The Basilica’s side door
An unforgettable visit
Few things are so fondly remembered in Alba de Tormes’ recent history as the visit of the Pope John Paul II on the 1st of November, 1982. John Paul II knew the stories of Saint Teresa and Saint John of the Cross very well, due both to his close relationship with the Carmelite Order and to the fact that he made Saint John the subject of his doctoral thesis. Also, as it happened, his election as Pope took place on the day after that of Saint Teresa’s. In any case, he is the Pope that referred to Saint Teresa the most.
Another circumstantial fact was that he had to delay his trip to Spain due to the attack he suffered in Saint Peter’s square on the 3rd of June, 1981. The trip would finally take place by the end of the 400th anniversary of the death of Saint Teresa, devoting a whole day to the Saint, when he visited, in the same journey, the towns of Ávila and Alba de Tormes. It was the first time that a ruling Pope (John XXIII and Benedict XV did the same before being elected popes) visited Alba de Tormes, with two solemn moments attended by a large number of pilgrims from Spain and Portugal.
The first of the events took place on an esplanade beside the San Leonardo convent. Then, he went to the Anunciación church, where he visited the Saint’s relics and the convent building. It was then that something happened, which would become a popular story about this visit: the Pope was momentarily lost in the convent, although what he really did was lose his retinue to have a moment to pray on his own in the cell where the Saint had died.