Any stories of meeting a Pope or a future Saint?

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Just wondering if you, or someone you know, has ever had any personal interaction with a Pope or someone who became a Saint, or anything like that. I have always found stories like these to be very interesting and inspiring, and I hope others might too :).

This is the best I can do:

A family friend of mine saw John Paul II when he visited America. She was in the crowd and he walked by within a few feet of her, and he smiled and waved directly at her for a moment.

A different family friend attended one of Mother Theresa’s schools in India, and claims to have briefly met her, but she also tends to exaggerate so I don’t know how reliable that story is.

As for me personally, I met Archbishop Cordileone briefly when he was the Bishop of the Diocese of Oakland. He spoke with me for a moment and waved and smiled at my daughter who was about 6 months old at the time. (I like to think he will become a Cardinal and then Pope so my story will improve with age 😉 )

Who else has a story?
 
My father was baptized by Fulton Sheen when he was a priest in the Peoria Diocese.

Mother Theresa handed me a Miraculous Miracle Medal when she was at the Peoria Cathedral to witness the vows of some young ladies in her order.
 
My mother, nominally Methodist, was very inspired by John Paul II, and was able to be in the stadium where he celebrated mass while in Phoenix in 1987… She came home deeply moved, and said “I was way up in the upper deck – and I could swear that he knew I was there.” This from a woman who was raised by a deeply skeptical and agnostic father who taught her to look to different explanations for phenomena.

I gave her a JP2 medal when she became very sick; and without my knowing it, before her last illness during which she never recovered consciousness, she’d requested last rites in the Church.
 
McCall1981 said:
Just wondering if you, or someone you know, has ever had any personal interaction with a Pope or someone who became a Saint, or anything like that. I have always found stories like these to be very interesting and inspiring, and I hope others might too :).

Who else has a story?
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Indeed I have. Each and every time I pass a mirror. (:D:D:D It’s a joke everyone. :))

On a more serious note, Mother Teresa and I had a conversation, just the two of us, in her office at her South Bronx convent.
 
My grandmother has a friend with a very touching story re: John Paul II. She wasn’t catholic, I don’t remember which religion she used to be but she wasn’t catholic and wasn’t a fan of the catholic church either. She decided to go on a touristic tour through Europe and one of the places to visit was the Vatican. This was probably in early 80’s and again It wasn’t a religious tour at all but hey were going to show the inside etc so pretty much she went with mere touristic purposes. When they were inside of the Vatican she got lost from her tour. She didn’t know the area so she started wandering all over the place looking for a way out, she saw doors and she got in and apparently she ended up quite “inside” the Vatican wandering. Then she saw swiss guards and she approached to them and when she got close to them, they were right next to the doors, the doors opened and pope John Paul II came out. He never talked to her to her or had any interaction with him but he looked at her. She says that what she felt when he looked at her was beyond description and long story short, eight after that she decided to convert to catholism and became a practicing catholic. I always thought this was very moving especially since all it took was one look.
 
Saw JP2 wiz past me in the popemobile. I’ve met Cardinal Dolan and Cardinal Egan. Bishops are always at events around the diocese that you can attend.

Father Z has a great story of when he got to know a reserved visiting priest who spoke imperfect Italian. That priest is better known today as Pope Francis.
 
A friend of mine had an aunt (now deceased) who converted to the Catholic Church from Lutheranism because of Padre Pio. She went as a tourist to Italy with some Catholic friends and ended up in a Mass with Padre Pio. She wasn’t too thrilled about going to Mass, but went for the sake of her Catholic friends. After the Mass, Padre Pio walked up to her and told her she should become Catholic. It was then that she smelled the perfumed odor that emanated from his stigmata. That night, when she was sleeping in her hotel room, she had a dream that Padre Pio visited her. When she woke up, the room was filled with Padre’s perfume. She said, “That’s it, I’m becoming a Catholic!”. She converted, and became a really super-Catholic. She corresponded with Padre and his secretary, Mary Pyle, for many years. She received communion from him, too. In one of the letters she received from Mary Pyle, she (Pyle) described smelling his perfume right there in her home as she was answering Padre’s “fan mail”, even though Padre wasn’t physically there. She didn’t sound surprised by this supernatural odor. Just another of the amazing things about Padre Pio.

In 2002, I believe, my mother took a trip to Rome just when Padre Pio was being canonized. She noticed all these clergy walking around Rome and she knew something important was going to happen. But it was hot, so she went back to her hotel room and missed the canonization ceremony. She regrets it very much to this day that she did not stay in St. Peter’s square for the canonization, but at that time she had been many years away from the faith, and Padre Pio meant no more to her than the man-in-the-moon. Now she’s very Catholic, and can’t believe she was in Rome for his canonization, and didn’t stay to watch! Oh well, such is life!
 
My grandparents told me about a time in the 80s when they were sitting in a private box smoking cigarettes in BC Place in Vancouver waiting for the pope to come celebrate mass. How times have changed.
 
My grandparents told me about a time in the mid-80s when they were sitting in one of Vancouver’s BC Place private boxes smoking cigarettes waiting for John Paul II to arrive to celebrate mass. How times have changed. I was too young to have ever met him. Closest I came was watching him live on TV in Toronto in 2002 for World Youth Day (lol). If I recall correctly Archbishop Adam Exner performed my confirmation. I’ve never personally met anyone with a higher position in the church than that. I have a feeling Pope Francis will come to Vancouver and I’ll surely be one of the thousands in attendance if he does.
 
In 1996, my sister The Sister was studying in Rome to prepare for perpetual vows and my mom and I went to visit. The Mother General of her order was able to get us to St. Peter’s for a Weds morning audience with JPII. We were expecting to be outside in the square, but instead were ushered to the front row inside the basilica. When His Holiness entered the Basilica, he absolutely lit up the room! Light shone all around him. He walked along the front row to greet people. Being I was a young person at that time, he stopped to talk. He was saying Mass/ giving his audience in Polish that day and asked me a question. I said, in Italian, that I didn’t understand. Big mistake because the priest behind him started to translate – in Italian. I must have had that dazed look on my face because Papa then asked where I was from. When I replied – in English – he switched to English too. I kissed his ring and he tugged on my hair and told me it was the color of gold – like the girls from his homeland. He asked about my hometown and about my Cardinal. I asked if he would bless two Rosaries and he did. Afterwards, he held my face in his hands and just smiled at me for what seemed the longest time. Then he kissed my forehead and said, “My child, you are destined to do something great.”

Next, he encountered my mom and then my sister The Sister. We were all absolutely certain we were in the presence of someone who radiated the love of Christ. I shall never forget that moment of being lost in his warm smile. Others around must have sensed that too because they asked if they could touch their Rosaries to mine and wanted to know what we talked about.

Then fast forward to October 2011. My little girl and I were in Rome for the canonization of the founder of my sister’s order. While there, a priest friend who is studying received permission for my child to receive her 1st Holy Communion in St. Peter’s. He surprised us by saying he had permission to offer the Mass on JPII’s altar!!! So in a very real sense, my little girl got to “meet” JPII too!

God bless Papa JP!
 
Pope John Paul II broke my camera. 😃

We were in Rome and had tickets for the Wednesday audience. This was right after Easter so there were tons of First Communicants and newly entered people there. All the school groups were dressed up in native costumes and singing songs, so we were taking tons of pictures. I have about 100 pictures of the cardinals milling about on the dias, but as soon as the Pope arrived, my camera froze up.

He walked down the aisle right by us and I graciously (stupidly :o) let a couple of young girls get in front of me. He shook their hands, but we weren’t close enough to reach him.

So no pictures and no handshake. 😦 At least I’ve been able to wash my hands all these years! LOL
 
I managed to shake Pope John Paul II’s hand at a Wednesday Papal audience in Rome (a couple of days after my wedding). I kept holding onto it until he pulled his hand free (in a nice way of course). I remember being struck by how soft his hand was. I also got a lovely close up photo of him. That was a moment I won’t ever forget.
 
johnmann said:
Saw JP2 wiz past me in the popemobile. I’ve met Cardinal Dolan and Cardinal Egan. Bishops are always at events around the diocese that you can attend.

Father Z has a great story of when he got to know a reserved visiting priest who spoke imperfect Italian. That priest is better known today as Pope Francis.
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I met Cardinal Egan (very tall man!) and received communion from Cardinal O’Connor.

That’s the best I can do…
 
Weeeelllllll, does a “possible” future saint apply? I’ve met a priest who, if he doesn’t become a saint, he should be. He’s the holiest person I’ve met yet. 😉
 
My family and I were blessed to have a private audience with Pope John Paul II during a trip to Rome in 2001. We think our Archbishop arranged the audience, though he has never admitted it. It could also have been the late Cardinal (then Abp.) Foley, who had given us a wonderful tour of the Vatican grounds the previous day.

We received a call at our rented apartment during dinner one evening; it was a Sister calling from the Vatican, asking us if we would like to meet the Pope the next morning. She told us the dress code (suit for my husband, modest dresses/skirts/ blouses for my daughters and me. (For those interested in such things, there was no headcovering mentioned or required.)

We turned up at the designated entrance the next morning and were admitted to the first of several rooms en route to the Pope’s apartments. There were several other families waiting, as well, from various countries. We were admitted one family at a time, for a brief private chat and blessing, and to receive rosaries from His Holiness. We were totally thunderstruck; I may have told His Holiness that we would pray for him on his upcoming trip (he was due to leave the next day on one of his many trips) but I don’t remember, as it was pretty much an out-of-body experience.

We were squished together on a narrow kneeler in front of the Pope, and I actually had to hold on to the arm of his throne to stand up; I thought the Swiss guards would grab me!!!

We all agreed it was the most amazing, touching experience of our lives. The Pope was showing clear signs of his Parkinson’s disease at this point, but he carried on. I have attached a photo of us during this audience, taken by the Vatican photographer.
 
dixieagle said:
My family and I were blessed to have a private audience with Pope John Paul II during a trip to Rome in 2001. We think our Archbishop arranged the audience, though he has never admitted it. It could also have been the late Cardinal (then Abp.) Foley, who had given us a wonderful tour of the Vatican grounds the previous day.

We received a call at our rented apartment during dinner one evening; it was a Sister calling from the Vatican, asking us if we would like to meet the Pope the next morning. She told us the dress code (suit for my husband, modest dresses/skirts/ blouses for my daughters and me. (For those interested in such things, there was no headcovering mentioned or required.)

We turned up at the designated entrance the next morning and were admitted to the first of several rooms en route to the Pope’s apartments. There were several other families waiting, as well, from various countries. We were admitted one family at a time, for a brief private chat and blessing, and to receive rosaries from His Holiness. We were totally thunderstruck; I may have told His Holiness that we would pray for him on his upcoming trip (he was due to leave the next day on one of his many trips) but I don’t remember, as it was pretty much an out-of-body experience.

We were squished together on a narrow kneeler in front of the Pope, and I actually had to hold on to the arm of his throne to stand up; I thought the Swiss guards would grab me!!!

We all agreed it was the most amazing, touching experience of our lives. The Pope was showing clear signs of his Parkinson’s disease at this point, but he carried on. I have attached a photo of us during this audience, taken by the Vatican photographer.
Click to expand...
WOW! What a beautiful experience!!!
And, you have a lovely looking family!
 
dixieagle said:
My family and I were blessed to have a private audience with Pope John Paul II during a trip to Rome in 2001. We think our Archbishop arranged the audience, though he has never admitted it. It could also have been the late Cardinal (then Abp.) Foley, who had given us a wonderful tour of the Vatican grounds the previous day.

We received a call at our rented apartment during dinner one evening; it was a Sister calling from the Vatican, asking us if we would like to meet the Pope the next morning. She told us the dress code (suit for my husband, modest dresses/skirts/ blouses for my daughters and me. (For those interested in such things, there was no headcovering mentioned or required.)

We turned up at the designated entrance the next morning and were admitted to the first of several rooms en route to the Pope’s apartments. There were several other families waiting, as well, from various countries. We were admitted one family at a time, for a brief private chat and blessing, and to receive rosaries from His Holiness. We were totally thunderstruck; I may have told His Holiness that we would pray for him on his upcoming trip (he was due to leave the next day on one of his many trips) but I don’t remember, as it was pretty much an out-of-body experience.

We were squished together on a narrow kneeler in front of the Pope, and I actually had to hold on to the arm of his throne to stand up; I thought the Swiss guards would grab me!!!

We all agreed it was the most amazing, touching experience of our lives. The Pope was showing clear signs of his Parkinson’s disease at this point, but he carried on. I have attached a photo of us during this audience, taken by the Vatican photographer.
Click to expand...
👍
 
I met one future Saint here on CAF. And he wears a grey, worn-out, cowled habit, with three knots on the cord around his waist. 😃
 
dixieagle said:
My family and I were blessed to have a private audience with Pope John Paul II during a trip to Rome in 2001. We think our Archbishop arranged the audience, though he has never admitted it. It could also have been the late Cardinal (then Abp.) Foley, who had given us a wonderful tour of the Vatican grounds the previous day.

We received a call at our rented apartment during dinner one evening; it was a Sister calling from the Vatican, asking us if we would like to meet the Pope the next morning. She told us the dress code (suit for my husband, modest dresses/skirts/ blouses for my daughters and me. (For those interested in such things, there was no headcovering mentioned or required.)

We turned up at the designated entrance the next morning and were admitted to the first of several rooms en route to the Pope’s apartments. There were several other families waiting, as well, from various countries. We were admitted one family at a time, for a brief private chat and blessing, and to receive rosaries from His Holiness. We were totally thunderstruck; I may have told His Holiness that we would pray for him on his upcoming trip (he was due to leave the next day on one of his many trips) but I don’t remember, as it was pretty much an out-of-body experience.

We were squished together on a narrow kneeler in front of the Pope, and I actually had to hold on to the arm of his throne to stand up; I thought the Swiss guards would grab me!!!

We all agreed it was the most amazing, touching experience of our lives. The Pope was showing clear signs of his Parkinson’s disease at this point, but he carried on. I have attached a photo of us during this audience, taken by the Vatican photographer.
Click to expand...
That is just stunning! What an amazing thing to happen.
 
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