The Papal visit

MY take on the Papal visit is that in this electronic age of instant communication, with images to boot, we could have encountered him without having to batter the Luneta Park, fight our way through traffic and get behind layers of people to catch a glimpse of him. If one is not of the poor that he so much wanted to interact with, no need to preempt them or fight for space with them to be physically present there for a face-to-face meeting. Same with donors – let them have their compensation by a personal encounter if that is what they dearly wanted.

Television broadcasts and the press conferences, which were also televised afterward, plus the day-to-day radio and print media reports were more than enough for the public to feel the charisma of this new Pope. Indeed, he is easy to like, difficult to disagree with, simple and humble – a contrast to what we see around here in both Church and State.