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View from the Pew  Mary Adamski |
Church rites rekindle
blessed memoriesIsle residents remember greeting
the pope and Mother Teresa while
attending Father Damien's beatification
ceremony in Belgium in 1995
A Molokai woman takes great pleasure in saying, "I kissed the pope ... and Mother Teresa, too!"
Kuulei Bell is one of dozens of Hawaii residents who dusted off their scrapbooks this week as events in Rome honor Pope John Paul II and Mother Teresa of Calcutta, famous for her work among India's poorest people.
A lucky few have tales to tell of personal encounters with the pope and the nun at a 1995 event that honored Hawaii's most famous missionary, Father Damien de Veuster.
The Catholic Church is celebrating the pope's 25th anniversary in the top office of the church. Tomorrow, the pope will declare Mother Teresa "blessed" in a ceremony that is the second of three steps to sainthood.
Some 100 island residents, including myself, treasure the memory of having been eye-to-eye with the pope -- albeit across a grassy expanse the length of a football field -- and of coming within arms' length of the tiny woman of enormous energy and presence who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979 and was on the fast track to sainthood since her death in 1997.
COURTESY OF THE HAWAII CATHOLIC HERALD
Kalaupapa resident Kuulei Bell presented a lei and a kiss on the cheek to Pope John Paul II during a Mass for the beatification of Father Damien in Brussels in 1995.
The memories stem from June 4, 1995 in Brussels, where Pope John Paul beatified Damien, a Belgium priest who served leprosy patients banished to Kalaupapa for 16 years until his death from the disease in 1889.
"It is one of the best memories of my life, the nicest experience I ever had," said Bell, Kalaupapa postmistress, of the day in which she kissed the pope on the cheek and gave Mother Teresa a hug and a kiss. "It was kind of sacred, you know?"
Bell was one of 14 Hawaii residents with roles in the beatification pageantry. A Mormon, she was selected to participate because she was president of the Kalaupapa Residents Advisory Committee. Her job was to present a 54-inch wili lei of lehua blossoms and kukui tree leaves crafted by Raymond Wong of Honolulu.
The advance instruction was that an aide would accept the lei and other gifts, but Bell went with the mood of the moment.
"The pope put his hand out and I kissed his ring," she said. "They told me, 'You not allowed,' but when he bent his head down, then I put the lei over his head ... and kissed him on the cheek. I said I come from Kalaupapa. He said, 'Damien.' That is all he said to me. He gave me a blessing and a rosary." Catholic members of the group later made a bid for the rosary, Bell said, but she saved it for her Catholic granddaughter.
Earlier in the afternoon, Bell and Hawaii residents Mele Watanuki, Randy King and William D. Souza encountered Mother Teresa, a spectator at the event who was usually accompanied by bodyguards to hold back the crush of people wanting to approach her.
"Mother Teresa was coming out of the cathedral. She was walking with two nuns," Bell recalled. "I told the folks, 'That's her!' I went run to her. I hugged her and kissed her. I told her I come from Kalaupapa. She said the same thing: 'Damien.' She gave me one blessing. I kissed her hand. She was such a tiny lady."
Both the pope and the nun gave other signs of recognizing the Hawaii folks, whose bright clothes and flower leis stood out in the crowd of 35,000 in the park.
COURTESY OF RICHARD KUPO
Mother Teresa sat flanked by bodyguards.
Everyone saw Bell's interaction, but when Eugene Sabado of Honolulu first told his fellow travelers about a conversation with the pope, they didn't believe him. Sabado, now a cantor at Holy Family Parish in Moanalua, was chosen to read the prayers of the faithful during the Mass.
As he sat among dozens of bishops on the raised platform, he was summoned and escorted backstage to a small trailer.
"I thought it was security. I thought I had done something wrong," he said.
He entered the cabin and found himself in the company of John Paul II and an unidentified bishop.
The pope was seeking pronunciation guidance for a Hawaiian phrase he intended to use. He recited, "Ma kakou pakahe a pau ka maluhia a ma ka aloha o Iesu Christo" -- May the peace and love of Jesus Christ be with you.
"He asked me, 'Is this correct?' I told him it was," Sabado recalled. "He could have said anything, I was so nervous.
"The funny thing is, when I had asked what do I do if I meet the pope, they just said don't worry about it. I didn't know how to address him. His hand was held up high so I just shook it. I thought it very strange for a handshake. Then I found out you were supposed to kiss it."
He added: "I still have the two rosaries he gave me. It was just a wonderful day for me, never mind that it was raining."
Brother Richard Kupo of Kaneohe, a member of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts to which Damien belonged, was one of four island people to receive communion from the pope.
"It was a privilege," Kupo said. "When I passed Mother Teresa in the aisle, that was more of a chicken-skin thing."
He was held back by security guards, but was able to snap a photo of the nun for his scrapbook.
Hula Halau O Maiki, led by Coline Aiu Ferranti, was scheduled to dance at the end of the day's festivities, on the green field before the outdoor stage. Like the audience, they were drenched in rain and shivering.
Although the program called for the pope's exit before the performance, he stayed to watch the hula and applauded them.
Mother Teresa was near the edge of the crowd. She acknowledged each dancer and the chanter, Marianist Brother Franklin Pao of Honolulu, as they left. Pao chanted an oli of aloha to her. She bowed with folded hands in response.
I had hoped for a close encounter with Mother Teresa the next day as I set out with Honolulu Franciscan Sister Richard Marie Toal by train to hear her speak at Holy Spirit College in nearby Louvain.
I still think she'd have enjoyed meeting a kindred spirit in my companion, an Irish nun from New Jersey who served as a nurse in Kalaupapa for more than 30 years.
But my scribbled note of introduction never made it beyond the fist of one of the protective phalanx of young Indian priests who surrounded her.
Nevermind, said Toal, we still cherish the memory of hearing the clear, strong voice radiating from the stooped, frail woman in blue and white sari cloth.
"She has a message for people today, and that's why the pope was crazy about her," Toal said.
Mother Teresa told the mostly college-age crowd, "Even today, many young people make big sacrifices to serve the suffering poor."
The 300 people packed in a small auditorium sat breathlessly still so as not to miss a word.
"Today where there is so much sorrow, we must bring love into our family. When there are so many broken homes, it is time for families to pray together again," she told them.
It was a simple message. Easy to remember, as was she.
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Group to show film of nun's beatification
A Catholic lay organization will show a replay of television coverage of the Mother Teresa beatification ceremony tomorrow afternoon at St. Patrick Church, 1124 7th Ave.The 1 p.m. show is free and open to the public, sponsored by the St. Michael Center for the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Hawaii residents have a particular fondness for the nun, who worked with the poor in India, because she was an advocate for Catholic Church recognition of Father Damien de Veuster, said Thomas Pereira, president of St. Michael Center.
"She urged Pope John Paul II to beatify Damien," he said.
The film showing of the event, which will occur earlier in the day in Rome, will be followed by 2:15 p.m. prayers for peace and a 3 p.m. Mass.
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Mary Adamski covers religion for the Star-Bulletin.
Email her at madamski@starbulletin.com.
