Detroit — “A real connection, a real special bond with a soon-to-be-saint,” is how Fr. Walter Ptak describes his spiritual relationship with Blessed John Paul II.

Fr. Ptak, who will lead a pilgrimage from Metro Detroit to Rome and Assisi for the April 27 canonizations of Pope John Paul II and Pope John XXIII, calls this trip a “crowning event for me personally.”

Fr. Ptak is no stranger to Pope John Paul II, having attended the pope’s 25th anniversary in 2004, his funeral the following year and beatification in 2011.

Fr. Ptak, who serves as president of the Polish American Priests Association and dean of human formation at SS. Cyril & Methodius Seminary in Orchard Lake, also finds a strong bond through their shared Polish heritage. Having met the pope first in May 1984 while visiting Rome as a student at Orchard Lake Schools, he’s had the privilege of being in his presence several times.

“There was a priest who was a friend of John Paul II,” said Fr. Ptak, explaining that their school group made it to the edge of the barricade in St. Peter’s Square. When the pope saw the priest, “he came over and shook his hand.”

“I was just so excited,” Fr. Ptak said, adding that “when you were in his presence, you really felt the holiness coming from him. Not just an ‘air’ about him, but who he was.”

“I had to go back for the last of these beautiful celebrations,” he said, explaining that even John Paul II’s funeral, though sad, was beautiful as “an outpouring of love and unity and faith.”

“As soon as the date of canonization was announced I was making plans,” Fr. Ptak said of the pilgrimage, which he’s leading through The Catholic Tour Company based in Beachwood, Ohio.

And though he isn’t as familiar with Pope John XXIII, who died when Fr. Ptak was a small child, he sees the double canonization as “a blessing for the Church, and a boost for the Church in the 21st century.”

“He seemed to be the original ‘people’s pope,’” said Fr. Ptak. “Even before John Paul II came on scene there was ‘Good Pope John’ beloved by so many because of a real love for the people.”

Eva Fleck, who is organizing a pilgrimage for the parishioners of SS. Cyril & Methodius Parish in Sterling Heights, said that as soon as she heard the canonization would be on Divine Mercy Sunday, “it touched my heart. I felt called and wanted to ask other people to come.”

Fleck, who is Czechoslovakian, remembers her father listening to Radio Free Europe for the announcement of the new pope in 1978.

“We heard the new pope was Karol Wojtyla,” said Fleck, who now resides in Troy. “We didn’t know who he was, but he had the same background as us.”

She is working with SS. Cyril & Methodius’ associate pastor Fr. John Simoneau, LC, who will serve as spiritual director and travel guide, and will bring along prayers and petitions from fellow parishioners.

“I really feel God’s hand moving us,” said Fleck, who said plans have worked out amazingly, including obtaining tickets to the pope’s summer residence in Castel Gandolfo. Additionally, they will be able to attend Mass on one of the days at the Papal Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, where Fr. Simoneau was ordained.

“I’m on Cloud Nine because everything is coming so beautifully,” she said.