The Philippine President and a lost moment of valor

I’m not a fan of Pnoy, as the occupant of the country’s highest political office is fond of styling himself. I haven’t been since the beginning, when he was a nobody in the Senate, who was suddenly thrust into the limelight because his mother died. Suddenly, overnight, under the steady rain of yellow confetti, Benigno Simeon Aquino, Jr. becomes almost something akin to a Messiah come to save his people, a role that he believes is his by divine right of the people, and which gives him the power and the audacity to work for reforms, hurling thunderbolts here and there.

Don’t mistake me, I’m not a fan of the previous administration either. Ganun ba yun—quipped a friend in that modern Aeropagus we more commonly call Facebook—Basta hindi ka sang-ayon kay PNoy, Pro-CGMA ka ka? (is this how things are right now, that just because you don’t agree with Pnoy, you’re for CGMA (Congresswoman Gloria Macapagal Arroyo)?). These words were no more than an observation of the ambiance of current opinion. You could see that where the action really is: in the comment boxes of news articles in the webpages of the more prestigious Philippine dailies. These com-boxes could be as dirty as the hidden alleys of Barcelona and as busy as a hive. Here you would see people who differed from Pnoy’s view of things being attacked by his lackeys for being CGMA cronies. Is reality that merely two sided? Are we going the way of another dictatorship? I’m inclined to see it that way, a rather silent one, a dictatorship of public opinion, I might say. Pnoy won’t be so audacious as to do a Marcos; he would rather be caught dead than do a Gloria, though I won’t be surprised if, after four years, the same charges be leveled against him, irrespective of whether they be truthful or not, Philippine traditional politics being as it is. But yes he is being tyrannical in a way, vindictively tyrannical. I am digressing.

As of the moment one thing that had people buzzing much like bees in a hive is his delay in visiting typhoon stricken northern Mindanao, first explained by his staff as due to careful planning and work in assessing the situation and how to best respond to it. Later on it came out that he was in a party with the PSG, laughing and having good time with his people, as a comedienne would later tweet. I don’t have much against him spending time having good time with people who work for him, but then for a lot of people this appeared to be exactly the opposite of the image that people would like him to have at the moment. His sisters and the rest of his office have come to his rescue (what would one expect? Were I to trip at least I would expect my own to do the same for me right?) but it seemed to boomerang instead. People would always have their reasons; I’m sure Pnoy would be having his (and I won’t be surprised if it were a really lame one).

Everybody has the right to party, especially during this season, but one thing that Pnoy might have grasped is that, if he were seeking to have that burnished image of a president that really cares for greater things that incidentally fall beyond his political agenda, he could have grabbed this opportunity that literally fell from the angry skies. A lightning visit would’ve given the image of a president who wanted to handle things firsthand, and to be one with the people. When the skies poured water in lethal abundance, and when tears of disconsolate grief rose up in return, the whole country was in Cagayan de Oro; the president was somewhere in the capital. He could have went there immediately. Just being there could have been enough. I could imagine that at certain moments words are superfluous; there are times when being there is more than enough. Disaster plans come minutes later. Just as his immediate presence could have said something, his delayed presence in those ravaged areas had aroused much comment and consternation.

It made me think of something a leader once did in a time like this. It was wartime, and the clouds of war loomed darkly above, even over a place as eternal as Rome. The morning of July 14, 1943 was promising to be just like any other, where it not for the arrival of 521 Allied planes who suddenly flew over Rome and dropped their lethal load of bombs over the district surrounding the basilica of San Lorenzo outside the walls. The walls shook, and the shock waves reached the windows of the papal study. Once it was established that everything was clear, it didn’t take an hour for Pius XII to be out in the papal automobile speeding towards the devastated area, unaccompanied by the usual escort, but with an aide, Msgr. Montini (the future Pope Paul VI) and the chauffeur. He went to the shattered basilica and stayed for two and a half hours. Peter Hebblethewaite, a distinguished expert on Vatican affairs, wrote about the scene in his biography of Paul VI:

“It was the first time the Pope had been outside the Vatican since the mobs had hooted him in 1940. He knelt among the ruins and recited the psalm De Profundis (Out of the depths O Lord). The crowd gathered to pray with him. He comforted the wounded and tried to console the bereaved. His white soutane was soon flecked with blood. The Pope failed to save Rome from the bombs but he was closer to the people of Rome than Mussolini had ever been”. (Peter Hebblethwaite, Paul VI, Paulist Press, New York 1993, p. 184)

By the time Rome was completely occupied by the Germans, the King, his ministers, and Mussolini with his, had all but abandoned Rome to her fate. Pius XII was the only figure of authority that the city had during those hard times, and the people never considered the figure of the Pope a distant one. He was immersed in trying to do the best in every situation, in trying to provide safety and shelter to everyone—either Jews or Christians—within the walls of churches and ecclesiastical domain, safe within the limits of Vatican neutrality. The daw the armistice was announced, the city filled the square of St. Peter’s to pay homage to Pius XII, Defensor civitatis (defender of the city of Rome).

What was the point of this flash back? Well, certainly Pnoy is no cleric, much less a saint, nor did Pius XII do it in order to earn pogi points among the Romans. But both offices hold within their bounds the obligation to be with their people most especially in times of adversity, in which the presence in its initial moments is enough balm to strengthen the ailing soul.

Perhaps Pnoy should’ve considered this, that in being at the scene in its first moments he wouldn’t only be fulfilling something that falls within his office, but he would also further his image which is important in any political career, and which is also helpful in allaying any further criticism from those who do not take kindly to him. But more importantly, he should’ve properly considered the fact that being with these people was of far more urgent importance, than being in a party. Well, he can have his party in the evening if he wants to, but would that keep him from going to the depressed areas the next day?

What is certain is that he hadn’t considered them, and that he had botched this opportunity, this moment of glory, unlike many other leaders whom history had enshrined in its memory because they had known to take charge of a situation that called for valor. How he would get out of this episode, and what pathetic reasons and excuses and even possibly —and dare I say it, lies—that he may have to concoct to save face is another story, one that does not capture my fancy at the moment to elaborate.

That Roman Summer, a visit to John Paul II, and a reflection on the meaning of a beatification

With the immediate countdown to the beatification John Paul the Great well underway, Rome has become once again the great meeting place of the world as its attention now shifts from London (which is now going back to its normal pace after yesterday's royal wedding fever) to the Eternal City, which some years ago was undergoing a veritable collapse during the funeral of this great pope. Now, a mere six years later, the city braces itself once again as it awaits the expected millions to converge for the tomorrow's event.

under the shadow of the dome...at night

Seeing images of the city which has become a real beehive of activity brings back to mind memories of my first trip to Rome during my ordination year. I was due to return to the Philippines after being gone for four years (though I took a three-month break after my second year) after successfully completing my theological studies at the University of Navarra in Pamplona (Spain). I was very eager to go home, and had enough of being away from home for so long (I secretly wished at that time that I never had to step back to the University again, a feeling which stays with me up until now, just to be honest) that I was thinking that this would be the only time I would be in Europe ever again, and come to think of it, this might as well the only time that I could be THIS close to Rome. So I really saw the urgent need to go to Rome before going back home. My classmate Fr. Marlon Cua (then a deacon like me, and who is currently assigned at the "laid-back" parish of V&G Subdivision Tacloban City) and I planned the trip which would eventually last for three days. The initial lap of the journey took us down to Barcelona and then a bit farther to Girona, where a plane would take us in a two-hour trip to Rome. We landed at the Ciampino Airport in Rome and since it was the feast of St. Josemaria, we went immediately to the Prelatic Church of Santa Maria de la Paz, in Villa Tevere, which serves as the headquarters of the Personal Prelature of the Opus Dei, and where the saint's remains are buried and venerated. We were housed at an extension of the Sedes Sapientiae seminary, which is managed by priest-formators of the Work.

The next day we went on a tour of the Vatican Museums, went to see the four papal basilicas, which was partly a tour and partly a pilgrimage, had pizza not far from the shadow of St. Peter's and gelato (a dream come true: to eat pizza and gelato sub umbra Petri). 

But that which really comes to mind most especially during these days was the time we were able to descend into the grottoes underneath the great basilica, the place where many popes were buried. I had always wanted to go to Rome to meet John Paul II in person, and here I was, about to fulfill another great dream. I would have wished to see him in person, with nothing else but the air between us, but with only a few feet, a cold, white slab of marble and layers between us it didn't matter. As I remember it, when I finally laid my gaze upon the slab that bore his name and which covered his remains, the whole grotto was hushed; pilgrims passed by, pausing a fraction of a second to whisper a prayer before moving on, allowing the next pilgrim to have his turn. The Pope had been buried for about two or three years then, and yet the line was still quite long and solid. I whispered a prayer, and then moved on to the tombs of other popes, who until then had only leaped up to me from the pages of the books and biographies which I ravenously devoured during the early years of my stay in the minor seminary: Pius XII, John Paul I, Paul VI. Upstairs where St. Pius X and Bl. John XXIII, all of them personal patrons of mine. Here they felt so alive, their presence so near. I didn't see them as distant figures I used to know from the pages of dusty books at the seminary library gathering dust and about which no one else cared about: here they were so alive. Right there, under the cool marble floor of the great basilica, standing upon the tomb of the Rock, in the dark silence of the Vatican grottoes, a place of hushed whispers, I had a glimpse of what it meant to belong to the communion of saints.

I guess this is what a beatification is also all about. Our God is not a God of the dead, but of the living. Some people may look down upon the veneration of the saints and their relics as something medieval (hey, what' swrong with the Middle Ages by the way?) and out of touch with the times, but it's so because in their mind, they think we Catholics commune with the dead. Our Catholic Faith begs to differ. These people live, and they continue to influence us, to help us, inspire us, and push us deeper into that life which is the communion of saints, otherwise called the Church of God.

Blessed John Paul the Great, pray for us!!!

That Servant of God, John Paul II

With just two whole days to go before the Big Day of JP2's record-breaking beatification, one good way with which this blog could honor this great man is through this very simple photo-tribute. I won't write anything about him, because at this moment I think words won't do him any justice. Maybe I'll write more about him later on. Anyway, presenting the man himself:

as a young thespian in the Rhapsody Theater, ca. mid-1930's

Looking pensive as the Cardinal of Krakow

two great saints of the 20th century

pensive while listening to a speech

forceful and commanding

even old-age and facial paralysis couldn't render this face unlovable...

abreast with the new ways of communication

during the Mass of the inauguration of his ministry.

Habemus Papam!!!

the first pilgrim of the Extraordinary Jubilee Year of our Redemption, 1983

"Though art Peter..."

the last time he was seen wearing lace in public.

His last Laetare Sunday, 2005

the young Bishop at his episcopal consecration, 1958

he simply rocks!!!

post scriptum: I've been invited as a commentator of the live radio broadcast of the beatification ceremonies at DYBR Tacloban this Sunday, something which would be a totally new experience for me.

NOT JUST AN HONORARY CHAIR: the feast of the chair of peter (Feb. 22)

Allow me to pen just a few thoughts as we celebrate this feast of the Chair of St. Peter. Many Christian fundamentalists always hit us Catholics for our veneration of the saints (funny I don't seem to observe them do that with Eastern Orthodox Christians, who are also effusive and equally fervent in their veneration of saints and their images), and their images and icons. I would imagine them going ballistic if they ever find out that in the Catholic calendar there is a feast seemingly dedicated not just to a saint or an icon, but to a chair. That would seem to pretty far out, aside from the fact that you normally don't give honor to a chair, much less commemorate it with a special date.

Today's feast comes to us from antiquity, with sources telling us that it was already being celebrated as early as the year of Our Lord 394, according to the oldest Roman calendar. To more knowledgeable Catholics, this feast turns our attention to that relic kept in that effusive and "explosive" piece of Baroque art situated at the end of the nave in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. Kept within the Gloria of Bernini is a chair originally thought to have been used by Peter himself, though actually was a gift made to the Pope by Charles the Bald in the 9th century. You can learn more about the relic here. 

However, what we are celebrating is not a material chair, a piece of furniture. What we are celebrating is that office which that seemingly innocuous chair represents and symbolizes, not only for each of us, but for the whole Church of Christ. The cathedra (which simply means chair pr seat in Greek and Latin) is the chair of the bishop, and is indicative of his teaching authority, of his office as teacher over the particular church which has been commended to his care. The cathedral church derives its name form the fact that it houses the Bishop's chair.

Anyway, we celebrate, just as I was saying, not a piece of furniture but rather the special position that Peter holds over the Church instituted by Christ Jesus on earth. The Gospel for today recounts the episode of the confession of Peter about the divinity of Christ: "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God!" To this confession of faith the Lord responds by giving Peter the special mission of being the rock upon which the faith of the Church in Christ will stand; the Lord Jesus explicitly gives over to him the mission of the Keys, something which the rest of the Apostles would receive later on after the Resurrection of the Lord. Pope St. Leo the Great comments that "it is not without reason that the authority bestowed on all the Apostles is entrusted to one. For Peter received it separately in trust because he is the prototype set before all the rulers of the Church". Pope Benedict XVI says celebrating this feast means "to attribute to it a strong spiritual significance and to recognize in it a privileged sign of the love of God, good and eternal Shepherd, who wants to gather the whole of his Church and guide her along the way of salvation."It is the celebration of the Church entrusted to the ministry of Peter. whose task is to confirm us all in the Faith in Jesus Christ. 

Celebrating this feast means being grateful to the Lord for continuing to guide and feed and protect His Church through the ministry of Peter, in the person of the Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, gloriously reigning. But celebrating it fruitfully also means praying for the Holy Father and his intentions, as well as praying that the work of Christian unity would progress so that we may find all of us who bear the name of Christian under the care of the Supreme Shepherd, who continues to guide us all through the ministry of Peter, the rock upon which the Lord built His Church.

Prayer for the Holy Father

V. Let us pray for our Pontiff, Pope Benedict.

R. The Lord preserve him, and give him life, and make him to be blessed upon the earth, and deliver him not up to the will of his enemies (Roman Breviary).
Our Father. Hail Mary.

V. Oremus pro Pontifice nostro Benedicto.

R. Dominus conservet eum, et vivificet eum, et beatum faciat eum in terra, et non tradat eum in animam inimicorum eius. [Ps 40:3]

SANTO SUBITO!!!

 I got to share this as soon as I got hold of the news. It's great to know that one of the instruments responsible for the growth of my vocation to the priesthood is off to the altars very soon. 

VATICAN CITY – The pope on Friday signed off on the miracle needed to beatify Pope John Paul II, and set May 1 as the date to honor one of the most beloved popes of all times as a model of saintliness for the church.

Pope Benedict XVI said in a decree that a French nun's recovery from Parkinson's disease was miraculous, the last step needed for beatification. A second miracle is needed for the Polish-born John Paul to be made a saint.

The May 1 ceremony, which Benedict himself will celebrate, is expected to draw hundreds of thousands of pilgrims to Rome — a major morale boost for a church reeling from a wave of violence against Christians and fallout from the clerical sex abuse scandal.

"This is a huge and important cause of joy," Warsaw Archbishop Kazimierz Nycz told reporters at his residence in the Polish capital.

Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz, John Paul's longtime secretary and friend, expressed "huge thanks" to Benedict for the decree. "We are happy today," he said.

Benedict put John Paul on the fast track to possible sainthood just weeks after he died in 2005, responding to the chants of "Santo Subito!" or "Sainthood immediately!" that erupted during his funeral.

Benedict waived the typical five-year waiting period before the process could begin, but he insisted that the investigation into John Paul's life be thorough so as to not leave any doubts about his virtues.

John Paul's beatification will nevertheless be the fastest on record, coming just over six years after his death and beating out Mother Teresa's then-record beatification in 2003 by a few days.

The last remaining hurdle in John Paul's case concerned the approval by Vatican-appointed panels of doctors and theologians, cardinals and bishops that the cure of French nun, Sister Marie Simon-Pierre, was a miracle due to the intercession of the late pope.

The nun has said she felt reborn when she woke up two months after John Paul died, cured of the disease that had made walking, writing and driving a car nearly impossible. She and her fellow sisters of the Congregation of Little Sisters of Catholic Maternity Wards had prayed to John Paul, who also suffered from Parkinson's.

On Friday, Sister Marie Simon-Pierre said John Paul was and continues to be an inspiration to her because of his defense of the unborn and because they both had Parkinson's.

John Paul "hasn't left me. He won't leave me until the end of my life," she told French Catholic TV station KTO and Italy's state-run RAI television.

Wearing a white habit and wire-rimmed glasses, she appeared in good health and showed no signs of tremors or slurred speech which are common symptoms of Parkinson's.

"John Paul II did everything he could for life, to defend life," she said. "He was very close to the smallest and weakest. How many times did we see him approach a handicapped person, a sick person?"

Last year, there were some questions about whether the nun's original diagnosis was correct. But in a statement Friday, the Congregation for the Causes of Saints said Vatican-appointed doctors had "scrupulously" studied the case and determined that her cure had no scientific explanation.

Once he is beatified, John Paul will be given the title "blessed" and can be publicly venerated. Many people, especially in Poland, already venerate him privately, but the ceremony will make it official.

Born in Wadowice, Poland, in 1920, Karol Wojtyla was the youngest pope in 125 years and the first non-Italian in 455 years when he was elected pope in 1978.

He brought a new vitality to the Vatican, and quickly became the most accessible modern pope, sitting down for meals with factory workers, skiing and wading into crowds to embrace the faithful.

His Polish roots nourished a doctrinal conservatism — opposition to contraception, euthanasia, abortion and women priests — that rankled liberal Catholics in the United States and Western Europe.

But his common touch also made him a crowd-pleasing superstar whose 26-year papacy carried the Roman Catholic Church into Christianity's third millennium and emboldened eastern Europeans to bring down the communist system.

He survived an assassination attempt in St. Peter's Square in 1981 — and then forgave the Turk who had shot him.

He was the most traveled pope ever, visiting more than 120 nations during the third-longest papacy and covering distance equal to nearly 1 1/2 trips to the moon.

After suffering for years from the effects of Parkinson's disease, he died in his Vatican apartment on April 2, 2005, at the age of 84.

While adored by Catholics, John Paul did not escape scrutiny about the clerical abuse scandal which came to light in the final years of his papacy. Many of the thousands of sexual abuse cases that emerged in Europe and beyond last year concerned crimes or cover-ups that occurred under his watch.

Vatican officials have said there was nothing in John Paul's record that called into question his path to beatification.

Carl Anderson, head of the Knights of Columbus, one of the world's largest Catholic fraternal service organizations, noted that John Paul's beatification process is not a "score card on his administration of the Holy See."

Rather, he said, it's a statement about his personal sanctity since beatification is way of holding up Catholics as models for the faithful.

"Pope John Paul's life is precisely such a model because it was lived beautifully and with love, respect and forgiveness for all," Anderson told the AP in an e-mail. "We saw this in the way he reached out to the poor, the neglected, those of other faiths, even the man who shot him. He did all of this despite being so personally affected by events of the bloodiest century in history."

Dziwisz, John Paul's most trusted friend who seemed at times impatient with the slow pace of the process, gave thanks on Friday from Krakow, where he is archbishop.

"We are happy that this process came to an end, that what people asked for — "Santo Subito" — was fulfilled," Dziwisz said. "I express great joy on behalf of the entire diocese of Krakow — and I think I am also authorized to express this on behalf of all of Poland."

__

Associated Press reporters Vanessa Gera in Warsaw and Angela Doland in Paris contributed to this report.

 Soon-to-be-Blessed John Paul II, pray for us!!!!

A Jewel of a Blog and the Papal Sacristy

Thanks to NLM (New Liturgical Movement blog) I've come across what could be a treasure trove for people who are fascinated with old (and even new) photos of traditional liturgy. It's entitled Ceremonia Y Rubrica de la Iglesia Espanola. And while I was happily perusing through its forumas I came across one article about the papal sacristy. Here are some of the photos I managed to get from it. So this is how it looks like:

Some of these chasubles are recognizable....

particularly this one, which, I believe, was used by the Holy Father during Pentecost this year.

The familiar ferula (or papal staff) used by popes since Pope Paul VI until the present one, though Ben16 has preferred to go back to using the more older ones and has even had a new one made, which is much lighter.