The People's Pope

In accordance with the theme of the Apostolic Visit of our beloved Pope Francis to the
Philippines says " Mercy and Compassion", it was indeed a benevolent and sincere willingness of
the Filipino people to have a share of their "mercy and compassion" to those who were victims of
calamities and social issues. There were so many things that I have observed from just merely
watching on the television coverage of his visit.
That was why when Pope Francis was here in our country last January 15-19 to comfort the
calamity victims of Bohol and Typhoon Yolanda and every Filipino from different walks and talks
of life, I saw how these people's eyes glimmered with hope and joy to his coming. We always
believed that the popes were the successors of the disciples and that they were the ones who can
directly talk to God. We also believed that if we were able to hold his hand or maybe just have a
glimpse of Pope Francis even for a second, seeing him is almost like seeing God face to face.
And as what is expected, a large multitude of crowd waited from the day before he arrived at
NAIA along the streets of the path leading to his Apostolic Nunciature in Pasay. Everyday during
the papal visit, me and my mother was also on track of the happenings in the news. I can't help
myself but be teary-eyed because of many heartwarming scenes clearly showing Pope's humility
to the children, his conversations with the poor families, the way he waved his hand and blessed
the people he saw. People did not mind whether they had hungry stomachs, they had sleepovers on
the sidewalks, had been rainshowered after staying out long in the sun and had only been allowed
to stay behind the barricades. All of these were sacrifices to see the pope. And we have seen the
pope too. We also followed the crusade of the mass to renew their faith.
Upon this delightful event, I realized that not just most of us but many people follow the
principle "to see is to believe". We need something to hold on to for our decisions in life and for
the continuation of our faith. We have known quite a bit about Pope and we know that he is just a
simple, old but brilliant man who has vast theological training. Even him, though being the highest
priest in the worldwide church, did not see the Lord face to face. But what mattered to me most
are his principles and his beliefs which had moved a lot of people and touched many lives. He is
known for being "revolutionary" in a sense that he have lived in the contemporary age, addressing
social issues by the use of his influence through media and innovative manner. I admired him for
saying that no one cannot encourage other people to live as a Catholic if they start by
discriminating those who had been misunderstood because of sins and unacceptance of God. He
said that the church is called to draw near to every person, beginning with the poorest and those
who suffer. In short, he embraced every human being without any barriers: for he believed that
social standards were made to destroy deep connections with others.