On this day in history, the pope visited Miami

The pope also got to witness Miami's mercurial weather first and when the skies erupted during his outdoor Tamiami Park Mass.

• Heavy rainfall soaked the crowd and lightning strikes eventually cut the service short, sending John Paul II and many worshippers to seek shelter.
• It was believed to be the first time the pope had a Mass disrupted mid-homily by weather since he began traveling in 1979.
• The roughly 1,000 attendees who refused to leave were rewarded 45 minutes later when the pope emerged and blessed them. They screamed, "Viva el papa! Viva el papa!"

Of note: John Paul, whose path to sainthood was fast-tracked by the church in 2014, has faced criticism since his death after an internal Vatican investigation revealed he chose not to believe accusations of sexual abuse by a former cardinal as part of the church's larger sexual abuse crisis.

Thanks to the "This Day in Miami History Podcast" for the historical heads-up