This year for many Filipinos, the clouds have been darker than usual especially during the typhoon months with calamities and tragedies occurring in their lives. A field trip in August turned into a catastrophe when seven students from a Bulacan university drowned in the rampaging waters of a river caused by a flashflood. And then there was that unfortunate MRT accident where a train overshot the barrier at the Taft Avenue station, resulting in injuries to 39 passengers. Barely a month later in September, eight people died when a ferry sank amidst bad weather caused by Typhoon Luis.
It is obvious that a major reason for all the calamities is climate change, compounded by the country’s geographical and physical attributes, that has made the Philippines vulnerable to earthquakes, landslides, typhoons, flashfloods, storm surges and volcanic eruptions — making us the third most disaster-prone nation in the world. Climate change has certainly altered so many things we take for granted — like a bright and cheery Christmas day that turned dark and damp because of the rains.
For the people in Leyte and many parts of Eastern Visayas, there is the continuing tragedy caused by Typhoon Yolanda with thousands of families still rendered homeless more than a year after the super typhoon struck, with the people displaced and broken — living in makeshift shelters that allow for very little privacy. Unemployment has also exacerbated the situation because of the accompanying depression it brings particularly among the men, stripping them of the dignity they so need in the midst of the distressing situation. It is precisely the heartrending conditions brought about by Yolanda’s devastation that has moved Pope Francis to visit the country this January — an occasion that is considered a blessing for many Catholics, almost literally the silver lining behind the cloud.
The visit of the pope is always a major event especially for a Catholic county like the Philippines particularly at a time when people greatly need to hear the message of encouragement and hope from the one who has been dubbed as the “People’s Pope.”
Pope Francis has become so well loved and popular even among non-Catholics because of his humility, coupled with the unmistakable aura of love and concern that he shows for the less fortunate. Many can still recall the awe they felt at seeing the Pope embrace a man whose face and head was covered by a disfiguring, grapelike cluster of lumps caused by a rare genetic disease called neurofibromatosis.
People see Christ in the charismatic Pope whose famous statement of “Who am I to judge?” has endeared him among the members of the lesbian and gay community who admit to being touched by the compassion they perceive from the pontiff. His 78th birthday last Dec. 17 was also marked by charity, with hundreds of donated sleeping bags distributed for the poor in Rome, and more than a thousand pounds of chicken meat (also donated) sent to soup kitchens for the hungry. According to reports, three showers are also being built outside St. Peter’s Square for the use of the homeless.
The Pope’s simplicity and common touch as seen in the way he prefers simple white vestments, comfortably mingling with the crowd, trying on the hat of an admirer and gamely taking selfies, have made him totally popular among the Catholic faithful. However, the Pope can also be tactless and blunt even against members of the Vatican as recently seen in his stinging rebuke against the Curia — the administrative body of the Roman Catholic Church — admonishing them for being vain and materialistic, for being indifferent about the plight of others, for sticking to tight little circles instead of embracing the whole body, and for being greedy for material riches and power.
In fact, observers have noted how the Pope is able to “combine the spiritual with the political,” like in the way he is instituting reforms right in his own backyard in the Vatican (which has been under the shadow of questionable financial activities with suspicions that it is a conduit for money laundering) and the critical role he played in bridging the diplomatic gap between the US and Cuba, writing letters to both US President Barack Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro, then hosting a diplomatic meeting between the American and the Cuban sides that resulted in a historic agreement that includes a prisoner swap seen to further ease tensions between the two countries.
In the Rolling Stone magazine cover story titled “The times they are a-changing,” the article noted the “gentle revolution” being waged by the Pope in changing perceptions, confounding expectations with simple gestures like showing up at the reception desk to pay his own bills and scolding priests and church leaders for being “obsessed” with divisive social issues.
In a country like the Philippines where faith is perhaps the most valuable currency that keeps hope for the coming new year burning among the downtrodden, the Pope’s upcoming visit is a source of optimism that change for the better is coming — even in a political landscape where people are suspicious that some politicians may use the visit of the pontiff for their own agenda. With the widespread use of technology that make information faster, wider in scope and reach, there is no doubt Filipino voters, particularly the youth, are very much attuned to politicians and their agenda, enabling them to make intelligent choices when it comes to choosing the country’s next leaders despite the political mudslinging that will surely happen next year. After all, as the old saying goes — behind every cloud, there is always a silver lining.
* * *
Email: babeseyeview@yahoo.com