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Thirty years ago this month, the biggest story sweeping New England wasn't the Red Sox (no playoffs that year), the Patriots (still six years from their first Super Bowl) or health care (the neverending story).

It was a visit to Boston by a Polish man wearing a red cape and hat.

On Oct. 1, 1979, an estimated 400,000 people braved a downpour to witness Pope John Paul II celebrate Mass on the Boston Common, one of the largest events in the city's history. A plaque still marks the spot where the pontiff blessed the crowd. Tens of thousands cheered for John Paul during a motorcade through the city.

It remains the only papal visit to Boston. The city's strong Roman Catholic heritage may have contributed to John Paul's decision to make Boston the initial stop on a six-city U.S. tour, his first as pope. He addressed the United Nations the following day, and became the first pope to visit the White House.

Pope John Paul II was, in a way, a celebrity as much as a religious figure. He was the first non-Italian pope in centuries. He was younger than his predecessors, and his vigor seemed to symbolize a more energetic church. Heck, he skied. A look back at what I recall was a HUGE event (I had just gotten out of college in Boston) shows just how much the world - in particular, the world of Roman Catholicism - has changed in those three decades.

The leaders of The Sun Chronicle clearly thought it was a big deal. Not only did they send their best young reporter and photographer - fellows named Mark Flanagan and Tom Maguire, respectively, names you'll still see on the newspaper's staff - but they used the pope's visit to test one of New England's pioneering color photo systems for newspapers. While we take color photos and instant news for granted today, I imagine there were a lot of meetings to accommodate the dozens of photos that were published.

The faithful filled trains leaving the downtown Attleboro depot that day, and Flanagan went along for the ride. The genuine enthusiasm exuded by the pilgrims is interesting.

"Do you think we'll see him?" one woman asked Flanagan. "I doubt it," she said, answering her own question. "It's enough just to be there."

"This is like a once-in-a-lifetime thing," said a North Attleboro High School freshman, taking a day out of school.

"You can see the pope on TV anytime," a Wheaton College student said. "We may not even see him, but it doesn't matter. Being here is what's important."

Flanagan's colorful prose captures the excitement of the day.

"Hundreds of area residents, from pre-schoolers to senior citizens, made the journey," Flanagan wrote. "They took chartered school buses, trains, their own cars. Some even hitchhiked."

"Those who arrived early met an atmosphere of autumn picnic and medieval fair," he continued. "Thousands of the devoted had spread their blankets in places with a good view of the simple majesty of the white platform erected specially for the Mass.

"Mixing with them were the daily denizens of the common - students, street musicians, winos, jugglers. Hawkers abounded, selling souvenirs of the pope's visit. It was an incongruous sight. While the Friars Club of Providence College led an impromptu hymn-song, a few feet away a young man yelled, 'Getcha pope souvenirs he-ah.' "T-shirts, medallions, bumper stickers - 'I Saw the Pope in Mass.' - all were on sale."

Flanagan later described the moment everyone waited for.

"A fleet of Boston police motorcycles rounds the corner from Tremont Street to Charles Street and in moments the children - they're always the first to see - are chirping, 'There he is, there he is.'

"It lasts but a few seconds. The simple man - for this view, he is dressed all in red - drives by in a speeding limousine, waving to the throng from its sunroof."

What's striking about the coverage is the complete lack of cynicism about the Roman Catholic Church.

Sadly, that's something you'd never see today - especially in Boston, the epicenter of America's clergy abuse scandal. The church's hard line on moral issues such as abortion and same-sex marriage seem appallingly at odds with the hierarchy's decision to cover up its priests' sex crimes against children.

No doubt if Pope Benedict were to visit Boston today, there would be protests. Media reports would reflect the anger felt by some of the spectators. Would there even by a limo ride down Tremont Street? An open-air Mass?

That's too bad because I believe Catholics still really want to cling to their faith, want to believe like they did in 1979. But they have been stung hard by the scandal.

Time still has not healed those wounds.

MIKE KIRBY is editor of The Sun Chronicle. He can be reached at 508-236-0344 or at mkirby@thesunchronicle.com.