In 1986, Pope John Paul II came to St. Lucy's parish in Rome for a pastoral visit — the parish where our Fede e Luce community, S. Gioacchino, meets. For most of our young people, attending the long wait and the lengthy ceremony that would follow was physically impossible.
Then we learned, to our surprise, that the Pope would meet with us alone — just us — in a chapel next to the church before the service began. So we lined ourselves along three sides of the room, facing a red platform with a microphone from which the Pope would bless us.
We were young and somewhat skeptical of ecclesiastical hierarchy. We waited, then — not with excitement, but with a certain detachment. And then he entered: a kind of grandfather figure, bent a little but not frail. Quite the opposite. He was vital, energetic, smiling, dressed in white. To our shock — and overturning protocol and the cardinals who followed him — he did not step onto the platform. Instead, he made his way around the room, greeting each of our young people one by one, caressing them, kissing them. Knowing how difficult first physical contact can be with people with disabilities, especially the most severely affected, we were astonished at how the Pope showed the spontaneous affection of a father and grandfather to each of them, and to us.
This kind of humanity cannot be faked, and it cannot be forgotten. It left a deep mark on our hearts — a great sign of Jesus's love for all people. Now, from Heaven, he is even closer to each of us. Thank you.
Francesca and Silvia Poleggi, 2005
