“First of all, a sad piece of news,” Pope Francis began in his address to the Filipino youth on January 18. He spoke of the accident in Tacloban the day before, where a collapse of scaffolding left Yolanda social worker Kristel Padasas dead. “She was 27 years old, young like yourselves.”
His speech, given at the University of Santo Tomas (UST) football field Sunday morning, was originally intended to discuss care for the environment. However, it took a spontaneous direction after testimonies from selected Filipino youth and yesterday’s turn of events. It was delivered in Spanish and translated by Msgr. Mark Gerard Miles.
Among those who spoke at the event were Rikki Macolor and Leandro Santos II, UST students who talked of faith in the age of information and science. Fourteen-year-old Jun Chura and 12-year-old Gyzelle Palomar spoke of their experiences as the urban poor, which included growing up exposed to drugs and prostitution. Formerly street children, both are now with Tulay ng Kabataan, the same foundation that took in the kids the Pope met after his mass at the Manila Cathedral last Friday.
Palomar broke down, asking why God allows prostitution to happen. In the open field, a watching throng of at least 24, 000 stood under the graying sky, holding up hoods and plastic covers in the slow patter of rain.
Response to reality
Palomar did not finish her speech. The Pope pulled her into a silent hug. The program, which began at 9:50 AM, opened with a performance of the official papal visit song “We Are All God’s Children,” and the series of sharings. Afterward, a Liturgy of the Word was given, with Prayers of the Faithful said in Ilocano, Kapampangan, Tabaco, Bicolano, Cebuano, Waray and Hiligaynon.
In his homily, the Pope said: “Only when we, too, can cry about the things you said can we come close to answering that question. Why do children suffer so much? When the heart is able to ask itself and weep, then we can understand something.”
The Pope related this to women, saying that they are more in touch with this sensibility and that Palomar’s tears were a way of asking.
“Women have much to tell us in today’s society,” he said. “Sometimes we are too ‘machistas’ and we don’t allow enough space to women. But women can see things from a different angle… with a different eye. Women are able to pose questions we men are unable to understand. Look out for this fact: She is the only one who has put a question for which there is no answer.”
“Nakakaantig ng puso ‘yong sinasabi niya, kinikilabutan ako (What Pope Francis said touched my heart. I felt goose bumps),” said Alyssa Leong, an A communication junior who had come independently, of the Pope’s sentiments on weeping. Leong, not expecting the subject matter to be raised, was grateful that Pope Francis recognized women’s capabilities. “It meant a lot to each and every Filipina,” she said.
Brother Kim Buñag, S.J., meanwhile, clapped as loud as he could. “[Pope Francis] was very keen on who was speaking and not speaking, reflecting his sensitivity to social inequalities,” said Buñag, who accompanied the Ateneo delegation. “He emphasized the great contribution women have in giving a different perspective on the Church and their being left out, in a forum like this, is a loss to the Church.”
The Pope’s turn of speech seemed directed towards responding to Padasas’ accident and Palomar’s sharing. Buñag added that the introduction set the tone for the rest of the morning, which had “Pope Francis [leave] his prepared speech to encounter real people.”
“Sorry if I haven’t read what I prepared for you, but there is a phrase that consoles me: That reality is superior to ideas,” the Pope said. “The reality that you have is superior to the paper I have in front of me.”
Criticism and conservatism
Despite this, Pope Francis said in a 2013 statement that the doors of the Church remain closed to women priests. Though known for his more pluralist views, the Pope is still receiving criticism for his conservative stance on same-sex marriage and abortion. In his meeting with families at the Mall of Asia Arena last Friday, he said that family life is being threatened by attempts to redefine the institution of marriage.
However, he had also previously stated that women “could have a greater role in the Church” and that he was not in a position to judge homosexuals.
Buñag said the Pope, in his message at UST, emphasized that “their [women] being left out, in a forum like this, is a loss to the Church.”
According to Briel Lising, member of Ateneo Catechetical Instruction League (ACIL), tackling issues of technology and the role of women is characteristic of the Pope. “For the two issues to be discussed by the head of the Roman Catholic Church, an institution normally characterized by tradition and the patriarchy, is… not conventional,” Lising said. “[Him] bringing up the two issues is highly appreciated.”
Lising was one of the 200 representatives of the Ateneo de Manila University Loyola Schools sent to the meeting with the youth. He shared that the Pope’s words affirmed his advocacy as a catechist, and served as “a guide in relating to the people around me, especially as one who is a member of the Church.”
Take and receive
Despite the criticism, Pope Francis remains popular among the youth. He entered the university through Gate 4, fronting the Arch of the Centuries, where he was set to have a short meeting with leaders of different religions. Afterward, he had a drive around the campus, greeting the crowd before alighting at the Quirino Grandstand for the service.
The audience cheered, raising their cameras and smartphones, yelling, “We love you, Pope Francis!” It was a rock star treatment, with members of the crowd clapping and collectively responding to points in his homily.
Thomasian and BS Nursing junior Mitzi Marquez was struck by the Pope’s insights on love. “I was reminded on how I should treat the patients I serve—that I should help not because I need that to pass the course but because I truly care and love them,” said Marquez, a volunteer.
Student volunteers served as informants and spotters, and assisted in crowd control at the event. “Pope Francis reminded me that I should be humble enough to accept that I am also in need to be able to extend my hand to patients,” Marquez added.
Pope Francis, towards the end of his message, stressed that while it is important to help the needy, it is equally important to accept help as well.
“How many young people among you are like this? You know how to give and yet you have ever learned how to receive,” he said. “You still lack one thing. Become a beggar… This isn’t easy to understand. To learn how to beg. To learn how to receive with humility. To learn to be evangelized by the poor, by those we help, the sick, orphans, they have so much to give us.”
“For me, the Pope was at his most moving in UST,” said Buñag, adding that he thought the insight on accepting love resonates with Ateneans. “[In] such simple words, the Pope’s humbles the pride of the Atenean magis. By asking us whether we are open to receive from others, the Pope is pointing out how equally valuable it is to be vulnerable to others, especially to the poor.”
Buñag added that the challenge expands the meaning of magis. “It isn’t anymore just ‘more loving,’ it is also being open to being more loved… This raises more questions for the Atenean. Can we be open to be being loved by the poor, as only the poor can, in their poverty?”
It had been a long day. When Darren Espanto of The Voice Kids closed the crowd with a rendition of “Tell the World of His Love,” the crowd danced in unison under the slow and steady pour of rain, imitating cues from volunteers on stage. The members of the crowd donned raincoats, each one a spot of color.
Fill the world’s darkest corners with his light from up above, the song goes, as everyone held hands, raised them. Tell the world, tell the world of his love. They clapped their hands as they swayed, palms meeting and opening upward, taking and receiving, taking and receiving.
Updated on January 19. 2015 at 3:00 PM.
