Lombardi:
Tacloban most intense moment of Pope's journey
(Vatican Radio) Speaking after today’s intense experience on the
Island of Leyte, during which bad weather forced organizers to cut short the
Pope’s schedule, Father Federico Lombardi SJ expressed his belief that the
Pope’s encounter with survivors of the 2013 Typhoon represents one of the
highlights of his Asian journey.
Speaking to Vatican
Radio’s Sean Patrick Lovett, the Director of the Vatican Press Office pointed
to Pope Francis’ off-the-cuff homily in which he said “So many of you have lost
everything. I do not know what to tell you. But surely he knows what
to tell you! So many of you have lost members of your family. I
can only be silent; I accompany you silently, with my heart…” as the central
moment of this part of his visit. “It was the moment during which we really
understood his desire to be with these people in this situation” he said.
Lombardi points out that from the very beginning, the Pope had
said that it was when “he saw the images of the typhoon and the disaster that
he decided to come here”.
“This is actually the
end of a long journey that did not begin in Manila, but in Rome just over a
year ago on the day of the typhoon” he said.
And remarking on the
fact that for the Pope being here on a day of strong wind and rain, Lombardi
says “it was a new experience” because this kind of weather
does not happen in his native Argentina, or in Rome for that matter, but
here – he said - the people are normally subject to a particularly critical
situation.
“To be here, not on a
sunny day, but on a day of rain and wind, this was the concrete situation in
which the experience of being with the people was totally credible” he said.
Lombardi also speaks
of how moved the Pope is as he experiences the affection of the Filipino
people: “You cannot be indifferent to see on the streets hundreds of thousands
of people waiting to see you for hours, even if you have not the time to meet
them personally, they are happy to see you and feel your presence and
encouragement”.
He says the Pope
really feels this particular attitude Filipinos have toward s the Pope and
towards the religious experience.
And as we know,
Lombardi said, “he has the poor always at the center of his attention and if he
has the occasion to be with them concretely in concrete situations such as
this, then the experience is even stronger and more profound”.
“I think today was the
most profound and intense moment of this journey” he said.
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