N.J. artist commissioned for official pope portrait

EWING, N.J. (WPVI) -- A Ewing, New Jersey artist calls it divine intervention that he was commissioned to create the official local portrait of the pontiff.

Perry Milou's two paintings, "A Prayer for Peace" and "The Holy Day", have been exclusively licensed by the World Meeting of Families.

Milou - once a pop artist and now a Pope artist - also survived a brain tumor, and says he feels he was destined for this job.

He tells us, "I said to myself, 'You know, I know Pope Francis is going to be on this parkway, he is going to be in front of our iconic, beautiful Museum of Art.' And I wanted to put in front of the throng of what they're saying may be one and a half million people waving. It's just going to be such a defining moment, a historical moment in our city, in our country, and for the world."

Milou's images will be used on t-shirts, mugs, and other commemorative items. They'll also be on display at the Pennsylvania Convention Center.

He says he would trade in everything to hand the works to Pope Francis and to have them hang at the Vatican.