Name: Al Jay A. Ranile
Course: BSE
Year Level: 3B
Date: January 21, 2014
Assignment: Reaction Paper
“Papal Visit 2015” As Pope Francis travels home to the Vatican, his visit to the Philippines elicits a growing number of favorable comments from various sources, not only from Catholics, but also from Evangelicals, Muslims and indigenous groups. Pope Francis left the Philippines last Monday morning. Last Sunday he led a record-breaking Mass before a gathering of some seven million people. Pope Francis urged millions gathered in Manila to take care of one another and help promote peace in the world and Filipinos just proved once more that no one can stop them, not even rain from showing how faithful they are to God after attending His Holiness, Pope Francis’ final mass in the Philippines at the Quirino Grandstand Sunday at 3 in the afternoon. Filipinos from all ages and statuses attended the mass despite of the bad weather. They stayed outdoors just to see the Pope and hear his mass before he leave for Vatican last Monday at 10 in the morning. In a status on Facebook of one of the Priest, he said that: “Largest Sunday Mass In History! 7 million or more attended Mass in Manila today with Pope Francis, braving inclement weather and long hour outdoors. The Catholic Church is very much alive, thanks be to God!”And if ever this is true, it will break the previous world record for a papal gathering of five million during a mass by Saint John Paul II at the same venue in 1995
Some of religious sectors described the Papal trip as a historical event that affects not only the Catholic Church, but also all those who truly pursue world peace. Peace also dominated the reaction of Muslim religious leaders who positively assessed the pope's visit. And several Muslim religious leaders praised the pope's calls for peace, dialogue and protection for the land and its natural resources, often plundered by multinational companies.
Last Friday, Pope Francis met