'Saint John Paul' sounds good to Polish-Americans

The portrait of Pope John Paul II hangs on the left side of the

sanctuary at Holy Trinity Polish Church in Noble Square. The painting,

always adorned with fresh flowers and candles, was commissioned in

2011 after the pope's beatification.



And it's already time to change the painting's label, said the Rev.

Andrew Maslejak.



"From 'Blessed' to 'Saint,'" he said.

Maslejak said he felt in his gut from the first time he met John Paul

decades ago that the Polish prelate was special.



Chicago's Polish-American community celebrated the news Friday that

the Vatican plans to canonize John Paul as a saint by the end of 2013.

To many of Polish heritage, the late pontiff was not only a religious

figure but also a national hero.



"His picture is in every Polish home, in Poland and here," said Gregg

Kobelinski, managing director of the Copernicus Center, a Polish

cultural institution.



John Paul was the first Polish pope, and the first non-Italian pope in

455 years. He led the church from 1978 until his death in 2005. Older

Polish immigrants remember how he used his influence to help end

Communist rule in Poland and other Eastern European countries. Others

recall his efforts to reach out to people from countries around the

world, and especially young people.



Many Polish-Americans feel a strong sense of pride for John Paul both

as Catholics and as Poles, said the Rev. Steve Bartczyszyn of St.

Hyacinth Basilica in the Logan Square neighborhood. With most

Catholics, he said, saying "our pope" means the current pope. For

Polish Catholics, "our pope" refers to John Paul, even eight years

after his death, he said.



"Sometimes they'll even say, 'our countryman the pope,' and later on

they'll keep saying 'our countryman,' not just 'the pope' — it shows

they hold him near and dear to their hearts," Bartczyszyn said.



For Chicago's Auxiliary Bishop Andrew Wypych, the announcement that

John Paul would be a saint transported him back to his teenage years

in Krakow, Poland, where he watched then-Cardinal Karol Wojtyla preach

to thousands. The communion procession lasted six hours that day,

winding through the streets, he said, but Wypych will always remember

the gusto with which John Paul spoke.



"You could not only hear it, but you can also feel it — you can touch

the faith he was projecting to the people," Wypych said.



Wypych attended seminary in Krakow and was later ordained by John

Paul, a few months before the cardinal was elected pope in 1978. A

year later, John Paul would be the first pope to visit Chicago, then

the largest archdiocese in the United States with about 2.4 million

Catholics. Wypych would immigrate to Chicago a few years later.

Chicago then, as it is now, has one of the largest populations of

Polish people in the world.



The pope gave the people of Poland reason to hope that the political

turmoil engulfing their country would end, Wypych said.



"He made us as people in Poland very, very proud. People found out

where Poland is because of John Paul," he said.



At a time when Catholicism is waning, Wypych said, the Polish are

still turning out in large numbers for Mass. In a way, the Catholic

religion was the glue that kept immigrants close to their heritage and

language.



The exact date has yet to be released for the canonization, but Gary

Kenzer, executive director of the Polish American Association, said he

is almost certain there will be celebrations in Chicago when the time

comes.



Kenzer said he received about 20 emails overnight from

Polish-Americans. "It was jubilation — I can't even define for you how

ecstatic our community was. And our community is very large."