By Angela E. Pometto
Herald Staff Writer
(From the issue of 4/7/05)

"We have been privileged to be living with John Paul the Great, who was a living example, as Christ told us to be, of the light of the world," Father Philip Majka said of the death of Pope John Paul II.

Father Majka, pastor of St. Patrick Parish in Fredericksburg, knew the pope personally and during his 40 years as a priest, visited the pope many times.

"I was privileged to have more than a few seconds with him one-on-one," he said.

The first time Father Majka met then Cardinal Karol Wojtyla was in September 1969. The cardinal was visiting on a two-day trip, and Father Majka was chosen to be his guide because of his Polish heritage. During the visit, there was a Mass at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington and visits to Arlington National Cemetery and the Vatican Embassy.

Father Majka took a picture of the Polish cardinal while they were in the museum behind the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at the Arlington Cemetery. He remembers the man looking "quite angelic" with a "spiritual whiteness" in his face.

In 1976, they met again when Cardinal Wojtyla joined 15 Polish bishops to attend the Eucharistic Congress in Philadelphia. During this trip the cardinals also had the chance to tour Washington, and Father Majka was one of the tour guides. They visited the Library of Congress, the Air and Space Museum and revisited Arlington Cemetery. They had lunch in Old Town Alexandria where the mayor gave Cardinal Wojtyla the keys of the city.

Father Majka was the "front man" making arrangements for the group with little time to spend with the future pope. But at that time, he immediately sensed that the cardinal was a holy man.

"I felt like God tapped me on the shoulder and said, ‘This is someone special,’" Father Majka said.

During the second visit, Father Majka and several other Polish priests and cardinals remarked on the possibility of this man becoming pope. "We felt that God would choose him," he said.

When Father Majka heard he was elected pope, he was jubilant. After Cardinal Wojtyla was installed, Father Majka visited him in Rome nearly 20 times. Father Majka celebrated Mass with the pope at Castel Gandolfo, the pope’s summer home, and at the Vatican. He attended numerous private audiences with the pope who, every time, remembered Father Majka’s name and where he was from.

The last time Father Majka saw the pope was last November. "I assumed it was the last time I would see him," he said. Since Father Majka was the senior priest in the group, he was first in line as they approached the pontiff. "I saw a very happy, jubilant person," he said, not the weak, old man as the media portrayed him to be.

Father Majka compared this day to the day when, from his front row seat, he witnessed the entrance of the newly installed pope. From that moment to his last visit, the only thing Father Majka believed changed was that the pope had grown in age and wisdom.