Tales from the Conclave – Pope Francis as told by H. E. Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle, SJ
[I know this is a sick blog, and this post is totally irrelevant with my current obsession. :P]
So, the council members of local youth ministries from the district of Imus were requested to join the Lenten recollection of Cardinal Tagle in the Imus Cathedral. I thought it would be a small recollection because we were particularly asked to attend. The recollection was scheduled at seven in the evening. So we arrived at exactly 7pm and we are like, dumbfounded to see how many people are already there. The cathedral is overflowing with people that council members had to look for a space to sit outside the church and listen. When we arrived, there were more than a thousand people in attendance. When we left, the number rose to more than a couple thousand.
Cardinal Tagle had us reflecting on the foundation of the Catholic beliefs: The Apostles’ Creed. As the creed had three parts, he cut his discussion into three parts, starting with the most important part, “I believe in God, the Father Almighty”.
He told tales from the conclave and how the Pope showed their understanding of this part. Father Chito (that’s how we call Cardinal Tagle) said that since Catholics (and Christians in general) believe in the supremacy of God the Father, we should maintain our humility under God and NOT assume [too much] power when we are temporarily vested with it. And then he told this scene when the ballots were being counted. [note: this isn’t verbatim transcription] “Edi kame kinakabahan na n’ung binibilang na yung mga boto. Eh nung nararamdaman na ni Cardinal Bergoglio na “namumuro” na s’ya, sinabihan s’ya nung katabi n’ya, yung kardinal na galing sa Brazil (sinabi n’ya ‘yung pangalan pero hindi ko matandaan) na, “ayan, nasa tuktok ka na ng kapangyarihan ng simbahan, ‘wag na 'wag mong kakalimutan yung mga dukha.”. Pabalik-balik ‘yung sinabi na ‘yon ng cardinal galing sa Brazil, dukha, dukha, dukha, kaya naalala n’ya yung pangalang Francis, si St. Francis of Asisi, the poor, kaya pinili n’ya yung pangalan na ‘yon, Francesco, naging Pope Francis s’ya. (We were being nervous when the ballots are being counted. And when Cardinal Bergoglio felt that he was going to win the ballot, the cardinal who sat beside him, who’s from Brazil (I forgot his name, but he mentioned it), said to him, “Now that you’ve rose to the top of the Catholic church hierarchy, do not ever forget the poor.”. Those words of the cardinal from Brazil never left Cardinal Bergoglio, the poor, the poor, the poor, and so he remembered the name Francis, the St. Francis of Asisi, the poor, so he chose that name, Francesco, he became Pope Francis.)
Another example of humility shown by the Pope Francis was that when they were in his installation mass, he never wanted to be set apart from his cardinal brothers. “Eh kasi merong isang kwarto na pagbibihisan ng mga cardinal elector. Lahat kayo sama-sama magbibihis. Nakalagay na d’on ‘yung mga isusuot mo hahanapin mo na lang yung pangalan mo, tulad nung sutana, nung chasuble. Eh biglang pumasok si Papa non, Pope na s’ya ah, eh di lahat kami napasigaw, “Papa!”. Nagulat kami, baka ika ko eh naligaw lang s’ya at hindi n’ya alam na may nakalaang kwarto para sa kanya. Pero hindi, sa amin talaga sumama, sabi n’ya, “Bakit naman ako dapat ihiwalay sa mga kapatid kong kardinal?”. Ayaw n’yang ihiwalay s’ya, papa na s’ya non ha!” (There is a room designated as the changing room for the cardinal electors. All of them are to change in the same room. The clothes they have to wear are already placed there and all they have to do is to find their names on the clothes, like the cassock, the chasuble. But then the Pope entered the room, and he is already Pope at that time, and we shouted altogether, “Papa!”. We were totally surprised, I was thinking maybe he was just lost or he did not know that there was a room designated for his own personal use. But no, he changed into required clothes with us, saying, “Why do I have to be separated with my brother cardinals?” He does not want to be set apart from us, and he is already Pope!)
Second, Father Chito discussed the “I believe in Jesus Christ, our Lord” part. He said that we should do a Christ did, that he did think that he can do everything on his own and always consulted with God the Father. He also said that this dependency on the Father in heaven is a manifestation of our staying young. With this he recalled an incident in the dinner after the installation mass. “Nangangati na ‘ko dun sa mga pinasuot sa’min, lalo na don sa sutana, kaya pagbalik ko ng kwarto ko, nagbihis ako kaagad. Nagsuot ako ng polo shirt na black na may white dito (hindi ko nakita kung saan yung itinuro n’ya). Tapos dahil malamig, nagsuot ako ng sweater sa ibabaw ng polo shirt. Paglabas ko, may nakakita sa’kin na kardinal, sabi n’ya, “hoy, magbihis ka ng damit mo! Kasama natin yung papa mamaya yan ang damit mo?”sagot ko, “o? eh hindi ko alam eh!” Eh kasi hindi ko naman talaga alam. Tapos sabi n’ya sa’kin, “Bumalik ka sa loob, magbihis ka ng sutana mo.” Eh di bumalik ako sa loob, kaso naiisip ko ibabalik ko na naman yung makating sutana, kaya lumabas na lang ako uli. Eh nakasabay ko yung papa sa elevator, nahiya tuloy ako sa damit ko. Napansin ng papa yung damit ko, sabi n’ya, “Sporty! I like your clothes!” Pagkatapos non gusto ko tuloy hanapin yung kardinal na sumita sa’kin, sasabihin ko sana, “Yung Papa nga nagustuhan yung damit ko, pinapabihis mo pa ‘ko!”. (I was itching with the clothes thy required us to wear, especially the cassock, so when I went back to my room, I readily changed my clothes. I wore a black polo shirt with a white right here ( I didn’t see where he pointed). And then, because it was cold there, I wore a sweater on top of the polo shirt. When I got out of my room, a cardinal saw me and he said, “hey, change your clothes! We will be dining with the pope later and you’re wearing something like that?” I answered, “Really? I didn’t know!” Well, I really didn’t know. Then he told me, “Go back and change to your cassock.”. So I went back in, however, I thought I would have to change back to that itchy cassock again. I decided to settle with my clothes. And then I had shared the ride to the lift with the Pope. I became suddenly ashamed of my appearance. The Pope noticed my clothes, he said, “Sporty! I like your clothes!” After that I was itching to find that cardinal who told me to change to my cassock and tell him, “The Pope himself liked my clothes, and then your telling me to change my clothes?”
When it was time for the reflection on the “I believe in the Holy Spirit” part, my sister asked me if we can go home already, because it’s getting a bit quite late and the cardinal took a lot of time with the previous parts. I wasn’t able to finish the recollection, so I’ll be asking my co-council members about that part. :P
