For practically more than a week, including the few days before the arrival of Pope Francis into our shores and after he left, news organizations carried various reports about him. He was the headline, the inside pages, the side bars and the society pages. Talk show hosts focused their time and editors-in-chief came up with their individual magnum opus on the pontiff. Columnists, even sports analysts, wrote about him. Yes, there were those who, wanting to be different, explored vignettes of his life or the dynamics of the college of cardinals, yet they nonetheless, were all about the former Argentinian Archbishop. It is not to exaggerate the fact that the entire country warmly embraced the visit of the head of the Catholic Church and pushed every other possible concern to the sidelines.
To me though, there was one common and probably the most discerning observation that may be gathered from interviews of people who, for innumerable reasons, had the privilege of getting close to him. In strikingly similar words, all of them said that when they met the Pope, no matter how fleetingly, he asked them to pray for him! I can find but one word in the whole dictionary that can summarize such an act and this is humility in its truest essence.
In trying to validate if this observation were akin to those who did not come face-to-face with Pope Francis, I asked my lady Carmen and sent text messages to a retired high school principal, a grade school teacher, a former general, a lawyer, a banker, a barangay councilor, a student, and a government official, inquiring what, in one simple sentence, was their best lesson from the visit of the pope. And their replies, weaving around simplicity and humility, were almost identical to those who shared unforgettable moments with the visiting religious leader from the Vatican.
All of the cardinals I happen to know are gifted with exceptional brilliance. In addition to their scholarly biblical comprehension, their understanding of humanity is deep. I suppose that the other members of the college of cardinals are equally profound. Even then, we are of the thought that, in choosing the pope, the cardinals do not rely upon their own individual capacity. The Holy Spirit descends upon them to name him. In other words, when the cardinals selected Cardinal Bergoglio to head the church, they did so upon the signs from the Lord God.
Yet, look at this chosen one! You cannot miss his humility. While he is the acknowledged successor of St Peter, Pope Francis does not pretend to have any privileged links to God. By asking ordinary people to pray for him, he humbly confesses that he is just as mortal as Glyselle Palomar, the girl who cried saying "bakit pinayagan mo ito" or words lamenting why there was so much suffering. As the pontiff asks for people's prayer, he shows that behind his Cossack is just as human being as Jose Angelo Ortiz, that boy with cerebral palsy who used his feet to stitch the image of Madonna Dolorosa. Each time he says "please, pray for me", we can only assume that Pope Francis admits his imperfection and frailty. Without doubt, that is the ultimate test of being humble and no one that I know, alive or dead, approximates that humility.
Our leaders in government should learn humility from Pope Francis. They should imbibe from the example shown by the pontiff himself. I am sure that it is going to be drastic for them to change their ways but that is necessary. The first step is most difficult to take yet I must argue that it is critical. It is the best time for our officials to realize that their high positions offer them the best chance to demonstrate how humility paves a great way to effective leadership. Aha, they should not forget that their position is but a temporary grant from the electorate very much unlike the anointment of the Holy Spirit upon a chosen pope. When they practice humility, our officials will no longer pronounce words of their imagined power. And that will mark a new beginning for us.