By Eileen Buckley and Mark Scott
Buffalo, NY – Polish-Americans say they have shared great pride in Pope John Paul -- the first Polish Pope. In Buffalo, the two main leaders of the Catholic Diocese -- also Polish -- say they now wait and wonder who will be the next leader of the Roman Catholic Church.
Bishop Edward Kmiec and Auxiliary Bishop Edward Grosz vividly remember the day they learned that the Cardinals selected Pope John Paul as their leader.
"The next door lady, who often could not get things right, told my mother we had a Polish Pope. I said oh my goodness she's been into the cooking wine again," Kmiec said. "So, consequently I put on the TV, and it was a Polish Pope indeed."
"When the Holy Father was elected, I was at the Chancery. I was told they elected a new Pope, and he is Polish. I said, 'you have to be kidding.' So I went in a back room to watch a TV, and there was the Holy Father standing before the crowd," Grosz recalled.
Both say they felt a very strong connection to the Holy Father through their shared ethnic heritage. It helped them communicate with Pope John Paul.
"He said to me in Polish, "dear Bishop Eddy." That was so special to me, because it is an expression of friendship," Kmiec said.
"He always had a great love of Buffalo," Grosz said. "At my last visit in October with the Pope, I said you have given us all these Edwards -- Edward Kmiec, me and Edward Head. He said 'Head, oh the tall guy.' He remembered that."
Bishop Kmiec says it will now be up to the Cardinals to begin the new process of selecting the next Pope -- an election process that has not occurred in 26 years.
"It was interesting to talk with Cardinal Egan. This will be his first selection process. Everyone says it won't be an American who will be named Pope. They seemed to have ruled that out," Kmiec said. "But stranger things have happened in the history of the Church. I did tell him our prayers are with him."
Kmiec says being named pope has to be a "shattering experience." But he says while the Cardinals cast their vote, through their faith, they believe it really lies totally in the hands of God.
Richard Solecki is a former Cheektowaga Town Councilman and community leader who met with the Pope 19 occasions. Click the "listen" icon above to hear his conversation with WBFO's Mark Scott.