Chicagoans: Memories Of The Pope Will Always Live On April 7, 2005 – Posted in: Press

By FELICIA DECHTER
Published: April 7, 2005
Pioneer Press

It was a magnificent evening in Rome, Italy, as North Sider Mary McDermott sat waiting for Pope John Paul II to appear on the steps of the legendary Coliseum for an early may, 200, Jubilee celebration.

Although McDemott had been in the pontiff’s audience at least 10 times before, for some reason, this time was more spectacular than the others. As the sun set over the crowd, and John Paul II appeared, there was an excitement and a thrill that felt almost as if God himself was coming to address the thousands.

“He was like a star,” said McDermott, an Uptown resident and retired professor of nursing from Loyola University. “And when people anticipated him coming into sight, there was this huge cheering and clapping.

“It’s always a pageant,” she added. “And to bring people who’ve never seen him always resurrects how special this is, to Catholics, and non-Catholics.”

There were many things about John Paul that McDermott admired enough to keep her coming back for more, and she often brought her Loyola students to see, and be recognized by, the pontiff.

“He always spoke four to five minutes in English,” McDermott said. “And when he’d say, ‘And to Loyola University…” the students would go crazy.”

McDermott was impressed that the pope was a poet, an actor in college in Poland, a man who spoke many languages , and a skier, hiker, and walker. He would bless those getting married, and prospective brides and grooms showed up to his Masses in wedding dresses and tuxedos.

John Paul II was also a man who brought the disabled onto the podium with him, and he spoke out against capital punishment, the war in Iraq, and during a trip to Israel, he asked Jews for forgiveness for the Catholic’s reaction to the Holocaust.

“He was a real Renaissance man,” McDermott said. “He was a person of the people, anybody. You wouldn’t call him overly joyous, yet he had that twinkle. To see him be with so many people who shared his enthusiasm – whether Catholic or not – brought peace and hope.”

One family who might agree with McDermott is the Kahn family, owners of House of Kahn Estate Jewelers, 60 E. Walton St. In 1963, Edward and Adele Kahn, who are Jewish, acquired a beautiful, jewel-encrusted icon that sat in their collection for nearly 40 years.

In December 2000, the Kahns donated the 16th century portrait of the Virgin Mary and Baby Jesus encrusted in jewels to the Rev. John Mericantante. Of St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Pahokee, Fla., one of the state’s poorest parishes.

The Kahn’s daughter, Tobina, said the parish’s priest was so happy with the valuable gift that he wrote to the Vatican, and he found it remarkable that an Orthodox Jew would give such a gift to the Catholic Church.

The pope responded by giving the Kahns an Apostolic Blessing, which Tobina Kahn said is very rarely given to a Jew, and which hangs on display in their Walton Street shop.

“Because of this blessing, my parents and I feel a special bond to the pope,” Kahn said. “Pope John Paul II went out of his way to reach out to members of the Jewish Faith and we are forever grateful.”

Lake View resident Pat Brickhouse recalled the time that she and her late husband, Jack, had a one-on-one audience with the pope at the Vatican. After the meeting was unexpectedly arranged during a vacation to Italy, Brickhouse found she had only one suit – a bright orange color – to wear for the occasion.

When she headed to the Vatican in it, she was told that it would not be proper to wear for an audience with the pope. So she went back to the hotel, threw a black raincoat on over the suit, and made her way to see the pope.

“This man was positively mesmerizing. He had such an impact on us,” Brickhouse said.
“He was so warm and gracious that you wanted to hug and embrace him. I shall carry this to my grave, the memories.”

“He reached out to the people of the world and they responded to him. And it wasn’t only the Catholics…he didn’t care. You were a human being, and he reached out to humanity.”

Other Chicagoans, too, say that John Paul II’s kind spirit will continue to live on in their hearts and memories.

Peter Pierga, who works downtown, attended a 1993 World Youth Day gathering in Denver, Colo., where 750,000 young people sat in awe as the pontiff delivered Mass in 22 languages.

“It was a very big experience, unbelievable, and just incredible,” Pierga said. For Pierga, who is Polish, the pontiff’s death is “very, very sad.”

“It’s a very big loss especially since I’m Polish and it kind of hits home,” he said. “I don’t remember any other Pope, and this is a huge loss.”