in a thread called "white trash fatty gets pope tattoo"!
MERIDEN, Conn. (AP) -- While tens of thousands at St. Peter's Square in Vatican City and millions around the world prayed for Pope John Paul II during his final days, city resident Susan Kilchewski-Gregoire watched from her home and decided to remember the Pope in her own way.
The tattoo, her 27th, takes up most of the right side of her right calf.
Kilchewski-Gregoire will remember the pontiff whenever she looks at a large tattoo she had placed on her leg this week.
"I know he's always with me from heaven, but I can look down on my leg and he's with me all the time," she said.
Kilchewski-Gregoire usually goes to A Second Skin Tattoo & Body Piercing Studio to get her tattoos from artist George Smith, but store manager Keith Janiak helped put the tattoo of Pope John Paul II on her leg, since "he's the best doing the faces."
Janiak joked that he had done a lot of portraits on people, including Jesus and Mary, but he had never ventured a try at the leader of the Catholic Church.
"I do a lot of portraits on people before, but it's usually
family members and stuff," he said Friday. "The Pope is a new one. I was interested in doing it. It was pretty neat to give it a shot."
Janiak created Kilchewski-Gregoire's tattoo from a magazine cover she had with her. The process took about an hour and a half and cost around $250, he said. Kilchewski-Gregoire said she didn't mind the price tag at all.
"I don't care if I had to pay $1,000 for it," she said. Smith, who has given Kilchewski-Gregoire tattoos of angels and roses many times before, said it didn't surprise him that she asked for the pope.
While some people may think it's odd to glorify the Pope in such a way, Smith said he believed it was pretty normal.
"It's not strange. It's the pope," he said. "We sit here and do Mary and Jesus, why not the pope?"
Kilchewski-Gregoire attends Saints Peter and Paul Church in Wallingford and she said while the tattoo works for her, it might not be right for everyone.
"A lot of older religious people, I don't think they would get a tattoo," she said. "But this is my pride and joy."
Local clergy found the sign of appreciation strange, but
believed there was nothing wrong with expressing love for the pope.
The Rev. Joseph Parzymies from Saints Peter and Paul said he's seen people with tattoos showing their devotion to Jesus, and didn't believe there was anything different about having the pope plastered on someone's skin.
"They'll get one with Him or the blessed mother on there, too," he added. "Most people try to channel their religion in another fashion, but religion has to be expressed emotionally, too.
It's a matter of one's taste, too."
The Rev. Edmond Nadolny from St. Stanislaus Church in Meriden said he wouldn't be getting a tattoo himself and doubted anyone ever got a tattoo of the pope before.
"Not in my lifetime, and I suspect not in God's lifetime
either," he said.
But he added he believed Kilchewski-Gregoire's love for the pope was pure.
"I'm sure she's very sincere in her love for the pope and she's using a unique way of remembering him. I think we have to look at her sincerity."
For Kilchewski-Gregoire, the decision was an easy one to make.
"He helped everybody out. He cried with us. He laughed with us," she said. "I believe he was our last chance to save this world. Maybe up in heaven, he can still help."
MERIDEN, Conn. (AP) -- While tens of thousands at St. Peter's Square in Vatican City and millions around the world prayed for Pope John Paul II during his final days, city resident Susan Kilchewski-Gregoire watched from her home and decided to remember the Pope in her own way.
The tattoo, her 27th, takes up most of the right side of her right calf.
Kilchewski-Gregoire will remember the pontiff whenever she looks at a large tattoo she had placed on her leg this week.
"I know he's always with me from heaven, but I can look down on my leg and he's with me all the time," she said.
Kilchewski-Gregoire usually goes to A Second Skin Tattoo & Body Piercing Studio to get her tattoos from artist George Smith, but store manager Keith Janiak helped put the tattoo of Pope John Paul II on her leg, since "he's the best doing the faces."
Janiak joked that he had done a lot of portraits on people, including Jesus and Mary, but he had never ventured a try at the leader of the Catholic Church.
"I do a lot of portraits on people before, but it's usually
family members and stuff," he said Friday. "The Pope is a new one. I was interested in doing it. It was pretty neat to give it a shot."
Janiak created Kilchewski-Gregoire's tattoo from a magazine cover she had with her. The process took about an hour and a half and cost around $250, he said. Kilchewski-Gregoire said she didn't mind the price tag at all.
"I don't care if I had to pay $1,000 for it," she said. Smith, who has given Kilchewski-Gregoire tattoos of angels and roses many times before, said it didn't surprise him that she asked for the pope.
While some people may think it's odd to glorify the Pope in such a way, Smith said he believed it was pretty normal.
"It's not strange. It's the pope," he said. "We sit here and do Mary and Jesus, why not the pope?"
Kilchewski-Gregoire attends Saints Peter and Paul Church in Wallingford and she said while the tattoo works for her, it might not be right for everyone.
"A lot of older religious people, I don't think they would get a tattoo," she said. "But this is my pride and joy."
Local clergy found the sign of appreciation strange, but
believed there was nothing wrong with expressing love for the pope.
The Rev. Joseph Parzymies from Saints Peter and Paul said he's seen people with tattoos showing their devotion to Jesus, and didn't believe there was anything different about having the pope plastered on someone's skin.
"They'll get one with Him or the blessed mother on there, too," he added. "Most people try to channel their religion in another fashion, but religion has to be expressed emotionally, too.
It's a matter of one's taste, too."
The Rev. Edmond Nadolny from St. Stanislaus Church in Meriden said he wouldn't be getting a tattoo himself and doubted anyone ever got a tattoo of the pope before.
"Not in my lifetime, and I suspect not in God's lifetime
either," he said.
But he added he believed Kilchewski-Gregoire's love for the pope was pure.
"I'm sure she's very sincere in her love for the pope and she's using a unique way of remembering him. I think we have to look at her sincerity."
For Kilchewski-Gregoire, the decision was an easy one to make.
"He helped everybody out. He cried with us. He laughed with us," she said. "I believe he was our last chance to save this world. Maybe up in heaven, he can still help."
