For two Missouri Southern students, a trip to Rome turned into the experience of a lifetime.

Anna Baker, senior psychology major, and Aaron Duff, junior literature major, were each granted a private audience with the late Pope John Paul II on Jan. 5. For Baker and Duff, both Roman Catholics, the opportunity to meet the Pope came as a total surprise.

“One of the priests who had come to Southern to give mass mentioned that he went to Rome every year, and I asked him to take me,” Baker said. “I was really just half-joking, but he took it seriously and said that if I could come up with some of the money, the diocese would pay the rest.”

Duff said he decided to take part in the trip, too, and, aside from himself and Baker; the group consisted of the priest and three other older adults.

“Rome is the Mecca of the Roman Catholic Faith,” Duff said. “I was very delighted to have the opportunity to go.”

As part of the visit to Rome, the group planned on attending a general audience with Pope John Paul II, which Baker and Duff describe as “a public gathering that the Pope presides over. It’s thousands of people who go just to see him for a brief moment.”

When they got there, they saw that there was a group of reserved seats open at the front of the auditorium for those people who were going to have a private audience with the Pope.

“The priest we were with told us that he knew somebody, and then he told us that we were going to meet the Pope,” Baker said. “It turns out that the person he knew just happened to be the man who was selecting audience members to meet the Pope that day. What are the odds?”

Duff said having the private audience, which he described as an opportunity to meet the Pope in person and receive a private blessing from him, was extra special in retrospect since Jan. 5 was one of the last times John Paul II was strong enough to have a private audience.

“He was in very lifted spirits that day,” Duff said. “It was a special time to be there with him before his final illnesses set in and he perished.”

Baker also described the Pope as being in high spirits on Jan. 5.

“I know he was really sick, but he was still waving to the crowds and smiling and laughing,” Baker said. “He was just having a blast. Even though he was not doing well physically, he was still very alive spiritually.”

Duff said he asked the Pope for a special blessing regarding the beginning of his seminary studies in the fall.

“To know that I have received that blessing from him is something that will sustain me until, God willing, the day of my ordination,” Duff said. “It was very gentle and very kind, like talking to my grandfather.”

Baker did not have enough time to speak to the Pope, but she still received a silent blessing from him.

“I kissed his ring, and I thought I was going to faint,” Bakers said. “It was just the most incredible experience.”

Baker and Duff, who were both born within Pope John Paul II’s papacy, describe the late pontiff’s legacy as one of selflessness and love for all people of the world, regardless of religious orientation.

“John Paul II gave so willingly of himself, first crossing the lines of Catholicism, and then crossing the lines of Christianity as he was the first pontiff to enter a mosque,” Duff said. “He made great changes and I think his views are something we need to hold onto.”

Baker said Pope John Paul II’s life was an example for us to follow.

“I believe that he spoke absolute truth and we need to learn to live by his words and his actions,” Baker said. “He set the bar pretty high.”