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An audience To the nonbelievers, the proof is the glossy, over-sized color photographs.
with The Pope
Hawaii halau finds itself
in Rome with Pope
John Paul IIBy Suzanne Tswei
Star-BulletinPope John Paul II is right there in them, surrounded by the dancers of Me Ke Aloha Pumehana Mai Hawai'i from Makaha.
"Nobody believes we met the pope, but the pictures say we are not lying," said Connie Burchett, who was standing behind the pope when a picture was taken July 5.
"I always see him on TV, but I never thought I'd see him in person. Talk about chicken skin. Even when I talk about it now, I still get chicken skin," Burchett said.
The lifelong Waianae Coast resident, who was baptized a Catholic at birth, never dreamed she'd travel further than Las Vegas -- let alone go to Rome and meet the holy man of the Roman Catholic Church inside the majestic St. Peter's Basilica.
"I even touched him. I touched him when I was walking out. That was a little extra blessing I brought home," said Burchett, who also returned with rosaries and two bottles of holy water in the shape of the Virgin Mary.No one else in the 18-member halau dreamed of meeting the pope either. It came to pass through Luigi "Gigi" Cocquio, a former Catholic priest who helped found the dance troop five years ago as a cultural exchange group to visit his hometown in Northern Italy. The halau was invited to perform in Rome as part of the celebrations for the Great Jubilee Year 2000.
One of Cocquio's old seminary buddies now serves as master of ceremonies for the pope and arranged for the halau to visit the Vatican on a Wednesday, when the pope holds weekly audience with the public.
"We thought we'd be packed in the back with thousands and thousands of people,"Cocquio said. "We thought we wouldn't even be able to see the pope."
But when the dancers arrived, they were ushered in right up front, within about 20 feet of the pope. They were seated in chairs reserved especially for them and watched the pope give his speeches in different languages.
While they sat in amazement at their good fortune, the dancers whispered to each other to figure out how one of them could sneak up and give the pope a shell lei.
"We thought it would be really nice to give him a lei -- we are from Hawaii and everything -- but we didn't get the chance. Everything happened so fast," Cocquio said.
The halau sneaked in an impromptu hula instead. The dancers were seated next to a group from Africa who stood up to perform a native African song and dance. The Hawaii group followed suit by leaping to their feet and singing and dancing the Christian hymn, E Ha'awi I Ka Haku (Praises to the Lord)."We don't know if we were supposed to do it, but we figured we better do something,"Cocquio said. "We kind of seized the moment."
While the dancers performed, the frail pope glanced in their direction and nodded his head in approval, the dancers recalled.
Afterward the dancers were invited to have pictures taken with the pope. Some took the opportunity to touch the pope as they got close to him.
"Gosh, I'm not even Catholic and I was tearing and everything," said Jody Yabuno, who stood behind the pope while her two teenage daughters were immediately to the pope's right.
"Look, the pope even touched one of my daughters on the back,"Yabuno said. "I told her she can't ever wash her back."
Yabuno touched the pope too for a little extra good luck. Her brush with greatness has made her a celebrity at Makaha Elementary School, where she teaches fourth grade.
"I feel so blessed. Every time I walk in (the faculty lounge), people would bow to me. People would come up to touch me for good luck. It's all because of the pope," Yabuno said.