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| CNN's Jim Bittermann meets with Pope John Paul II |
Rome, Italy (CNN) – I guess I could say I first met Pope John Paul II on October 16, 1978.
I wasn’t exactly alone with the pontiff. There were hundreds of thousands of others who also met him for the first time that night in St. Peter’s Square when he stepped out on the balcony as the newly elected pope.
And the story you may have heard is absolutely true: When they announced that Polish Cardinal Karol Wojtyla was the new pope, those of us in the press corps - especially those of us broadcasting live - went as white as his robe. Few people ever put the cardinal on their papal short lists and fewer still could immediately understand the name announced over the Vatican’s crackly speaker system.
But we got to know John Paul - who will be beatified Sunday in Rome, the last step before sainthood – very quickly.
