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Saturday, April 09, 2005
More than 500T Pinoys bid adieu to John Paul II
MORE than half a million Filipinos joined a prayer vigil and mass for the late Pope John Paul II at the Rizal Park in Manila Friday simultaneous with the pope's funeral rites at the Vatican.
Caloocan Bishop Deogracias Iniguez and Bishop Teodoro Bacani said the attendance of many Filipinos in the vigil for John Paul II shows "a strong faith on the Lord".
"We are celebrating a life that has been taken away from our midst but given to use for 84 years and will continue to guide us for years to come. That is the life of Pope John Paul II," said Bishop Bacani.
Bacani, who is a spiritual adviser of the charismatic group El Shaddai, said the pope's life should also serve as an inspiration to the faithful on how to live and love the Lord.
"We will be fulfilled not by filling ourselves with material things but by giving ourselves, and the way to human growth and maturity is not by grabbing but by giving, not through accumulating but through sharing," Bacani added.
Iñiguez, on the other hand, said the pope's life is the "supreme witness to his faith" which should be followed and imitated by the faithful because even in death, the pope has proven his true faith and devotion to the Lord.
El Shaddai leader Mike Velarde, for this part, called on Filipinos to continue defending life since this is what John Paul II had been advocating.
"Let me invite you to accept Pope John Paul II 's challenge for us not to be afraid to defend life at all cost. For this is the Lord Jesus Christ's word," Velarde said.
Meanwhile, Police Chief Superintendent Pedro Bulaong of the Western Police District (WPD) estimated the crowd at the Rizal Park at more than 500,000.
He said about 600 police were deployed to secure the park.
Manila Archbishop Gaudencio Rosales presided the mass and in his homily he remembered the works of the late John Paul II as well as his devotion to the Catholic Church and to the Lord. (MSN)
(April 9, 2005 issue)
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