'Rock star status': Why Filipinos love papal visits

A papal visit is the biggest fiesta for a Filipino Catholic. Filipinos look at popes as being part-rock star, part holy man. Any event they preside over — be it a motorcade or a mass — is a once-in-a-lifetime experience for most of us. 

For me, it's an experience I've lived through four times already in the Philippines; I was nine when Pope Paul VI came to Manila in 1970 and 52 when Pope Francis visited in 2015 and I feel blessed to be a witness to a fifth.

But this papal visit — the fourth since Pope John Paul II visited in 1984, 1992 and 2002 — carries none of the festive pomp Filipinos are used to. The atmosphere around Pope Francis's visit is being kept somber and subdued in deference to the survivors and the families of victims of Canada's residential schools. 

According to Lito Velasco, editor of the Alberta Filipino Journal and a former seminarian in the Philippines, it is important that the essence of the papal visit is being carefully observed. 

"I feel excited just knowing that the Pope is coming over to pay Edmonton a visit for reconciliatory purposes," he added.

While all papal visits are an occasion to celebrate, the arrival of Pope Francis carries a lot of appeal for Filipinos in Canada, who admire him for being  a kind of maverick in a conservative church. 

He was elected on March 13, 2013, an unlikely choice to succeed Pope Benedict XVI who had resigned a month earlier.

In other words, the Pope was an underdog who emerged victorious, a storyline that Filipinos love.

"This pope is special," says Ida Lucila, founder and executive director of the Edmonton-based Philippine Arts Council and president of the Edmonton Philippine International Centre initiative. "The reason why he was (elected) was because of his progressive views. He is the right pope."

Like me, some Filipinos in Canada had at least one encounter with a pope back home. For those who  had none, this visit is a special one. 

"It is like having a Hollywood star come. Most of us have not abandoned our faith despite the secular influences around us," says Marjorie Newman, who runs MCN Canada Immigration Consulting in Edmonton. 

"Being Catholic is like being home. We know the prayers and the songs, the sense of belongingness and familiarity," she adds. 

"It is a place of our culture." 

Grounded in their faith

Pope Francis's visit to Edmonton reinforces this faith and sense of home among Filipinos.

It is particularly important for workers, students and immigrants who may feel disconnected when trying to establish roots here.

When the challenges of settling in or assimilating become too much, Filipinos turn to their faith to carry them through. 

The Church is our sanctuary, the Pope our leader.

While the Catholic Church remains largely conservative, Pope Francis has taken positions that are radical by traditional Catholic standards — his advocacy on climate change, his criticism of free market economics, and his call for the Church to be more tolerant and accepting of LGBT community members.

But as traditional as many Filipino Catholics remain, the reforms take nothing away from our faith in the Church and our devotion to Pope Francis. He continues to maintain rock star status, which helps keep the faith strong and steadfast among us. 

We are, after all, suckers for celebrities. And none is bigger than the Pope himself.

Some of us still remember his 2015 visit to the Philippines where he visited places in Leyte province to be with victims of a powerful typhoon. 

The image of Pope Francis celebrating mass amid a downpour is still etched in the minds of many Filipinos: the pontiff in a simple yellow poncho and drenched to the skin.

The Vicar of Christ and Successor to the Prince of the Apostles was also a simple priest who wanted to be with the people, despite a typhoon blowing in. 

This papal visit provides a sense of comfort and reinforces Filipinos' faith in the Church. 

Filipinos look to a leader who embodies relatable qualities.

This is why Francis and the now-sainted John Paul II are two of the most beloved pontiffs among Filipinos: They symbolize the "good side" of the Catholic Church even amid all its controversies, including the residential school tragedy. 

Papal visits can be deeply personal events for Filipinos. Such occasions fuel the faith and remind us of our perceived "special status" as Catholics coming from the only Catholic country in Southeast Asia.

This was the descriptive definition of the Philippines in the old days, when life was much simpler. As Ida Lucila notes, "This papal visit takes you back." 

Filipinos look for spiritual comfort and reassurance wherever they are. And this is what a papal visit brings.