The World - News from July 8, 1985
Many of the more than 100,000 Roman Catholic pilgrims gathered at a commemoration ceremony in Velehrad, Czechoslovakia, chanted the name of Pope John Paul II, who was barred by Communist authorities from attending. The ceremony, one of the largest church festivals since the Communists assumed power in Czechoslovakia in 1948, marked the 1,100th anniversary of the death of St. Methodius, who helped bring Christianity to the Slavic people in the 9th Century.
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