By Roy Ramos
ZAMBOANGA CITY
An estimated six million Filipinos gathered in Manila Sunday for an open-air Mass on Pope Francis’ last full day in the country, local media reported.
The rain-soaked crowd, most wearing the disposable yellow ponchos that even the pope has donned during his visit, spilled out of the capital’s Rizal Park to hear the service, the Philippine News Agency said.
The 78-year-old pope arrived in his ‘popemobile’ as joyous crowds cheered and waved. Stopping often along the route to kiss children and bless religious statues, the pontiff was regaled with chants of “Papa Francisco” as a fiesta atmosphere gripped the crowd.
The size of the audience was greater than the five million who flocked to the same park in 1995 to see Pope John Paul II.
Many well-wishers in Asia’s only Catholic-majority nation had waited overnight for the park gates to open and secure a favorable position for the three-hour Mass.
As the park opened at dawn, most of the adjoining roads were closed. Some people carried images and models of the baby Jesus to mark the feast day of Saint Nino.
Anticipating the huge crowds, the government had warned the elderly, pregnant women and children against coming to the Mass.
The Argentine pope's day began with an emotional gathering at Manila’s Santo Tomas University.
In moving scenes, a 12-year-old girl abandoned by her parents asked: “Many children are abandoned by their parents. Many of them became victims and bad things have happened to them, like drug addiction and prostitution. Why does God allow this to happen, even if the children are not at fault? Why is it that only a few people help us?"
Tearful Glyzelle Palomar was hugged by the pope, who then cast aside his prepared speech to tackle her question.
"She is the only one who has put forward a question for which there is no answer and she was not even able to express it in words but rather in tears," he told the crowd of around 200,000, most of whom gathered outside the cathedral.
The pope went on to call for women to have a greater influence in society. "Women are capable of seeing things with a different angle from us, with a different eye, and pose questions that we men are not able to understand ... so when the next pope comes to Manila, let's please have more women among you," he said.
Francis has dedicated his five-day trip to the Philippines to the poor – visiting street children and the survivors of 2013’s Typhoon Yolanda and criticizing the corruption that robs the most vulnerable of opportunity.
However, his visit has been struck by tragedy. On Saturday, a 27-year-old volunteer was killed when scaffolding fell. Francis spent 20 minutes with her father Sunday.
