DETROIT (WXYZ) — From metro Detroit to Vatican City, it's a trip many Catholics have made over the years. However, very few people get a chance to actually speak to the pope one on one.
But back in 2015, a Muslim professor from Wayne State University got that opportunity during a trip he'll never forget.
“It felt like it was a lifetime condensed into just those few minutes," said WSU professor of Global Studies Saeed Kahn. "It was magical.”
Kahn was one of two non-Catholics invited to speak during a conference at the Vatican, and he remembers every detail of the meet and greet as if it was yesterday.
“The inviting cardinal then introduces me to the pope and says 'this is professor Saeed Kahn. He’s from Detroit and he’s a Muslim,'" Kahn recalled. "The Pope, in a very soft and warm and welcoming voice, says to me in English 'thank you for bringing Islam to the Vatican' and I melted.”
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Kahn presented the pope with a translation of the Quran with 3,000 biblical annotations, along with a shirt from the Detroit vs Everybody store that read 'Everybody vs Poverty.'
"The pope gave the widest smile and he gave me a thumbs up,” Kahn said of his reaction to the gift.
Kahn also presented a bag filled with crucifixes, rosaries and other items he collected from his Catholic friends and students to have them blessed.
“I'm sure it probably amused him that here is this Muslim American academic from Detroit with all of this Catholic merch looking to get blessed,” Kahn said.
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Now 10 years later in in his living room, Kahn is reflecting not just on those moments but on the life of Francis just hours after learning of his passing.
"I felt like I lost a friend," Kahn said of learning the news. "I felt like I lost an inspiring figure, I felt like I lost a North Star.”
While Kahn remembers the details of his visit, he also remembers the pope’s warmth and humility, how he stood by his convictions and how he made an impact beyond just the Catholic world.
“Although not myself being a Catholic, (I) felt as though he embodies those virtues and those values that all religions hold in dear and in common,” Kahn said.
Kahn also hasn’t forgotten the special request from Francis that Kahn still honors to this day.
"The very last thing that he told me before I left his company was, he said to me, 'pray for me,'" Kahn said. "That stuck with me to this day, and I certainly honored him and his wish by praying for him.”
