MANILA, 4 April 2005 — Church bells tolled across the Philippine archipelago yesterday as most of the country's 84 million people grieved for Pope John Paul II, revered in this Southeast Asian nation as a champion of the poor and oppressed.
President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, a devout Catholic, led the country in expressing a “deep sense of grief” over the death of the pontiff, who died Saturday aged 84.
Tens of thousands of families flocked to churches seeking comfort and to offer prayers for the pope, who visited the country in 1981 and 1995.
“Our people received the news of his death with a deep sense of grief and loss,” said Arroyo, who attended mass along with former presidents Corazon Aquino and Fidel Ramos yesterday at the Manila Cathedral.
“He was a champion of the Filipino family and of profound Christian values that make everyone of us contemplate everyday, what is just, moral and sacred in life,” Arroyo said.
“The world will miss a great spiritual bridge among all nations,” she said, adding that “the weak and oppressed will always remember their hero and advocate who sowed peace and love by his awesome charisma and noble deeds.”
Churches in many places were filled to capacity as people lit candles, offered prayers and openly wept.
“Ever since the pope became ill I have been praying for him,” said Henry Kaasi, 53.
“We are all deeply saddened by his passing although not surprised as he had been sick for some time. But we know he has returned to our maker so we are comforted by that.”
“I am deeply affected by this loss,” said housewife Adelia Velasco after she went to an early morning mass. “This is painful for Filipinos, painful for the whole world.”
Some people were so overcome they could manage only sobs and tears, while others were more philosophical.
“I am happy for him because we all know that he is in peace,” said churchgoer Sandra Santa Cruz.
People Power Revolution
Cardinal Jaime Sin, the retired Archbishop of Manila and the country’s spiritual leader, said the pope will “forever be in the hearts of Filipinos.”
“We love him because we share a lot of concerns with him. The pope and the Filipinos know how it is to rise from the ashes of war and atrocities,” said Sin, who in 1986 helped rally Filipinos to topple dictator Ferdinand Marcos.
It was during the pope’s visit in 1981 that the seeds for a popular revolution that ousted Marcos were planted — he used a dinner hosted by the dictator to state the church’s case against human rights abuses.
“During the dark years of martial law, he rallied the Philippine bishops in pursuing justice and promoting the dignity of the human person,” Sin said.
The pope used an elaborate dinner hosted by Marcos and his flamboyant wife Imelda at the presidential palace in Manila to state the church’s case, and then made an electrifying televised speech.
Father James Reuter, head of the church’s media bureau, said the pope never openly criticized Marcos but spoke of “justice and freedom and inevitably, all of those listening felt he was condemning Marcos.”
In his speech, beamed around the country, the pope said: “Even in exceptional situations, one can never justify any violation of the fundamental dignity of the human person or of the basic rights that safeguard this dignity.”
The state, he said, could never justify subverting human rights in the name of its own security or survival.
He called on the country’s leaders to introduce reforms that would “allow ordinary Filipino men, women and children to live in dignity ... especially the poor.”
American journalist Robin Wright, who covered the Papal tour, later described the speech as a “ringing and humiliating rebuke” of Marcos’ dictatorship.
“During Marcos’ 21-year rule, no other visiting chief-of-state, before or after the pope, was ever so publicly candid.” Wright said. “The pontiff then reinforced the message in meetings with small farmers and sugar cane plantation workers, university students, professionals and slum-dwellers, in masses, and even to lepers," saying the church would take up the cause of the poor.
Wright added: “The Pope’s visit altered the political environment; the Philippines leadership was publicly held to account. The tone, as well as the content of the six-day trip, helped to lay the foundation for Marcos’ demise five years later.”
Admiration
Despite the rebuke, former first lady Imelda Marcos, who faces dozens of criminal and civil cases on charges she and dictator Ferdinand Marcos salted away at least $5 billion during her late husband’s rule, said the pope’s death was “like losing a father and a mother too.”
A leader of an influential group of Islamic clerics, Sharif Julabbi of the Ulama League, hailed him for serving as a “bridge of understanding” between Christians and Muslims.
Joyce Santos, a mother of a 2-year-old son she named John Paul after the pope, still turns misty-eyed when she remembers the 1995 encounter, which she said inspired her to re-examine her life and moral values.
“I wasn’t exactly a good Catholic when I was younger,” she said. “My friends and I used to lead a very mischievous lifestyle, experimenting with drugs, alcohol and sex. That all changed after the papal visit.”
For many others like her, the visit sparked a religious renewal, with the pope urging Filipinos to shun trends that go against the teachings of the church and warning them not to be seduced by promiscuity, alcohol or drugs.
“Whenever I find myself in a difficult or conflicting situation, I always think about the pope’s message in 1995, which reminds me of what it means to be a Catholic. This is especially true at times when I get misled by current trends and peer pressure,” Santos said.
Despite social movements towards a more liberal society, many Filipinos still oppose such government programs on family planning, sex education and AIDS awareness, which the Catholic Church has criticized as evil and immoral.
The church has warned that such government programs only promote Catholic taboos, including promiscuity, homosexuality, abortion and artificial contraception.
Special Mass
A spokesman for the Vatican in Manila said a mass would be held for the pope on Wednesday at Manila Cathedral. Arroyo was to also attend a mass later yesterday at the cathedral.
As news of the pope’s death spread, people started lining up outside the papal office in Manila to sign a condolence book.
Father Fausto Gomez, former dean of theology at the University of Santo Tomas, said Pope John Paul II would forever have a special place in the hearts of Filipinos.
“He showed that the Philippines is the pulpit for Asia. He spoke radical words regarding social justice for the poor, promotion of human rights and religious freedom.
He emphasised both sexual morals and social ethics.
The world was really his parish,” he said.
Around 80 percent of the Philippine population, nearly 69 million people, are identified as Catholics.
The faith was introduced to the country by Spanish colonialists in the 16th century.
