EAST PROVIDENCE - Reverend John Unsworth is the priest at St. Brendan's church in Riverside. Like all church leaders, the work of Pope John Paul II was a presence in his life. However, Rev. Unsworth has the unique experience with John Paul II that can only come from meeting the pope four times.

He considers himself blessed.

The first time he met John Paul II was in Boston in 1979, when a priest who was part of the official delegation slated to greet the pope at the Boston cathedral fell sick. Rev. Unsworth was asked to go in his place and did not have to stand "in the rain with 40,000 people in Boston Common" for his chance to see the pope.

In December of 1991, Rev. Unsworth traveled to Rome with three other priests from the diocese on an invitation to celebrate mass with the pope in his private chapel, along with 50 priests from Indonesia. When the mass had ended, the four American priests were invited into the sacristy for a personal greeting. John Paul II lingered a bit with Rev. Unsworth, asking where he worked. At the time, he was a pastor of St. Mary's parish in Pawtucket. The pope seemed especially delighted in this and told Rev. Unsworth: "It's wonderful that you are a parish priest. I pray for parish priests. The work of the church is done in the parish. Tell your people that I pray for them."

The pope, a lover of languages, asked what kind of word Pawtucket was. When Rev. Unsworth replied it was an Indian word, the pope asked, "you have Indians in your parish?"

Lasting impressions

"What impressed me the most were two things," Rev. Unsworth said.

"One was when he shook you hand – his hand was like the hand of a hardworking farmer – when he shook you hand, he held you firmly. And when he spoke to you, he looked at you, and he looked into you as if you were the only person in the world he cared about at that moment. It's a very rare thing."

In 1993, Rev. Unsworth again traveled to Rome, this time on a pilgrimage with his father, the former fire chief of East Providence. The Vatican got word of their arrival and invited them to visit, where the fire chief of Vatican City met with Rev. Unsworth and his father and made him the honorary fire chief of the Vatican.

"I had no idea East Providence was so important," Rev. Unsworth said.

They were then brought into the Papal apartments where the pope was having an audience, and shook his father's hand.

"He loved being with people," Rev. Unsworth said.

In 1995, Rev. Unsworth was part of the official greeting party to welcome the pope and then-president Bill Clinton at the Newark airport in New Jersey.

"He shook my hand, and I had the very same feeling I'd had the first time," Rev. Unsworth said. "With all those crowds, he was interested in me."

Rev. Unsworth believed the greatest change that John Paul II made was in the papacy itself. Before, popes rarely – if ever – left the Vatican. But John Paul II "understood the world in which he lived," and visited 120 countries during his time as pope, traveling more than 700,000 miles. Most of his journeys were to Africa. He was also the first pope to visit a synagogue, mosque, and the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem.

"He not only made the Catholic Church a presence in the world, but he went beyond that. He made everyone aware of the fact that they are loved by God. He reached out to people of all faiths."

John Paul II did not change the teachings of the church, but rather clarified them, according to Rev. Unsworth.

Opinionated pope

"Some were accepted, some were not. He was always consistent," he said.

"He believed that certain truths are always true, even if they're not popular, and that you can't change what is true just to go with the modern trend or what people would like to see."

He remembered how John Paul II was praised for his criticisms of communism but not for his disfavor with America's consumerism.

"He criticized us for our excesses and our selfishness and the fact that we were using too much of the world's resources."

Throughout the papacy, John Paul II was asked to make changes in the church regulations, including ordaining women as priests and allowing priests to marry, both of which he denied.

"He didn't see what advantage that (changing celibacy rules) would be to the church," Rev. Unsworth said.

"With regard to women being priests, the Holy Father certainly held women in high regard. He had a very special place in his life for women, I think because he lost his mother when he was very young. But, theologically, the church could not reconcile having women ordained as priests because there had never been any evidence of Jesus ordaining women," he said.

"His challenge to us was to find ways to enhance the dignity of the role of women in the church."

Rev. Unsworth said that women are allowed to serve in a variety of areas, and, "we'd be in tough straits without them."

His legacy

"In history, someday, will call him John Paul the great. Theologians will discuss his writings, and in the history of the church he will be one of those landmarks that we always refer back to, because he was simply a unique and outstanding example of a pope who was able to draw millions of people to the Lord," Rev. Unsworth said.

"He never, ever, ever asked them to look to him. He always asked them to look to Christ. He never wavered in that. I have no idea who the next pope will be, but he's got a hard act to follow."

BY KIMBERLY HARPER

kharper@eastbaynewspapers.com