This is one of my favorite pictures of the Pope, partly because of the personal aspect of it. On Wednesday, May 16, 2000, my brother John’s family received the extraordinary privilege of meeting Pope John Paul II at his Wednesday general audience. At the time, the Holy Father granted special blessings to my three nephews, Peter, Joseph, and JohnPaul (pictured above). (Nephew Domenic and niece Catherine were not here yet.) Little JohnPaul was two years old and the Holy Father embraced each of them. A Reuters photographer captured the moment above and it ran in several international newspapers, including the London Guardian, on the next day, the Pope’s 80th birthday. What an extraordinary moment and extraordinary privilege.
Copies of this photo hang in my parish, in the homes of my family, and have been handed out to many people who were moved by the photo as I was.
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Such a precious moment captured on film. I am grateful that I was able to particpate in World Youth Day in Denver a few years back. It was awesome to see and hear the Holy Father in person. He definitely has had an impact on my beliefs and behavior. Just came across your website today and it is really neat. God Bless You.
Oh Dom you just made me cry!! What a beautiful photo. Thank you for showing it to us.
This truly is the essence of this Holy Father. The love expressed has affected so many people, myself included.
I pray that our next HF reaches out to the people the way JPII has. He’s set a standard and I hope the next pope meets that standard.
I can’t imagine say Pope ___________ whomever.
Very beautiful and very telling. Another favorite of mine is a picture where there is a young Latino boy playing by the pope’s feet inside his ferriolla (sp?) as the pope looks on with fatherly delight.
May God rest his soul and may Our Lady cradle him near.
One minor correction, Domenic the fourth son was present. He was in his mother’s womb but he was definitely there. Actually the Holy Father was told that his mother was expecting and gave Patti a special blessing.