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Pope Francis set aside Fri evening, Jan 16, the little black car provided him by his security detail for his Philippine visit and chose to ride in the open non-bulletproof “Popemobile” so the people could see him and he could greet them back.
Fr. Federico Lombardi, SJ said he did not know that the Pope had chosen to ride instead in the Popemobile after the “Meeting with Families” at the SM Mall of Asia Arena (MOA), and only learned about it when their convoy was making its way back to the Apostolic Nunciature where the Pope would be staying for his Philippine “pastoral visit.”
He said the Pope obviously chose to ride the Popemobile despite the night and the security risk because “he wanted to see the people, he wanted to greet the people.”
Tens of thousands lined up the streets and roads leading from the Nunciature, the Vatican embassy, in Malate, Manila to the Arena in Pasay City in order to catch a glimpse of the Pope.
Many wore the Papal visit color of yellow and waved the yellow flags of the Vatican state.
When the Papal convoy came, many cheered wildly and called out, “Lolo Kiko” (Grandpa Kiko), the nickname that some Filipinos use to refer to Pope Francis.
The Pope waved and smiled back at the throngs. At one time he ordered his Popemobile stopped to bless a child who was transported over the heads of the mass of humanity cheering him.
The Pope later reportedly commented to Manila Archbishop Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle that Filipinos were very “energetic.”
The Pope said the vitality and enthusiasm of Filipinos means “that they are the future… the hope of the Church in Asia,” Tagle said,
In his address to the families, the Pope cited as threats to family life growing materialism, relativism and attempts “to redefine” marriage.
The Pope cited social pressures that may damage the family such as poverty and migration, which has led to absentee parents and marital breakups.
He also cited the negative effects of “materialism and lifestyles which are destructive of family life and the most basic demands of Christian morality.”
He also pointed grimly to “the growing efforts … to redefine the very institution of marriage, by relativism, by the culture of the ephemeral, by a lack of openness to life.”
He declared: “Our world needs good and strong families to overcome these threats.”
He urged Filipino families to pray, saying in fractured English, “The family that pray (sic) together remain together.”
The Pope went Tacloban City on Sat, Jan 17, to comfort victims of the 2013 supertyphoon “Haiyan/Yolanda” that killed at least 6,000 people and rendered 4 million others homeless.
On Sun, Jan 18, he will meet with leaders of other religions and address the youth at the Pontifical University of Santo Tomas, the oldest university in Asia. He will then go to Rizal Park to hold Sunday Mass, where millions are expected to attend.
Photo: Bam Alegre, GMA News (Twitter)
