“He would always walk through the hallways with his briefcase, we would always find him at the chapel, and he would walk around the hallways blessing everyone,” said childhood friend Connie Maiorino with a chuckle. “It was nice. He has always been kind to everyone.”
Delegates attending Leo’s elevation to the College of Cardinals in Rome on Dec. 7 raved about his kind, patient nature and his ability to be a present listener. Maiorino said he exhibited this quality of poise from a young age.
“Even when kids are when they are young he would just smile and nod and say, ‘God bless you,’ or he would crack a joke about himself before they would say anything,” said Maiorino. “He never answered back or rebelled. There were those kids who would say something mean, but he would let it ride and laugh at it.”
Maiorino admires and “loves to death” her “older brother” Leo, and her husband Johnny came to know and love the eventual Archbishop of Toronto.
During the years Leo preached in Montreal following his priestly ordination on Dec. 14, 1996, the couple served as a “Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants” for Leo. They would follow him to a new parish in Montreal whenever he was assigned a new placement.
“He is a great, great man,” said Johnny. “His preaching is always down to Earth and he always uses examples that we would understand. They are never far-fetched. Everyone enjoys his homilies and no one gets fed up listening to them no matter if the homily is five minutes or 45 minutes. He doesn’t get boring.”
They fondly recall how Leo would sometimes use visual props — most often pictures on a stick — in his sermons to engage and relate with the youth and children in attendance. For example, one time when speaking about the Daily Bread, he held slices of bread in his hand to attract their attention and accentuate his talking points.
Beyond Mass each Sunday, the Maiorinos valued that Leo, despite his always busy schedule, would make a concentrated effort to attend monthly Rosary gatherings with them for over 10 years.
It was difficult for the Maiorinos to say goodbye to their friend during the years he served the Diplomatic Relations of the Holy See in Australia (2006-11) and Hong Kong (2011-12), but at the same time, they respected and understood his heartfelt desire to obediently serve the Church.
The Maiorinos have indeed made it resoundingly clear that they have been enriched to call Leo a friend over the years. Once, he rushed over to the hospital late at night to confer a blessing upon Johnny when he experienced a downturn in his health.
But it is also clear that Leo is proud to have the couple in his life. The Register observed Leo excitedly introducing the couple to various emissaries in the lobby of the Hotel Giustiniano.
“They’re my friends since childhood… in the hood!”
When asked about what Leo values most about calling the Maiorinos his friends, Connie said he values that they are transparent and comfortable talking with each other about anything.
Connie, who owns a bakery in Montreal, also has the pleasure of bonding with Leo over his father, Francesco, who is a loyal customer. When the elder Leo was feeling ill and could not come to her location, she ensured delivery of his weekly bread order.
She finds it remarkable that even though Leo has met “over a million people” because of his various roles in the Canadian Catholic Church and beyond, he strongly recalls all 30 of her cousins.
“He remembers who the jokester was,” said Connie. “He would ask, ‘does he still say that joke?’ And for another cousin he would ask, ‘does she still play for patients?’ I just think, ‘how do you remember all this?’ He just doesn’t hear people, he listens.”
The deep bond shared between Leo and the Maiorinos has now taken them all to Rome. People who know of the Maiorinos’ ties to Leo have approached them since the Oct. 6 announcement that he would become a cardinal and comment “this is not a surprise. He’s the next Pope.”
“I always tell my wife, ‘don’t lose his email address or phone number,’ we could have direct access to the next Pope,” joked Johnny.