Unforgettable Memories During Pope Francis’s Visit To the Philippines (January 2015)
Unforgettable Memories During Pope Francis’s Visit To the Philippines (January 2015)
By TinTin Monsanto
Freelance Writer, Artist and Singer-Composer
05 September 2024
The news broke in April 2024 that Pope Francis, the leader of the Catholic Church, would visit Singapore, a rare and significant event for the local Catholic community. The visit was scheduled for September, and ticket registration started in June of this year. Tickets would be distributed through a balloting system. Despite the slim chances, I registered eagerly to see the Pope for the second time, bringing back memories of the first time I saw him when he visited the Philippines in January 2015.
In January 2015, Pope Francis arrived in the Philippines. My cousins and I decided to go to one of the Papal Visit venues. At midnight, we all met at my grandmother’s house. We were supposed to go to UST, but my cousin’s friend advised us against it since it was already crowded. So, we went to Luneta instead, without our parents’ knowledge.
At 01:00 A.M., we arrived in Luneta. People were walking towards the venue, and it was filling up fast. We expected disorganization for such events in the Philippines, and we were right. We lined up with no clear direction until a staff member guided us. Still, it was chaotic, so my cousins and I just went with the flow. The crowd was increasing, and the line wasn’t moving.
We were eager to see the Pope, so we stayed. Eventually, the line started moving, but it was slow due to the heavy crowd. The crowd’s density made us hardly breathe, and the weather was gloomy with dark clouds.
We reached a point where we couldn’t bear it anymore and decided to return home. The problem was that we needed to figure out which way to go. We tried to find an opposite track, but we couldn’t. The crowd kept pushing us forward until we reached the middle of the park and could at least catch our breath.
We couldn’t turn back. We crossed the road before the crowd surged again. After crossing, the guard stopped us, but we were being pushed. My cousins and I shouted for the crowd to stop pushing, but they couldn’t be stopped. The guard, seeing us trying to calm the crowd and letting people with disabilities go first, allowed us in.
When the guard told us to go in, we quickly ran to the top of the park, where we could see the main stage where the Pope would do his Homily.
Finally, at 9:00 A.M., we reached our spot, and when we turned around, we saw the crowd. We were grateful we were in the right place at the right time.
We arrived at the park at 1:00 A.M., reached our spot at 9:00 A.M., and it started raining at 9:30 A.M. (continuously all day). We hadn’t brought umbrellas because we were told not to, but some people managed to sneak them in.
The Pope arrived around 4:00 P.M, and it was raining heavily. I got the chance to see the Pope up close and was ecstatic. It was overwhelming.
The mass hadn’t started when we decided to head home, and we were soaked. We had to walk from the park back home. On the way, my cousins and I anticipated being scolded for not telling anyone where we were. To our surprise, no one scolded us, and my mom even hugged me when I told her, “I saw him, and he was right in front of me.” My mom was happy, and so was I, because I wasn’t scolded.
Now, as he is coming to Singapore, I am filled with excitement. I was fortunate to win a ticket. Initially hesitant, my mom, as usual, was right. This is indeed a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that I cannot miss. I will be seated far from the altar, but that’s okay. What matters most to me is participating in the event, attending the mass, and, most importantly, having my faith renewed and strengthened in ways I never thought possible.