Pope John Paul II visited Australia in 1986, who becomes only the second Pope to visit Australia after Pope Paul VI's 1970 tour. On that time he was 66 years old, and had visited every state and territory of Australia from 24 November to 1 December.
In the six and a half days visits, 66 years old Pope traveled 11,360 km and attended 38 functions. His arrival attracted a large crowd of people around the nation, including more than 200,000 at an open air Mass at Sydney’s Randwick Racecourse.
When he returned as Pope in 1986 he said "To all Australians, people of undoubted good will, I come as a friend: to urge you to pursue in your lives all those values worthy of the human person; to encourage you to be open-hearted, generous to the unfortunate and caring towards those who are pushed to the margins of life." Before that, he visited Australia once in 1973 as a Cardinal, to attend the 40th International Eucharistic Congress in Melbourne.
According to Melbourne journalist Geoff Easdown wrote of the Pope’s personal impact on believers and non-believers alike. He said "No-one who traveled on that tour could doubt the genuineness of this man's love for his 'brothers and sisters in Christ'. If the tour's success is measured in the smiles that this man brought to the faces of ordinary Australians, then the Pope's visit achieved a great deal."
John Paul II, aged 74, visited Australia on 19 January 1995. He beatifies Mother Mary Mackillop and encouraged her to become the first Australian saint. In July 2002, John Paul II received Prime Minister John Howard in a 10 minutes private audience in Papal Library. They have discussed a range of issues, including kangaroos and reminisce about the Pope’s visits to Australia.
In October 2002, Pope Paul II denounced as "cruel and misguided" the Bali terrorist bombing in which 190 people died, including many of Australian. In January 2003, he sent a message of condolence to those who lost their lives and their homes in the Canberra bushfires. In March 2004, he received Australia’s Bishops during their Ad Limina visit.