“He really influenced every aspect of my life since I entered seminary,” says Fr. Michael Bugarin, now pastor of St. Joan of Arc Parish in St. Clair Shores, who served as the center’s director from 1998 to 2004.
Sent by Cardinal Edmund Szoka to study at the North American College house of studies in Rome, Fr. Bugarin’s room gave him a clear view of the dome of St. Peter’s Basilica, and the loudspeakers would even carry the sound of the pope’s voice that far when the Holy Father addressed crowds in St. Peter’s Square, he says.
In addition, the young seminarian had the opportunity to serve the pope at Mass, and was actually out on the balcony with him, holding the cross, during the pope’s Christmas 1987 “Ubi et Orbi” address.
In later years, as secretary to Cardinal Adam Maida, Fr. Bugarin accompanied the cardinal on a number of occasions that put him in the pope’s presence.
But more important than these close encounters has been the impact of the substance of Pope John Paul’s papacy. “John Paul II has a very special place in my heart, that’s for sure, especially his constant defense of human life,” he says.
“He has lived the admonition of the Apostle James to preach the Gospel in season and out, whether convenient or not. He has been the constant conscience of the world, a living witness that life is sacred to the very end,” Fr. Bugarin continued.
As director of the cultural center, his work kept him in constant contact with scholars who had firsthand contact with the late Holy Father.
The center sits on 12 wooded acres across from Catholic University of America and near the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. It is a 100,000-square-foot building that is partly a museum, partly a place where families can come to learn more about the Catholic faith in an innovative way, and partly a place for scholars to come together to study and discuss weighty subjects.
Conceived by Cardinal Adam Maida, who spearheaded the effort to raise the $65 million needed to build and equip it, Auxiliary Bishop Walter Hurley oversaw its construction and Fr. Bugarin served as director during its early years of operation.
The center will continue to operate as a lasting tribute to the late pontiff.
