"[It was] a very special and very moving trip."

So said Cantor Ofer Barnoy of Temple Beth Sholom, describing his visit to the Vatican last January, where he joined a delegation of American citizens for a private audience with Pope John Paul II. Barnoy recalled his visit in a talk at last Tuesday's R.E.A.C.H. meeting at the Sid Jacobson JCC.

The pope's death last month attracted the largest funeral in history, with Italian authorities forced to shut down entrance to Vatican City in order to control the millions of pilgrims who had descended upon Rome.

Before the pope's death, Barnoy had his own brief, but personal audience with Pope John Paul II. The trip was sponsored by a group called Pave the Way Foundation, one founded by Gary Krupp, the American liaison to the Vatican and one dedicated to promoted positive relationships between Christians and Jews.

Barnoy admitted that at first, he didn't understand the significance of such a trip. But meeting with Pope John Paul II only months before his eventual death, plus the history of Rome itself made it an unforgettable time for the Roslyn Heights-based cantor.

Gary Krupp, as Barnoy said, has been the American liaison since the mid-1980s. During that period, he developed a good relationship with the pope, helping the Vatican work out details concerning relationships between that tiny nation and Israel, along with relationships with American and world Jewry in general.

Barnoy also recalled Pope John Paul II's lifelong friendships with Jews, including those from his boyhood in rural Poland up to his final will, where he left greetings for the chief Rabbi of Rome.

The trip itself included both American Jews and Christians. In all, about 30 cantors, 70 rabbis, plus a delegation of nuns and priests and other American Christians involved with the Foundation were part of the contingent.

Right away, Barnoy said he noticed the similarities in architecture between Rome and Jerusalem, namely the narrow roads and the shape of the buildings.

Barnoy also described the visit to the Sistine Chapel, home to the world famous painting by Michelangelo. He said he was "stricken by the beautiful colors" and also by the way the famed artist depicted the "history of Judeo-Christianity" with murals telling the story of both Moses and Jesus and highlights from the Old and New Testaments. The Sistine Chapel, as Barnoy related, is also where the conclave of the College of Cardinals is held, the most recent of which elected then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger as the successor to Pope John Paul II.

On the second day of the trip, the delegation had its meeting with the pope.

Scheduled for 11 a.m., the meeting didn't take place until 12:30 p.m. It seemed there was an international crisis that the pope had to attend to. That morning, at 9 a.m. Rome time, a terrorist had abducted an Italian journalist working in China. The pope and his right hand man, then-Cardinal Ratzinger, spent the morning negotiating for the release of the Italian hostage. With that taken care of, the pope was able to meet with the Americans. "He was a busy guy, right up until the end," Barnoy recalled. "And a powerful man, too."

The word that Barnoy kept using to describe the actual meeting in the Vatican "surreal." That feeling comes from not only meeting the pope, but, as Barnoy noted, from standing in the footsteps of all of the world's statesmen who had greeted numerous popes from throughout the centuries.

"It's surreal, it's like you're not there," Barnoy said. "It's like you're watching yourself in a movie. Afterwards, to reflect [on the meeting,] is very powerful."

During their one-hour visit, Krupp gave a speech praising Pope John Paul II for "defending the Jews" as both a priest and a pope and for making reconciliation a cornerstone of his papacy. The speech also noted a papal visit to a synagogue and the establishment of relations between the Vatican and Israel in 1992.

Barnoy himself had all of "10 seconds" with the pope. He recalled another visitor handed the pope a beautiful sculpture and the emotions released by that meeting.

Owing to his advancing condition, Pope John Paul II was only able to make a short speech. But the meeting was memorable just the same, and so were the events for the remainder of the trip.

Barnoy and his companions didn't know it at the time, but they became instant celebrities. That afternoon, a group in the contingent shared a cab back to their hotel. The taxi driver knew who his riders were. It turned out that one of Rome's afternoon dailies had a photo of the contingent meeting with the pope on their front page.

On the evening of the visit, the cantors, Barnoy included, gave a concert for 1,000 people at Rome's Central Synagogue. The building is ancient, so it was lacking in indoor heating. At first, the January weather and the lack of amenities made for cold conditions. But the concert and the atmosphere of the crowd changed all that. "Nothing could have been warmer," Barnoy said, recalling the special evening.

For the rest of the trip, the contingent, as with most tourists, took in the sites. For this, they had their own guide, a man that Barnoy described as only "Rabbi Jerome" or "Rabbi Jerry," a man who had been living in Rome for several years, researching a history of Jews in the Eternal City.

Again, Barnoy emphasized the links between Rome and Jerusalem. Jews who were captured by the Romans after the latter destroyed the ancient Temple were forced into labor camps where they helped to construct the Coliseum and other Roman buildings. After living in exile in Rome for centuries, many of the descendents of those same Jews returned to Israel following that nation's founding in the late 1940s. "Every Jew who wants to learn about Jewish history should visit Rome," Barnoy said.