Pope and the Filipinos

Miles away, Filipinos join the rest of the world in burying a well-loved Pope. Here, hundreds of thousands of Filipinos raise lighted candles while singing "Hindi Kita Malilimutan" at the Luneta Grandstand where Pope John Paul II had held mass in 1995 during the World Youth Day Celebration.

It was a tremendous outpouring of love for a dearly loved Pope. Thousands of miles away, Filipinos today joined the rest of the world in burying the Pope. Watching live feeds from Vatican on videowalls set-up at the Luneta Grandstand, people on all walks of life reminisced the life of Pope John Paul II. Some were seen crying, as if mourning a dear loved one's passing. Most of them has only seen the Pope on T.V. Some might have been blessed by "close encounters" with the Pope when he visited the Philippines, first in 1981 during the beatification of San Lorenzo Ruiz and second, during the World Youth Day in 1995.

But what could explain this tremendous outpouring of grief? Perhaps, Philippine Supreme Court Justice Hilario Davide has the answer. During the special mass held for the Pope at the Manila Cathedral on Wednesday, April 6, he said in reaction to this fascination of Filipinos about the Pope: "The Pope is loved because he has shown us what love is."

Perhaps. Perhaps.