From visiting his jailed father to preparing for the Holy Father

WHEN STEFAN Johnson was just a kid, he served as an altar boy at the Cathedral Basilica of Ss. Peter and Paul during a dark period in Philadelphia's history, when murdered cop after murdered cop was laid to rest there between 2007 and 2009.

Meanwhile, Stefan's own father, whom he has never met outside of prison walls, was serving a life sentence for abetting in a double murder for hire.

A few years later, when Stefan was a college student at Villanova University, he spent many quiet moments alone inside the hallowed walls of the basilica every Sunday night before locking it up.

At just 18, the Archdiocese of Philadelphia had entrusted Stefan with the security of its mother church - and he never let the church down.

Now, the Archdiocese and the World Meeting of Families have entrusted Stefan, 23, with helping to coordinate what may be the biggest moment ever to occur at the basilica - the mass that Pope Francis will celebrate there before 1,500 faithful on Sept. 26.

Stefan, who grew up in West and South Philly, put off cashing in on his Truman Scholarship for grad school so he could work for the World Meeting of Families. Not that he needed the pope to pad his resume. Stefan has already interned at the White House, City Hall and the Archdiocese.

He was also one of the few blacks to serve as student body president at Roman Catholic High School, and he's used his experience as the child of an incarcerated parent to mentor other kids with jailed moms and dads.

On top of all that, Stefan's 2010 letter to President Obama - and the personal response it received from the president - were featured in the book Ten Letters: The Stories Americans Tell Their President by Pulitzer Prize winner Eli Saslow.

But ask any of the dozen or more people whom Stefan considers mentors, and they will say it's his attitude and his heart that are Stefan's best qualities.

"He has a quiet confidence but his humility is what makes him so effective," said former Philadelphia Mayor W. Wilson Goode Sr., who chaired the panel that selected Stefan as a Truman scholar. "The fact that he is able to be humble in the role he now plays because he sees it as a responsibility he has been given says a lot about his character."

Stefan's father was given a life sentence while Stefan was still in his mother's womb.

"Despite that, my mother always made a point of taking me to visit my dad and that meant the world to me," Stefan said. "It was important to know that I was loved by my dad, even if I didn't see him outside of prison.

"Even though my father committed a crime, he's still my father," Stefan said. "And he always emphasized his desire for me to only enter prison as a visitor and not as a resident."

In his father's absence, Stefan's maternal grandparents played a big role in his life and Stefan formed a particular bond with his late grandfather, James Johnson.

Meanwhile, Stefan's mother, Monica Johnson, often worked two jobs to make ends meet.

"I made sacrifices, but who hasn't nowadays," Monica said. "But my father has helped, my brother has helped, and the Archdiocese has been good to us.

"There has been sacrifice, but you see the end result," she said. "It's definitely paying off."

For the first years of his life, Stefan attended a Baptist church with his grandfather, but when his mom, who was attending Catholic Masses, went in for a minor surgery when Stefan was 6 and ended up on life support for two weeks, the experience had a profound impact on Stefan's family.

"I woke up, still on life support, and started praying," Monica said. "I had many people praying for me as well."

Monica believes it was the power of prayer that pulled her through, and when she was in the clear, both she and her son were officially baptized into the Catholic faith on the same day. They initially joined St. Ignatius of Loyola Parish in West Philly but both now call the cathedral their home parish.

When it was time for Stefan to go to high school, Monica knew just where she wanted her son to go - Roman Catholic High, an all boys school in Center City.

"I just felt like it would be a good fit for Stefan, but at first, he didn't get in, so I pushed forward," Monica said.

A nun urged Monica to keep trying, and on the third attempt, her son was accepted into the school.

The Rev. Joseph Bongard, president of Roman Catholic, said Stefan, while not initially one of the headliners at the school, was always present, involved and developing relationships.

"One of the things that's very evident now, he's very quiet and unassuming, but he's very driven," Bongard said. "His leadership style is not boisterous or loud, it's firm, it's resolved and it's direct."

Inspired by Obama's 2008 presidential run, Stefan ran for student body president and was one of the few black students to win.

Bongard began telling Stefan that he should write to Obama and tell him his story, because the two shared similarities.

After Bongard dropped the hint about eight times, Stefan wrote to the president and told him about his own presidential campaign, his absent father and the important role his grandparents played in his life.

But Stefan didn't tell anyone - not his mother or Bongard - that he'd written to the president.

Stefan remembers the day - May 17, 2010 - when Obama's personal response to him arrived.

"He said, 'Stefan, thanks for the letter. You're a really incredible person and keep up the great work,' " Stefan recalled.

During high school, Stefan served as an altar boy at the basilica and volunteered with the Archdiocese's Office for Black Catholics.

The Rev. Stephen Thorne, pastor at St. Martin de Porres and former director of the Office for Black Catholics, said Stefan is a "rooted young man" of strong faith.

"I could tell he was a unique young person," Thorne said. "It's great to see someone progress as he has, but it all began filing papers in the Office for Black Catholics."

Upon graduating from high school, Stefan attended La Salle University for a year and then transferred to Villanova, where he majored in political science.

While going to college, Stefan worked as a sacristan for the basilica, often closing the church up on Sunday nights, and he interned with the Archdiocese's communications office, where he worked under Donna Crilley Farrell, who is now the executive director of the World Meeting of Families.

Stefan also interned at Councilman Kenyatta Johnson's office during college and at the White House, where he worked in the Office of Presidential Correspondence, reading letters like the one he had sent to President Obama.

"I read many compelling letters, but the ones that touched me the most were from families of fallen service members," said Stefan, who is no relation to the councilman. "I also read letters from people who couldn't pay their mortgages or their student loans, and those were tough to read as well."

When he worked in City Hall, Rae-Maria Smith, an administrative aide in Council President Darrell Clarke's office who knew Stefan from his days at St. Ignatius, was proud to introduce him around the building.

"One thing that really stands out, in spite of all the accolades and awards, it hasn't affected him," Smith said of Stefan. "He doesn't have a sense of entitlement. His whole perspective is that everything is a blessing."

In his junior year of college, at the suggestion of a professor, Stefan applied for a highly competitive Truman Scholarship.

The $30,000 federal scholarship is for college juniors with leadership potential to use toward graduate school. Winners have five years to use the funds.

Goode, the former mayor, did not know Stefan before the scholarships were granted. But afterward, Stefan sought him out and asked if he could establish a program between students from Villanova and kids within Goode's Amachi program, which seeks to connect the children of incarcerated parents with mentors.

"He did an amazing job on that," Goode said. "I have come to appreciate him as a man of great intellect and [intuition] far beyond his age."

Stefan said it wasn't a hard decision to postpone graduate school for a chance to help plan the papal visit.

"This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity with Pope Francis," Stefan said. "Based on my previous work with the church and what faith has meant in my life, I knew this would be remarkable."

Stefan serves as a liaison to the World Meeting's 15 committees and he's the World Meeting's liaison for the papal Mass at the basilica, a role that requires him to work with the city, the Secret Service and other agencies.

"He's blowing everybody out of the water, he's terrific," Farrell said. "He's got a quiet confidence, and I hope this experience only enhances it because it is so extraordinary."

Stefan said he's humbled by the trust organizers have in him.

"I feel fortunate that my supervisors feel confident enough in me to allow me to make decisions for a monumental Mass," he said.

Thorne, who worked with Stefan in the Office of Black Catholics, said Stefan highlights the role of young black men in Philadelphia and the Catholic Church.

"Sometimes, you don't always see the role of black people in the Catholic Church and Stefan shows that though our numbers may be small, the impact is tremendous," Thorne said. "I'm proud of Stefan, and I think Pope Francis would be pleased that someone like him is involved in such a level of planning for an event like this."

Stefan isn't sure what he'll do when his employment with the World Meeting of Families comes to an end in December. Eventually, he'll attend graduate school, where he hopes to get his master's in public policy and perhaps, a law degree.

He wants to work in the public sector or at a nonprofit, where he can address the issues that matter to him most, like mass incarceration and poverty, two issues that also are close to Pope Francis' heart. The pope will visit with prisoners and their families when he travels to Philadelphia next month.

As for Stefan, Farrell said she looks forward to what will come next for him.

"Stefan has a real passion for community service and leadership," she said. "I hope it only grows stronger and that he stays in Philadelphia and becomes a part of the fabric of the leadership that makes this city great."

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