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# Edmund Waldstein, son of theologians, and the story of the kiss from Pope John Paul II
- URL: https://theparnassian.com/en/est-takaia-raskhozhaia-istoriia-o-rebenke-kotoryi-vyros-i-stal-katolicheskim-sviashchennikom-posle-togo-kak-ego-potseloval-papa-ioann-pavel-ii/
- Published: 2022-10-24T16:31:22.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-02T19:07:37.000Z
- Author: Alexandr Radayev
- Tags: Faith, Observations, People, Humour

There is a popular story about a child who grew up to become a Catholic priest after being kissed by Pope John Paul II. It is usually shared as a headline and a photograph in which the Pope brings his lips to the head of an infant. One would not wish to dispute a universally acknowledged miracle, but the man in question, Edmund Waldstein, who did indeed take holy orders in 2011, was not merely kissed by the Roman Pontiff in infancy. He is also the son of a pair of theologians who studied at the Thomas Aquinas College and the Pontifical Biblical Academy and taught at the International Theological Institute; he himself attended a Catholic school, took part in church services from childhood, and was surrounded by an enormous number of priests. Would you not agree that this, too, might have played its part in the choice of a pastoral path, and not merely a single touch from the pontiff?