Fr. Joe Walijewski and St. Jospeh

Important day to remember a Sconnie up-and-coming saint.

It was a calling that was cultivated by his mother and, while his father was hesitant at first to let his son go away to seminary at a young age, he too eventually gave the young man his blessing to discern a calling to the priesthood.

When speaking of his mother, Father Joe would often recall her three wishes – first, that she would have a son named Joseph who would become a priest; second, that he would build a church in honor of St. Joseph – which he did when he built the chapel of St. Joseph in Villa el Salvador, Peru, during his missionary days; and, third, that she would die on one of St. Joseph's feast days – a request God fulfilled for her when He took her from this earth in 1970 on the Church's universal Feast of St. Joseph, March 19.

Also check these out, courtesy of The Catholic Times

Father Joseph Walijewski talks with Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (center),
the future Pope Benedict XVI, and Monsignor Luiggi Docena, then-apostolic
nuncio of Peru, during the future pope’s trip to Peru in 1986.

Pope John Paul II embraces Father Joseph Walijewski during one of the
two meetings between the two men. After visiting with Father Walijewski,
John Paul donated $50,000 toward the orphanage Father Walijewski would
found in Lurin, Peru, and named Casa Hogar Juan Pablo II after the pontiff.

I did an interview with Bp. Callahan on Fr. Joe but haven't had time to transcribe it. The Catholic Times has a couple pretty good article over there.