POPE FRANCIS FEVER

Pope Francis

I've been blessed to have seen two popes. Well... three, now...

How infectious is that smile?
*photo from huffingtonpost.com

I happen to live a couple of blocks from the Apostolic Nunciature so, it isn't much of an effort to have a peek at arriving popes that swing by Manila on Pastoral visits. The first pope I saw was Pope Paul VI who came to Manila during the pre-Martial Law days. I was ten years old then so I have no recollection of the dates of this particular Papal visit. What I can recall is that, the pope mobile was non-existent then. He was brought to and from the Papal nuncio in a black limousine (presidential car?) and he stood out on an open sun-roof as he blessed the throngs of people that lined the streets to greet him.

Then came Pope John Paul II. He visited the country twice. 1989 and in 1995. That much I remember since  he came for the canonization of St Lorenzo Ruiz and then the next visit was for the World Youth Day celebrations. During his visit, he set a Guiness world record for the most number of attendees to the celebration of the Mass at the Quirino Grandstand with a whopping five million Filipinos in a single venue at a single particular time. The crowd was so thick the Pope had to be airlifted since the crowd had become unmanageable much to the consternation of the Vatican security. He went around in a bullet-proof encased white pope mobile made by the Sarao jeepney builders.

Pope Paul VI

In both instances, attempts at a papal assassination were thwarted. Thank God! Pope Paul VI's would be killer was a Bolivian painter that disguised himself as a priest. It was allegedly President Marcos who foiled the attempt by dealing the man with a karate chop that sent the knife falling off the killer's hand. The event is in a hand-written diary of President Marcos that's still in the Malacanang Museum. Critics, though, feel the entry would have been highly-unlikely. 

As for St John Paul II's assassination attempt, It was a middle eastern terrorist who had settled at the Josefa Apartments along Quirino Avenue who was arrested. They found a cache of explosives in the room which he was renting aimed at blowing up the would-be saint to smithereens. I can remember during John Paul II's visit, the faithful were allowed to camp out in front of the nunciature all evening. Some of the faithful would gather in groups in prayer and in song. That prompted the pontiff to come out of the balcony a couple of times to bless the crowds and in his surly sense of humor tell the crowd "Go home, I'll sleep now".

So this time, around, security was extremely tight. No more milling around in  Taft Avenue as Pope Francis needed all the rest he can get due to a tightly packed schedule of activities. There were no mobile signals as well. The highlight of his visit was to be a trip to Leyte to commiserate with the victims of Yolanda. Ironically, it was another storm (Amang) that shortened his much awaited visit to the province ravaged by the storm. Nonetheless, the Mass, the motorcade, the luncheon and the visit to Palo were still precious to our dear countrymen.

His Mass at the Quirino Grandstand was replete with a full orchestra, 1000 voice choir, sinulog dancers. For decor, a multitude of the lowly San Francisco potted plants abundant in our shores and an estimated 6-8 million people in attendance some of them bearing images of the Santo Nino . How does that grab you? 

All three popes were different in their disposition and appearance. Pope Paul was Italian and he had a slight frame and large dark eyes. His features were sharp and fine boned owing , I guess, to his Roman roots. He also smiled slightly and looked rather formal as he looked at his flock.  Pope John Paul II was a big burly guy that had a large frame and a heavy set jawline. He was Polish and his demeanor reminded one of a steel worker in one of those sweatshops run by a socialist government. Pope Francis is rounder and more jovial. His smile hits you like a warm knife on cold butter... yeah, he melts your heart. But despite their differences all three men have an air of holiness about them. They have a strong presence that pulls you in without being over-powering. One gets a sense of comfort and security just by looking at them even from a distance. I guess that's the Holy Spirit at work. But whatever it is, you can't just look at their motorcade passing by and forget about them instantly. You can actually feel a palpable presence once you see them reducing you to tears of pure bliss.

Pope Francis celebrating Mass in the midst of a storm in Leyte
*photo from rappler.com

In his four day visit to Manila, I saw him everytime he goes off to a function but I was only able to capture fleeting moments of Pope Francis on video, Forget about taking pictures with a DSLR, The crowd's just too thick and too frenetic to take a clear shot especially during his arrival where we were like packed sardines waiting for the motorcade along Quirino Avenue. I'm fortunate to be strategically located as opposed to those who I've met who came all the way from Binangonan and Tarlac just to see Pope Francis. They had to walk for miles just to get to my neck of the woods due to blocked roads and re-routed traffic.  I can only boast of brief experiences with three popes - one is now a saint! How many have had the opportunity to see a saint in their lifetime? I'm blessed! That should've been enough experience... NOT!

*I would've included my videos, but the upload is  so painstakingly slow...