GMA set to leave for Rome; RP starts 3-day mourning

President Arroyo is set to fly to Rome tonight to attend the burial of Pope John Paul II on Friday to show the nation’s love for the late Pontiff, whom she said held Filipinos close to his heart.

The Philippines, home to more than 68 million Catholics, began a period of national mourning yesterday for John Paul with the President ordering flags in all government offices nationwide to be flown at half-mast.

Papal Nuncio Antonio Franco said a Mass for the Pope would be celebrated on Wednesday at the Manila Cathedral.

Franco will preside over the Mass, which is in addition to the daily prayers that will be said for the late Pontiff.

The Philippines, Asia’s largest predominantly Catholic country, will remain in a national period of mourning until the Pope is buried, said the President’s chief aide, Executive Secretary Ermita.

A devout Catholic, Mrs. Arroyo is scheduled to fly to the Vatican as she celebrates her 58th birthday today.

She said one of her inspirations for pursuing peace in the troubled Southern Philippines was the Pope’s message to her in their previous talks.

"In my visits to the Pope even before I became President, what always impressed me was that he knew what was happening in the Philippines and he was most especially concerned with having peace and progress and brotherhood and unity in Mindanao," the President said, referring to the Southern Philippine region that has been a hotbed of Muslim separatism for decades.

Mrs. Arroyo, who was in her hometown in Lubao, Pampanga, will take a chartered flight to Rome with 15 Philippine bishops in tow and Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo. No member of the First Family will accompany the President.

According to Ermita, Mrs. Arroyo’s flight to the Vatican is in anticipation of the Pope’s burial on Friday.

Retired Manila Archbishop Jaime Cardinal Sin is said to be going with the President, although this has yet to be confirmed as he is reported to be in poor health. The country’s third cardinal, Jose Sanchez, who is based in Rome, is no longer eligible for the conclave, which excludes all cardinals 80 years old and above.

Cardinal Ricardo Vidal of Cebu was set to leave late yesterday for Rome where he will be one of the 117 cardinals to take part in the conclave that will select Pope John Paul’s successor.

The President is expected leave for the Vatican after hosting a dinner for the delegates of the Inter-Parliamentary Union general assembly. Ermita said the President would stay there overnight and come home immediately to attend to other engagements. Vice President Noli de Castro will act on behalf of Mrs. Arroyo while she is away, he said. The President will be joining world leaders in paying last respects to the Pope including United States President George W. Bush.

The Pope’s visit to Manila in 1981 was credited with sowing the seeds of a bloodless popular revolt that would topple the rule of dictator Ferdinand Marcos five years later. In 1995, an estimated four to five million Filipinos flocked to see the Pontiff during the 10th celebration of World Youth Day.

Ermita said Mrs. Arroyo’s trip to Rome likewise has personal significance since she and her family were blessed by John Paul at the Vatican when they visited.

"They were received as audience by the Holy Father. The Philippines is also known to be the largest Catholic country in Asia, and the Pope came here twice, which signified the importance he gave to the Philippines and the closeness of the Filipinos to his heart," Ermita said.

"The Holy Father was an extraordinary man and the least a leader of a nation like President Arroyo can do is to mourn with the world and represent our people in his funeral," he said.

Romulo, for his part, said Filipinos were affected by the Pope’s demise "because he proved on many occasions his solicitous care and attention for the spiritual as well as temporal well-being of the Filipino people."

Congressmen from both sides of the political fence meanwhile expressed support for the President’s decision to represent the predominantly Catholic nation in the funeral for the Pope. "Wala naman sigurong masama doon, basta small delegation lang (There’s nothing wrong with that as long as they only have a small delegation)," said House Minority Leader Francis Escudero.

Palawan Rep. Antonio Alvarez said Mrs. Arroyo’s presence for the Pope’s burial rites "is the least that Filipinos can do in paying their last respects to a true and loyal friend."

"Whether struggling for freedom or coping with calamities, Filipinos were always in Pope John Paul II’s prayers. In return, he occupied a special place in our hearts," said Alvarez, who belongs to Kampi, the political party of Mrs. Arroyo, who founded the group in 1997 when she was senator.

Former President Fidel Ramos and Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile were among the many politicians who joined the nation in mourning, calling him the "people’s pope."

A flock without its shepherd

News of the Pope’s death moved many Filipinos to tears and filled churches across the country with people offering him prayers.

In the declaration for the national period of mourning, the Palace cited the role of the Pope as a "universal voice of goodness, social justice and man’s freedom to love" even when he was still a young priest.

Malacañang said the proclamation expresses the Filipino people’s solidarity with the world in mourning the passing of His Holiness "with loving prayers for his eternal peace."

"He transcended physical, religious and racial barriers, reaching out in the true Christian tradition, to all peoples of the world as a Great Communicator of hope and freedom," the proclamation read. — With AFP, Sheila Crisostomo, Jess Diaz, Mayen Jaymalin, Sandy Araneta, Pia Lee-Brago