Kiwis shared some special moments with John Paul II

Ian Thompson received a Papal Knighthood in 1987.

Auckland woman Olga Cornwall and her family met the Pope in 1991 during a holiday.

"We had just arrived in Rome and we didn't actually know until we got there that we were going to be able to meet him."

The special meeting is a memory she will always treasure. "He was awesome," she said. "It was like a dream, unbelievable really."

Ian and Marie Thompson were another Auckland family who had the honour of meeting the Pope.

Mr Thompson was given a Papal Knighthood in 1987 for services to the church.

Mrs Thompson said her late husband was honoured to meet "someone like the Pope". She also had the honour of meeting him briefly when he came to New Zealand and found him a "wonderful sort of guy, very easy to meet".

Mrs Thompson said she was saddened but also relieved by the Pope's passing. Like many Catholics around the country Mrs Thompson said a prayer for the Pope at Mass yesterday.

Father Ezio Blasoni was one of several directors to help organise the Pope's visit to New Zealand in 1986. He spent two and a half days travelling with the Holy Father and came away with a great impression of him.

Father Blasoni said the Pope was very informed, interested in the people he had come to visit and very sympathetic to the diversity of cultures in New Zealand.

"He was very switched on. He was very easy in company. When you were in his presence you got the impression he was interested in you.

"He was not demanding at all."

Herald photographer Glenn Jeffrey met the Pope last year while covering the 60th commemorations at Monte Cassino, after which he followed the Prime Minister Helen Clark to the Vatican.

He then had his chance to meet the Holy Father, an event which remains "one of the greatest honours" of his life.