A Stray Memory Stirred by the Death of John Paul II

When I was in my early twenties I was an English teacher at a high school in Cleveland, Ohio. The neighborhood in which the school was located was known as Slavic Village, due to the high representation of eastern European immigrants and assimilated families who lived there. The corner butcher shop had signs in Polish in its front window. The neighborhood Roman Catholic parish was named for St. Stanislaus, the great Polish patron.

One day, as I was driving home from work, the streets were filled with neighborhood folks talking, laughing, and even dancing in the street. Grandmothers were handing out home baked sweets. The smells of kielbasa and kieska were everywhere. I saw the father of one of my students on the corner playing his accordion. I think it was the “Too Fat Polka”, but I don’t really remember.

I asked him what was going on, and he looked at me as if I were the thickest creature on Earth. “Haven’t you heard? The new Pope is Polish”.

There will be much commentary on cable news over the next few days. Some will take issue with contemporary problems in Catholicism; some will criticize the Bishop of Rome’s political ideology. There will also be stirring tributes to him as man and priest. Historians have already begun to note the significant role that John Paul II played in the end of communism.

For me, I’ll simply remember those people in the Slavic Village who felt, after 455 years of Italian/Roman popes, that sense of cultural membership that literally had them dancing in the streets.

A statement from the office of our Presiding Bishop may be found be clicking here.