of Pentecost: Solemn opening of the Marian Year (June 7-August 15).
June 8 - Pastoral visit in Poland (June 8-14).
June 25 - State visit of the President of the Federal Republic of Austria, Kurt Waldheim.
June 28 - Celebration of the 7th Centenary of the evangelisation of Lithuania.
July 8 - First visit of John Paul II to the Dolomites (Lorenzago di Cadore) in northern Italy for a period of rest (July 8-14).
September 10 - Pastoral visit in US and Fort Simpson (Canada) (September 10-21).
September 17 - San Francisco, US, the Holy Father meets with AIDS patients at Mission Dolores Basilica and embraces a little boy called Brendan.
December 3 - His Holiness Dimitrios , Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, visits John Paul II (December 3-7). Signing of joint declaration.
December 11 - State visit of the President of the Republic of Argentina, Raul Ricardo Alfonsin.

1988
February 14 - Message to the Ukrainian Catholics, Magnum Baptismi donum for the millennium of the Baptism of Kievan Rus.
March 3 - For the first time, the financial report of the Holy See (for the year 1986) is published.
May 7 - Pastoral visit in Uruguay, Bolivia, Paraguay and Lima (Peru) (May 7-19).
May 21 - Inauguration of the Dono di Maria shelter in the Vatican, entrusted to Mother Teresa's Missionary Sisters of Charity.
June 13 - Holy See delegation to Moscow led by Secretary of State Cardinal Casaroli for the celebrations of the Millennium of Kievan Rus.
June 18 - State visit of the President of the Philippines, Corazon C. Aquino.
June 23 - Pastoral visit in Austria (June 23-27).
July 10 - Solemn liturgy in the Byzantine-Ukrainian Rite in St Peter's Basilica for the Millennium of the Baptism of Kievan Rus.
August 15 - Solemn closing of the Marian Year in St Peter's Basilica.
September 10 - Pastoral visit in Zimbabwe, Botswana, Lesotho, Mozambique and Swaziland (September 10-20).
October 8 - Pastoral visit to the European Institutions of Strasbourg and to the Dioceses of Strasbourg, Metz and Nancy (October 8-11).
November 19 - State visit of the President of the Council of Ministers of the Italian Republic, Ciriaco De Mita.

1989
March 8 - Meeting of John Paul II and members of the Curia with the metropolitan archbishops of the United States of America on the theme: "Evangelisation in the context of the culture and society of the United States with particular emphasis on the role of the bishop as teacher of the faith" (March 8-11).
March 10 - Reorganisation of the pastoral government of the dioceses in Lithuania.
April 20 - State visit of the President of Ireland, Patrick J. Hillery.
April 28 - Pastoral visit in Madagascar, La Réunion, Zambia and Malawi (April 28-May 6).
May 27 - John Paul II receives in audience the President of the United States of America, George Bush.
June 1 - Pastoral visit in Norway, Iceland, Finland, Denmark and Sweden (1-10 June).
July 17 - Restoration of diplomatic relations between Poland and the Holy See.
August 15 - Apostolic exhortation Redemptoris Custos - on the Person and Mission of St Joseph.
August 15 - Angelus message in which the Pope reveals his wish to go personally to Lebanon as soon as possible.
August 19 - Pastoral visit in Santiago de Compostela for the Fourth World Youth Day and in Asturias (August 19-21).
August 27 - Apostolic letter on the Occasion of the 50th anniversary of the beginning of World War II.
September 7 - Appeal to the followers of Islam in favour of Lebanon.
September 7 - Apostolic letter to all Bishops of the Catholic Church on the situation in Lebanon. World Day of Prayer for Peace in Lebanon.
September 29 - Official visit of Archbishop of Canterbury and Primate of the Anglican Communion, Dr Robert Runcie (September 29-October 2).
October 2 - Joint statement of John Paul II and Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Robert Runcie.
October 6 - Pastoral visit in Seoul, Indonesia and Mauritius (October 6-10).
December 1 - State visit of the President of the USSR, Mikhail Gorbaciov.
December 18 - State visit of the President of Malta, Censu Tabone.
December 21 - New appointment of bishops in Czechoslovakia.

1990
January 25 - Pastoral visit in Cape Verde, Guinea Bissau, Mali, Burkina Faso and Chad (January 25-February 1, 1990).
March 15 - Exchange of official representatives at the level of the apostolic nuncio and special ambassador between the Holy See and the Soviet government.
April 21 - Pastoral visit in Czechoslovakia (April 21-22).
April 22 - In Velehrad, John Paul II announces a Special Assembly for Europe of the Synod of Bishops.
April 27 - State visit by the President of Portugal, Mario Soares.
May 6 - Pastoral visit in Mexico and Curaçao (May 6-14).
May 25 - Pastoral visit in Malta (May 25-27).
August 26 - During his Angelus message John Paul II makes an appeal for peace in the Persian Gulf, following the invasion of Kuwait by Iraq.
September 1 - Pastoral visit in Tanzania, Burundi, Rwanda and Yamoussoukro (September 1-10).
November 24 - Ad limina visit of Vietnamese bishops. For the first time all bishops are present.
December 1 - John Paul II accepts the resignation of the Cardinal Secretary of State Agostino Casaroli and appoints Archbishop Angelo Sodano Pro-Secretary of State.
December 25 - Papal appeal for peace in the Gulf with the Christmas message Urbi et Orbi.

1991
January 15 - Letters to the President of the United States, George Bush and to the President of Iraq, Saddam Hussein in an attempt to avert the Gulf War.
February 5 - State visit by President of the Polish Republic, Lech Walesa.
March 4 - Representatives of the episcopates from the countries directly implicated in the Gulf War meet in the Vatican (March 4-5).
March 8 - Second session of the Brazilian Episcopate and representatives of the Roman Curia (March 8-9).
April 4 - Fourth Plenary Assembly of the College of Cardinals on the theme "The Church facing the threat against human life and the challenge of the sects" (April 4-7).
April 8 - Meeting of the presidents of the Episcopal Conferences concerning the economic problems of the Holy See and the financial contribution of the bishops, according to the Code of Canon Law, Canon 1271 (April 8-9).
April 13 - Reorganisation of the Latin-Rite Catholic Church in the Soviet Republic of Belarus, Russia and Kazakistan.
April 22 - State visit by the President of the Republic of Chile, Patricio Aylwuin Azocar.
April 29 - Meeting of Swiss Bishops with the Holy Father and the Roman Curia (April 29-30).
May 3 - State visit by the King Karl Gustaf XVI of Sweden and Queen Silvia.
May 10 - Pastoral visit in Portugal (May 10-13).
June 1 - Pastoral visit in Poland (June 1-9).
June 28 - Fifth Consistory of John Paul II for the creation of 22 new Cardinals and the announcement of the 1979 appointment in pectore of Cardinal Ignatius Kung Pin-Mei.
August 13 - Pastoral visit in Poland, at Czestochowa for the Sixth World Youth Day and in Hungary (August 13-20).