Pope Francis raring to meet PH youth, poor

Pope Francis: Looking forward to meeting with Filipino poor. AP

MANILA, Philippines–Pope Francis has given a special blessing for Filipinos, urging them to pray for him, said Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario who met the Holy Father in Rome last week.

Del Rosario said the Pope had told him he was looking forward to his trip to the Philippines next January to meet the poor, the youth and those affected by the devastating Super Typhoon “Yolanda” last year.

Del Rosario had the opportunity to meet with the Pope last Sept. 3 when he went on a two-day visit to the Vatican to look into the preparations for the papal visit.

The Philippine government and the Vatican are in the thick of preparations for the visit of Pope Francis, who is expected to be in the country from Jan. 15 to 19 next year.

In a phone interview, Del Rosario said his seven-minute encounter with the 77-year-old Pope was “a very memorable moment in my life.”

“I was in awe, humbled and honored,” he said, admitting to being at a loss for words on how to describe the meeting.

“Just his presence is overwhelming,” he said of the very popular Pontiff, known for his humble and simple ways.

‘Prominent’ seat 

Before his meeting with the Pope, which happened at the plaza in the Vatican where 10,000 of the Catholic faithful had gathered on that “nice and sunny” Wednesday morning last week, Del Rosario met for an hour with his Vatican counterpart, Msgr. Dominique Memberti.

Del Rosario said he had a chance to see and hear the Pope addressing the faithful at the plaza, having been given a “prominent” seat just across from the visiting Cardinals.

“I was acknowledged publicly (by the Pope) as visiting from the Philippines,” Del Rosario said.

The chance to speak with the Pope came after the Holy Father met and spoke individually to the 10 visiting Cardinals.

The Pope then went down from where he spoke with the Cardinals and then briefly met with his officials to be briefed on Del Rosario’s meeting with Memberti.

Then, he approached Del Rosario and welcomed him “with a big smile.”

“The Pope said he was looking forward to his visit to the Philippines,” Del Rosario said.

The Pope also told him that he wanted to visit the areas affected by Yolanda “and get together with the people affected by it.”

“The message being sent (by the Pope) is that he wants to get together with the poor, the youth and people affected by national disasters in the Philippines. These are his priorities,” Del Rosario said.