I posted this on Friendster bulletin and shared it with friends a long time ago. I dunno exactly why I’m sharing it now. Maybe it was coz I talked to Faith the other day so I’m reminiscing. Anyway, here goes…

For the man I will always love

He was called a champion of freedom by US President Bush, a pioneer of interfaith dialogue by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and the Great Communicator by Nancy Reagan.

Wonderful titles of course. And he deserved them all. For someone like me though, he was simply my Pope.

I was blessed to have the chance of being one of the seven delegates of UST in the World Youth Day (WYD) in Canada. After the awesome experience we had together, we even planned to be part of the next WYD scheduled in Germany. Little did we know that July 2002 Canada WYD will be his last WYD outside Rome’s grounds, That his celebratory time he had with the youth he loves so much is limited.

Looking back, I remember during the screening, I told Fr. Deng, then the Campus Ministry Director, that I want to go because I want to see the Roman pontiff again. The first time I saw the Pope was when he was passing by Roxas Boulevard, his face red from heat and excitement as he was waving to the crowd from his bullet-proof Popemobile. That was during the Philippines own WYD in 1995, the one that reportedly drew a crowd of five million.

Some days I smile whenever I remember that a guy from Michigan offered to carry me on his shoulders, that I may be able to get a glimpse of the Pope as he passed by our spot at the Exhibition Place, Toronto. I figured he was kind because he’d rather bear my weight than have my face crushed against his back due to the crowd’s movement.

For my article for the Varsitarian, I talked to all these other youth delegates from Trinidad & Tobago, Belgium, Puerto Rico, Korea, Japan, UK, USA, to Zimbabwe. Coming from very different cultures, we all shared one thing - we all love the man Karol Wojtyla.

We love him for his faith in us. He did not preach. He called. He called on us to serve as the salt of the earth and the light of the world (the theme for that WYD) despite the many things pulling us down in this troubled society. No matter how many times we falter along the way, Jesus loves us. His Holiness was God’s best proof of His Love.

The 2002 WYD delegates of UST have not seen each other for quite a while now. More so I guess with all the other youth scattered to the different continents.

But I know his message still holds true in my heart as well as theirs. We continue living despite our shares of setbacks. Most significantly, I also believe that the youth from all over the world will always be bound to each other no matter the distance, united by their eternal love for the late Pope John Paul II.