Pope John Paul II Park Reservation

State park of Massachusetts, United States

Pope John Paul II Park Reservation

Location in MassachusettsShow map of MassachusettsPope John Paul II Park Reservation (the United States)Show map of the United States
Location	Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts, United States
Coordinates	42°16′47″N 71°2′42″W / 42.27972°N 71.04500°W / 42.27972; -71.04500
Area	66 acres (27 ha)
Established	2001
Governing body	Department of Conservation and Recreation
Website	Pope John Paul II Park Reservation

Pope John Paul II Park Reservation, officially the Saint Pope John Paul II Park, and also known as Pope Park, is a 66-acre (27 ha) Massachusetts state park bordering the Neponset River in the Dorchester section of Boston. The park was reclaimed from the former site of a landfill and the Neponset Drive-In as part of the Lower Neponset River Master Plan and the development of the Neponset River Reservation. The park is managed by the Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR).

DCR has restored a salt marsh area and planted native trees and shrubs. The area now attracts an increased variety of birds to the habitat, including snowy egrets and great blue herons.

Activities and amenities

Trails: The park includes a number of trails for walking, hiking and running, including the Lower Neponset River Trail.
The park offers bird watching, fishing catch and release in some parts of the park, open space fields for soccer, picnicking, restrooms, and playgrounds, and it is home to many road races.

History

The park received funding and work began in 1998, following several years of delays. It was constructed on the sites of a former drive-in theater (the Neponset Drive-in Theater) and an adjacent landfill (the Hallet Street dump) purchased in 1984 and 1973, respectively, by the Massachusetts Metropolitan District Commission (now the Department of Conservation and Recreation). It was named in honor of the visit by Pope John Paul II to Boston in 1979, in which the Pope celebrated his first Mass in the United States. The park was dedicated in 2000 by then Massachusetts Governor Paul Cellucci, and opened to the public in 2001. Following the canonization of Pope John Paul II, the park was officially redesignated as the "Saint Pope John Paul II Park", in a bill signed by Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker in 2019.

References

^ "Bill H.3687: An Act redesignating the Pope John Paul II Park located in the Dorchester section of the city of Boston as the Saint Pope John Paul II Park". Massachusetts State Legislature. January 1, 2019. Retrieved July 6, 2023.
"Neponset River Reservation". MassParks. Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs. Retrieved September 9, 2013.
^ "Pope John Paul II Park Reservation". MassParks. Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs. Retrieved September 9, 2013.
"Lower Neponset River Trail". MassParks. Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs. Retrieved September 9, 2013.
Dodds, Paisley (December 6, 1998). "Site of former drive-in being transformed into park". The Associated Press State & Local Wire. Retrieved July 6, 2023.</name>
Sears, Robert (May 6, 2002). "Divine plan for John Paul II Park". The Patriot Ledger. Quincy, MA. Retrieved July 6, 2023.
Murphy, Bill (June 7, 2005). "Harris County names park after pope". The Houston Chronicle. Houston, TX. Retrieved July 6, 2023.
Brown, Steve (October 1, 2009). "Remembering A Different Boston, 30 Years After Pope's Historic Visit". WBUR. Boston, MA. Retrieved July 6, 2023.
"Cellucci dedicates new park in Dorchester". The Patriot Ledger. Quincy, MA. June 17, 2000. Retrieved July 6, 2023.

External links

Pope John Paul II Park Reservation Department of Conservation and Recreation
Neponset River Greenway Map Department of Conservation and Recreation

Protected areas of Massachusetts

Federal

National Historical Parks	Adams Blackstone River Valley Boston Lowell Minute Man New Bedford Whaling
National Historic Sites	Boston African American Frederick Law Olmsted John Fitzgerald Kennedy Longfellow House–Washington's Headquarters Salem Maritime Saugus Iron Works Springfield Armory
Other National Park Service units	Appalachian National Scenic Trail Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area Cape Cod National Seashore
National Wildlife Refuges	Assabet River Great Meadows Mashpee Massasoit Monomoy Nantucket Nomans Land Oxbow Parker River Silvio O. Conte Thacher Island
Wild and Scenic Rivers	Assabet Concord Sudbury Taunton Westfield
Other protected areas	Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary Waquoit Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve West Hill Dam (USACE)

State parks

Parks	Alewife Brook Ames Nowell Ashland Bash Bish Falls Blackstone River and Canal Heritage Borderland Boston Harbor Islands Bradley Palmer C. M. Gardner Callahan Castle Island State Park Chicopee Memorial City Square Clarksburg Cochituate Connecticut River Greenway Demarest Lloyd Dighton Rock Dunn Ellisville Harbor Fall River Heritage Gardner Heritage Governor Thomas Dudley Great Brook Farm Greycourt Halibut Point Hampton Ponds Holyoke Heritage Hopkinton Lake Lorraine Lake Wyola Lawrence Heritage Lowell Heritage Lynn Heritage Massasoit Maudslay Moore Mount Holyoke Range Natural Bridge Nickerson Pearl Hill Pilgrim Quinsigamond Robinson Roxbury Heritage Rutland Skinner South Cape Beach Wahconah Falls Webb Memorial Wells Western Gateway Heritage Whitehall Wompatuck
Reservations	Beaver Brook Belle Isle Marsh Blue Hills Breakheart Charles River Chestnut Hill Cutler Dorchester Shores Elm Bank Fort Phoenix Hammond Pond Hemlock Gorge Horseneck Beach Jug End Lynn Shore Middlesex Fells Mount Everett Mount Greylock Mount Sugarloaf Mount Tom Myles Standish Mystic River Nahant Beach Nantasket Beach Nasketucket Bay Neponset River Pope John Paul II Purgatory Chasm Quincy Quarries Quincy Shore Revere Beach Rumney Marsh Salisbury Beach Sandy Point Scusset Beach Stony Brook Upper Charles River Wachusett Mountain Walden Pond West Island Weymouth Wilson Mountain
Other	Appalachian Trail Ashuwillticook Rail Trail Cape Cod Rail Trail Fort Revere Lake Dennison Recreation Area Lower Neponset River Trail Mass Central Rail Trail—Wayside Nashua River Rail Trail Norwottuck Branch Rail Trail Quabbin Reservoir Southwest Corridor Park Squantum Point Park Streeter Point Recreation Area Sudbury Reservoir Wachusett Reservoir Ware River Watershed Area

State forests

Wildlife management areas

Wildlife
management areas

Wildlife
sanctuaries

The Nature Conservancy
Black Pond Bog Boat Meadow Francis Newhall Woods Grassy Pond Greene Swamp Halfway Pond Island Hawley Bog Hockomock Swamp Hoft Farm Homer-Watcha Katama Plains McElwain-Olsen Miacomet Moors Reed Brook Roger and Virginia Drury Sandy Neck David H. Smith Preserve and Fire Trail Stacy Mountain Tatkon

Trustees of Reservations

Audubon Society wildlife sanctuaries

Other
Concord Land Conservation Trust Harvard Forest Lincoln Land Conservation Trust Lloyd Center for the Environment Lynn Woods Reservation Norcross Wildlife Sanctuary Old Harbor Wildlife Refuge

Category
Boston
Emerald Necklace
Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs
Commons

v t e Metropolitan Park System of Greater Boston
Coastal reservations	Belle Isle Marsh Boston Harbor Islands Castle Island Dorchester Shores Fort Revere Lynn Shore Nahant Beach Nantasket Beach Quincy Shore Revere Beach Rumney Marsh Webb Memorial Weymouth Back River
River reservations	Alewife Brook Charles River Chestnut Hill Cutler Elm Bank Hemlock Gorge Mystic River Neponset River Pope John Paul II Squantum Point Park Upper Charles River
Woodland reservations	Beaver Brook Blue Hills Breakheart Hammond Pond Middlesex Fells Quincy Quarries Southwest Corridor Stony Brook Wilson Mountain
Heritage state parks	Lynn Roxbury
Parkways and roads	Alewife Brook Arborway Blue Hills Blue Hills Reservation Charles River Reservation Day Boulevard Fellsway Fellsway East Fellsway West Fenway Fresh Pond Furnace Brook Hamond Pond Hull Shore Drive Jamaicaway Lynn Fells Lynnway Memorial Drive Morrissey Boulevard Mystic Valley Nahant Beach Boulevard Nantasket Avenue Park Drive Quincy Shore Drive Revere Beach Riverway Soldiers Field Road Stony Brook Storrow Drive Truman VFW West Roxbury Winthrop Winthrop Shore Drive
Department of Conservation and Recreation Greater Boston List of Massachusetts State Parks

Pope John Paul II

Born Karol Józef Wojtyła, 18 May 1920 – 2 April 2005
- Pope (1978–2005)
- Archbishop of Kraków (1963–1978)

Timeline	Emilia Wojtyła (mother) Karol Wojtyła (father) Early life Papal conclave Assassination attempt Death and funeral dignitaries Beatification and canonization	Coat of arms Pope John Paul II
Acts as pope	Apologies Cardinals created People venerated People beatified Saints canonized Papal mediation in the Beagle conflict Pastoral visits Ireland Nicaragua United Kingdom World Day of the Sick World Youth Day
Relations	Eastern Orthodox Church Judaism
Other topics	Abbà Pater Criticism Family home (historic house) Health John Paul II Foundation Monuments Totus tuus

Apostolic constitutions	Sacrae disciplinae leges Pastor bonus Ex corde Ecclesiae Fidei depositum Universi Dominici gregis
Apostolic exhortations	Catechesi tradendae Familiaris consortio Redemptionis Donum Reconciliatio et paenitentia Christifideles laici Redemptoris custos Pastores dabo vobis Ecclesia in Africa Vita consecrata Une espérance nouvelle pour le Liban Ecclesia in America Ecclesia in Asia Ecclesia in Oceania Ecclesia in Europa Pastores gregis
Ecclesiastical letters	Dominicae cenae Salvifici doloris Mulieris dignitatem Ordinatio sacerdotalis Tertio millennio adveniente Letter to Women Ad tuendam fidem Novo millennio ineunte Misericordia Dei Rosarium Virginis Mariae The Rapid Development
Encyclicals	Redemptor hominis Dives in misericordia Laborem exercens Slavorum Apostoli Dominum et vivificantem Redemptoris Mater Sollicitudo rei socialis Redemptoris missio Centesimus annus Veritatis splendor Evangelium vitae Ut unum sint Fides et ratio Ecclesia de Eucharistia
Books	Love and Responsibility Crossing the Threshold of Hope Memory and Identity
Other writings	The Jeweler's Shop Theology of the Body "Roman Triptych" Testament
Documents endorsed	Catechism of the Catholic Church Quattuor abhinc annos We Remember: A Reflection on the Shoah Dominus Iesus
Related	Papal Concert to Commemorate the Shoah Political views Scriptural Way of the Cross

Secondary schools

United States	Huntsville, AL Boca Raton, FL Tallahassee, FL Slidell, LA Hyannis, MA Greenville, NC Royersford, PA Hendersonville, TN Corpus Christi, TX Plano, TX Schertz, TX Dumfries, VA Lacey, WA
Other countries	Australia: Sydney Canada: London Canada: Toronto New Zealand: Greymouth New Zealand: Rotorua Poland: Tarnów

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