Lögberg-Heimskringla - 21.09.1984, Side 1

Sedlabanki Islands pd 1984 Adalskrifstcfa Löqberq
Austurstraoti 11 Reykjavik Iceland Heimskringla
1 LÖGBERG Stofnað 14. janúar 1888 HEIMSKRINGLA Stofnað 9. september 1886 L
98. ÁRGANGUR
WINNIPEG, FÖSTUDAGUR 21. SEPTEMBER 1984
NÚMER 30
The Papal Visit
Pope John Paul II
For the first time in Canada's
history, the Pope in Rome has visited
Canada. Millions of Canadians have
enjoyed his religious services
throughout the country during the
Pope's longest visit to any country.
Pope John Paul II, Cardinal Carol
Wojtyla of Cracow, Poland, is how-
ever, not a total stranger to Win-
nipeggers as the following report
indicates:
Manitobans who had personal con-
tact with Pope John Paul II when, as
Cardinal Carol Wojtyla of Cracow,
Poland, he visited Winnipeg in
September 1969, find it difficult to
express the magnetism, the special
warmth and goodness which encom-
pass his presence. All describe such
meetings as unforgettable.
A Holy Name sister who brought
the Cardinal his breakfast on the
weekdays during that visit, while he
stayed at St. Mary's Academy,
describes him as being like a "big
brother," easy to approach, natural
with everyone. Because he observed
a three-hour fast before saying Mass
at 8:00 a.m., she tapped on his door
at 4:30 in the morning on the first
day, to signal that his breakfast had
arrived. On the second morning the
door flew open and the then Cardinal
Wojtyla greeted her in perfect French
and told her that he wanted to meet
the person who brought him such
well prepared food at so early an
hour. He enjoyed the toast, buns,
fruit, poached eggs and even steak
Saga Singers í Edmonton syngja fyrir páfa
Þátttaka íslendinga í opinberri
móttöku páfa hefur verið næsta lítil
en ein er þó undantekningin. Saga
Singers, blandaður kór íslendinga í
Edmonton, söng íslensk lög fyrir
þúsundir manna í Edmonton þegar
páfi hélt eina af sínum messum þar
í borg. A efnisskránni voru nær
eingöngu íslensk þjóðlög og tókst
kórnum ágætlega vel upp. Saga
Singers hafa komið fram marg sinnis
við merkileg tækifæri t.d. söng
kórinn í Markerville, við hús Stephan
G. Stephanson, þegar stjórn
Albertafylkis gerði það að safnhúsi.
Þá skemmtir kórinn að jafnaði
Islendingum á skemmtunum þeirra
í Edmonton.
Saga Singers
provided by the sisters and, when he
left, he gave them his blessing. For
the sister who modestly requests that
her name not be used, he left a Papal
relic in his room as a souvenir.
Photographer Napoelon Milejszo,
who has recorded many church
events in Winnipeg, including the
future Pope's visit in 1969, also liken-
ed him to a big brother, observing
that he found him humble, straight-
forward with a special power
radiating from him which makes peo-
ple want to kneel down before him.
Clearly showing his own convincing
love of his neighbor, he inspired af-
fection in everyone he met. The Car-
dinal spontaneously hugged Milejszo
when he said goodbye to him and
later wrote a personal letter of thanks
for his photographs of the Winnipeg
visit. Napoelon says that, somehow,
"I knew he would someday be
Pope!" Many other Winnipeggers say
that they, too, felt this sense of
prophecy.
One of the churches visited, on
September 29, 1969, by the then Car-
dinal Wojtyla was Precieux Sang
(Precious Blood) in St. Boniface.
Although running behind schedule,
he stopped to bless an infant, Pierre
Delionnet, who was being being bap-
tized at that time, saying that he did
not often have the opportunity to
witness such an occasion. When the
Cardinal was elected Pope in 1978,
Pierre, who celebrated his fifteenth
birthday on August 20th this year,
wrote him a letter saying, "I am the
young boy you blessed on my bap-
tismal day," sent him a class picture
from school and told him that his
father, Guy Delionnet, was studying
to become a permanent deacon.
Pierre's mother, Helene Delionnet,
recalls that, through the Papal
Secretary, her son received a letter in
which the Pope thanked him for
writing, asked him to congratulate
his father on his new ministry and
enclosed his own photograph in
return. She was not surprised by this
response from a person she recogniz-
ed as warm and loving.
Holocaust survivor Stanley Wujec
of Winnipeg explained the historical
background of this first non-Italian
Pope in four hundred years, saying
Continued on page 8