POPE Francis arrived in the United States on Tuesday, Sept. 22 for a six-day visit, exciting kababayans who wished they were in Manila when the Pontiff visited the Philippines last January.
It is this excitement that compelled many Fil-Ams to travel to Washington DC, New York, or Philadelphia to see the Pope in person and be blessed by his messages of inclusive love, hope, justice and mercy.
The Filipino Channel’s daily newscast Balitang America even reported how some Filipinas even joined the 100-mile walking pilgrimage from Pennsylvania to Washington DC to see the Pope and to share with the Leaders of the Catholic Church a message: dignity for America’s immigrants!
Some of these Filipinas are from Southern California, who are among 100 women who walked the 100 miles for the “We Belong Together” campaign in honor of immigration reform and the first US visit of Pope Francis.
“This issue of immigration is a human rights issue,” said Aqui Soriano Versoza of the Pilipino Workers Center (PWC) in a Balitang America report. “It’s also an issue of women in particular because those that are impacted by all these policies this broken immigration system those are impacted the most are women and children”.
Balitang America’s News Bureau Chief Paul Henson reported from The Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, where Pope Francis will celebrate his first mass in the US. He talked to Bishop Richard Garcia of the Diocese of Monterey, who says the faith of Filipino-Americans has been instrumental in sustaining the spiritual life of the Catholic Church in America.
“They’re keeping our faith alive. I really love the Filipino people for that because of the devotion they have for the Blessed Mother, for example,” Garcia told Henson in the report.
Here are the comments of Filipinos in America as gathered by Balitang America, in joyful anticipation of the Pope’s visit:
“Sa akin nag-resonate is his [Pope Francis’] love for the poor, and the underprivileged, and we are the one that are blessed and we should share it with other people.” — Nenita Aure
“Yung issue sa global warming…We are stewards of the Earth, so nagresonate talaga sa akin [Pope Francis’s message]. — Rosemarie Zamora
“Open siya [Pope Francis] sa lahat ng tao, yung nakikinig siya sa lahat ng opinyon pero sinusunod pa rin niya yung mga utos ng Diyos…Yung being merciful, and yung being welcoming sa lahat ng tao.” — Cecile Salonga
“I hope he would be.. a help to the community and to the politicians to invite them to help the struggles of the Filipino World War Two veterans. Not only the Filipinos but all of the veterans in America….I [also] hope the Pope would try to convince the leaders that..they could avoid any wars and protect the humanity from harm.” — Bernie Ganon, Filipino American Service Group, Inc.
“That is what we like with the Pope… He’s pushing for family reunification. remember the Immigration Bill has been dead in the US Congress because the Republicans won’t even [vote on it]”. — Arturo Garcia, Justice for Filipino American Veterans.
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Gel Santos Relos is the anchor of TFC’s “Balitang America.” Views and opinions expressed by the author in this column are are solely those of the author and not of Asian Journal and ABS-CBN-TFC. For comments, go to www.TheFil-AmPerspective.com, https://www.facebook.com/Gel.Santos.Relos
