Woman recalls unlikely meeting with pope

By Elizabeth Hardin-Burrola
Staff Writer

GALLUP — In the two weeks since the death of Pope John Paul II, countless stories have been told of how the late pontiff touched the lives of ordinary people around the world.

Gina Tamasi has such a story.

Tamasi, of Kansas City, Mo., lived in Gallup in the summer of 1979 and has since made frequent trips here to visit her sister, Judy Detorie, and Detorie's family.

In a recent phone interview, Tamasi related the story of her personal encounter with John Paul II, an encounter that was arranged through the intervention of a political refugee living in poverty in Rome.

In the spring of 1987, Tamasi concluded a backpacking tour of Europe by hitchhiking into the city of Rome on Holy Thursday. The timing was intentional, said Tamasi, who explained she wanted to arrive in Rome, the city at the heart of the Roman Catholic Church, during the Easter season. She attended the candle lit Stations of the Cross service in the Coliseum and Easter Sunday Mass in St. Peter's Square and was very moved by the pope's presence at both events.

A lifelong Catholic, Tamasi said she has felt a deep affinity for John Paul II since his election as pope in 1978.

Not long after her arrival to Rome, Tamasi was hired as an ESL teacher by a program established by the United Nations. Her job was to teach English to Eastern European refugees in Rome who were preparing to immigrate to the United States or Canada. Although some of her students were Czechoslovakian and Hungarian, most were Polish.

Because John Paul II was a native of Poland, the Polish government would allow Polish people to make religious pilgrimages to Rome, Tamasi said. This was prior to the fall of the Berlin Wall, she added, so most of the Polish people would ask for political asylum during their pilgrimage to Rome.

Hence Tamasi's high number of Polish students.

Tamasi's affection and respect for John Paul II grew as she worked with her Polish students and began to comprehend the intense bond between the pope and his countrymen.

When Tamasi's mother, Bette, announced she was going to visit in September, Tamasi decided she wanted to do "something special" for her mother.

That something special was a meeting with the pope.

While Tamasi thought it was a great idea, everyone she contacted, from friends who were Catholic priests to officials at the Vatican, let her know just what a crazy pipe dream it was.

"You dear, sweet innocent thing,"was the not-so-subtle message Tamasi said she received from everyone.

Or almost everyone.

A man named Waclaw was different. A political refugee who was struggling to survive a tough life in Rome, Waclaw was one of Tamasi's Polish students. When he heard of his English teacher's wish, his answer was immediate: "O.K.,"Tamasi recalled him saying to her."I'll make the arrangements. I'll take care of everything."

Tamasi also recalled her own private disbelief. "What can he do?" she remembered thinking.

"Well," she said, still marveling at the memory, "he made it all happen."

According to Tamasi, Waclaw contacted Don Stanislaw, John Paul II's long-time confidant and personal secretary, who is also a native of Poland. The end result was that Tamasi and her mother were added to a Polish pilgrimage group that was meeting with the pontiff at Castel Gandalfo, the pope's summer residence.

During the visit, Waclaw introduced Tamasi to John Paul II and told the pope she was helping him learn English. Tamasi said the pontiff placed his hands around her hands and said, "Oh, my dear daughter."

"And I just melted, of course," she recalled. "His presence was just incredible."

Tamasi then introduced her mother to the pope. "She was a little more poised than I was,"she admitted.

Tamasi believes John Paul II was particularly gracious to her because he saw her as someone who was working to help Polish refugees.

Nearly two decades later, Tamasi cherishes her memories of life in Rome. It was a time, she said, when she got to know many Polish people, learned about their culture, and obtained a very close glimpse of the love John Paul II had for his people.

— Elizabeth Hardin-Burrola can be contacted at (505) 863-6811, ext. 218 or at ehardinburrola@yahoo.com.