‘Did you see him?’

There were many very touching moments during Pope Francis’ visit. My heart broke for the little girls who cried because the Pope was not able to see them dance upon his arrival at the airport last Thursday. The Pope’s attention was drawn away by the welcoming committee of Cabinet members. The handshaking took so long because there were too many of them, and Pope Francis was then whisked away for the trip to the Apostolic Nunciature.

Those girls had been practicing the dances for so many days. They had been dancing on the airport tarmac long before the papal plane touched down. Imagine their disappointment when Pope Francis was not able to see them dance because they took him away too quickly.

Because of the Pope’s very tight schedule, the official ceremonies with public officials should have been kept to a minimum. President Aquino, representing the whole Filipino nation, would have been enough to welcome him at the airport. The Cabinet members were not needed there. They would meet him at Malacañang, anyway. Nobody bothered to tell Francis about the waiting children. Had he known, he would have stopped to watch them, talked to them, perhaps even blessed them because he has a soft heart for children.

The next touching moment was the sight of a sea of people standing in the rain at the airport tarmac in Tacloban. As far as the eye could see, thousands of people—many of whom came all the way from other islands in the Visayas and Mindanao, as well as from the island of Luzon—watched the Pope say Mass as the rain brought by a typhoon pelted them.

It was also touching to see the Pope celebrate Mass wrapped in a clear yellow plastic raincoat, the same thing that the thousands of faithful were wearing to protect them from the rain and brisk wind.

During that Mass, many were shown close-up crying in happiness as they listened to the words of Francis. Those watching in their homes felt like crying, too.

It was heartbreaking that the survivors of the typhoon and earthquake were not able to dialogue with His Holiness because he had to cut short his trip due to the worsening weather. (Another plane that tried to take off 30 minutes after the Pope’s plane did, was blown by a strong crosswind off the runway and got stuck in the mud.) The survivors of the calamities were the reason he came here to the Philippines, to give them comfort and hope, but he was unable to do that.

Isn’t it ironic that the survivors of Supertyphoon “Yolanda” who badly needed the comforting presence of the Pope were deprived of that privilege by another typhoon?

I am also filled with emotion whenever crowds along the papal route break out in shrieks and screams of joy and happiness and dance in the streets and wave their hands at the Pope whenever he passes by. What is it but love that makes one want to shout and dance and sing and clap and wave at the sight, even just a glimpse, of the Pope. I am supposed to be a jaded, hard-boiled newsman, but a lump always comes to my throat and tears to my eyes whenever I see these scenes, even just on television. I also cheer and clap my hands whenever I see him on television.

Now the greeting among friends is “Nakita mo ba siya (Did you see him)?” I asked a nurse if she had been watching the Pope on television and she happily and proudly replied, “Nakita ko siya in person. Nakipagsiksikan ako (I saw him in person. I braved the crowds).”

And that is true of most Filipinos. They can watch Pope Francis in comfort on television at home, and in close-up yet, but they would rather see him in person and brave long walks and many hours of patient waiting along crowded streets to do that. Most of those who attended the Masses and other public gatherings went to the sites the night before to make sure they get a good spot to see him. Those who heard Mass at the Rizal Park yesterday afternoon, were there as early as Saturday afternoon, waiting in the rain. Those who already saw him came back to see him again and again. The people feel blessed just by seeing him.

For many months and even years hence, many Filipinos would be going about their daily business remembering the happiness that they had felt when they caught a glimpse of the Pope. An old woman told me, “If the Pope comes near me. I can die then and there happily.”

* * *

When Pope Francis was telling our leaders to end corruption and materialism during his short remarks in Malacañang, many of the public officials there were looking away. Why were they doing that? They couldn’t take the truth? They were ashamed of themselves?

Now our officials know that the Pope knows that they have been sinning. God sees the truth but waits. As I said in an earlier column, God, during biblical days, sent lightning and plagues to punish sinners on earth. Now He sends the Pope, not to punish but to reform them, and to give aid and comfort to those who are suffering. May the Pope’s latest visit spark a spiritual renewal among our leaders so that they will eschew graft and corruption because it is evil.