MOUNT CARMEL - It was a 14-day trip to Italy in 1991 to see the sights for Anthony V. "Red" Miscavige, but he didn't expect to exchange greetings with Pope John Paul II.
The brief meeting between the Mount Carmel man and the chief shepherd of the Catholic Church is something to remember for Miscavige, but he also has a photograph to prove it.
On Sunday, which is the Feast of Divine Mercy, the late pope will be beatified by Pope Benedict XVI, which will give him the title
"Blessed." He currently holds the title of "Venerable," and after Sunday's ceremony, he will be called "Blessed John Paul II." The beatification is expected to draw a crowd of at least one million people, with estimates as high as two million.
Miscavige, being ethnic Polish, was thrilled to have the opportunity to see the pope, who was a native of Poland. He traveled to Italy with his wife, Lillian, and about 25 to 30 members of the Mount Carmel Area Polish Cultural Club. His encounter occurred in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican.
"As the pope was going by, I waved at him and spoke to him in Polish," said Miscavige. "I was just standing there and after I said 'Praise be Jesus Christ' in Polish, he stopped to talk to me. I guess he was happy to hear his native tongue."
The pope paused and looked at Miscavige and asked him, "Where are you from?"
"I told him I was from the United States with our Polish club for a couple of days to pay tribute to him," said Miscavige.
Miscavige said he wasn't close enough to shake the pope's hand, but added that the security doesn't allow anyone to touch him.
According to Miscavige, there was a very large crowd in the square, but for those who work security, it wasn't large by their experience.
"We were standing next to some security people, and I was talking to one of them who spoke English with an Italian accent, and I asked him about how many people do you thing there is today," said Miscavige. "He told me, 'Poor crowd. Poor crowd. Maybe 25,000 people.' It's surprising how they get the people in and out. The streets are very narrow, but it doesn't seem like a big problem to get them in, and when the festivities are over, to get the people out. They have a very good system there."
Miscavige treasures the photo, but he said the source of the photograph is a bit of a mystery.
"To this date, I don't know who took that picture," he said. "When I came home, that photo was in the mail for me. At first I thought it was by someone in our group, but I've inquired around over the years and couldn't find anybody who took the photo."
Miscavige said he has visited Pope John Paul II's hometown in Poland, and believes that this honor for him is a great thing.
"He was a very holy and dedicated person. The times that we were in Poland we spent some time in the town he was born in and where he spent a lot of his religious days," he said.