I want to express my respect, love and prayers to Pope John Paul II. My personal tribute to the only Pope whom I have known in my lifetime. I remember him when he visited Manila I was with my late Lola Abeng and Tita Ching in Luneta waiting to get a glimpes of him. I remember the crowd and the atmosphere joyful and expectant. When we saw him, it was a unique and different experience that I shared with Lola and Inay. The second time I saw him was in 1995 at the Manila World Youth Day and even in that mobile that they made for him, he still emanates that particular aura of a person filled with compasion and peace not just for Christians but for all humanity. To this day, I still remember our chant "JPII we love you" echoing in Quirino grandstand in 1995.
Last April 2nd, at breakfast in a remote town in Surigao Del Sur, I learned that he died. Even in that remote island of Mindanao, people in the barrio joined the world in remembering Pope John Paul II.
This morning on my flight back from Bohol, I read in the paper with words I cannot improve upon so I qoute Malaya's front page story today "nearly 200 world leaders will gather, some of whom rarely if ever meet, a fitting tribute to a Pope who fought for world peace and unity."
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