As an aside, though, it is not beyond the realms of possibility that some highly ranked official in the Catholic church did comment favourably on the evangelistic approach taken by Jehovahs Witnesses. I have heard such comments myself, from an admittedly lay member of the church, but one whose level of faith could only be described as "greater than devout".
Indeed it’s the sort of mild compliment that others give to JWs all the time in preference to being rude or calling them heretics. Who knows if the pope really said this? We weren’t there. But it’s entirely plausible as the kind of response he might have made to a relative upon finding out she had become a JW. What would people rather him say, “well I called up to greet and recall our shared childhood but now that I find you’ve become a JW burn in hell!” 😆
The woman was apparently disappointed the pope never contacted her again especially when he visited Australia three years later. That’s perhaps its own story. His magnanimity and desire for reaching out to old friends early in the role had perhaps worn out as the pressures of the position took their toll. (All complete speculation, of course, before the numpties again point out the bleeding obvious.)