Phl, Asia's largest Catholic nation, remembers pope

MANILA, Philippines (AP) – Catholics who adore the late Pope John Paul II with rock-star intensity are celebrating his planned beatification with prayers and treasured mementoes.

Masses are being celebrated for John Paul in Manila and several province today. Papal mementoes have been displayed ahead of his beatification in Vatican.

Relics on public display include a piece of his cassock believed to have healing powers and a set of plate, spoon and fork — still unwashed after he used them 16 years ago.

The popular pontiff has a wide following in the Philippines, Asia's largest predominantly Roman Catholic nation. Authorities foiled a terrorist plot to assassinate him during a second and final Manila visit in 1995.

Although John Paul's beatification has been criticized elsewhere by some as happening too fast and under a cloud over the clerical sex abuse scandal, it's being celebrated by many Filipinos as rare good news at a time of depressing man-made and natural disasters in their impoverished homeland and beyond.

"Why not?" asked John Paul Bustillo, a 16-year-old medical student named by his mother after the pontiff and turned out today along with more than 3,000 for a 10-kilometer race followed by a Mass near Manila Bay. "He was a model and an inspiration who united the world with his extraordinary charisma."

A popular church in Manila's downtown Quiapo district is displaying a small piece of a cassock worn by the late pope and given by a Vatican official to a Filipino priest. Thousands have lined up to touch or kiss the scant piece. Another such piece of clothing, also from the Vatican, has reportedly cured several patients at a state-run Manila hospital, said Monsignor Jose Clemente Ignacio, who heads the Quiapo church.

A Chinese restaurant in the capital's suburban Quezon City has displayed a set of plates, spoon, fork, water goblet and knives — still unwashed after the pope used them in a 1995 dinner of grilled fish and fried shrimp at the Vatican nunciature in Manila, where the restaurant's staff set up.

"He was the most important VIP I have ever served in my life," Leo Matias told The Associated Press, adding the pope allow him and seven other waiters to kiss his ring.

AROUND THE WORLD

Other Catholics worldwide celebrated the planned beatification of the late pope, with the faithful turning out to pray, share treasured memories and watch Sunday's Vatican ceremony on giant televisions.

In Australia, hundreds of people gathered at St. Mary's Cathedral in Sydney to celebrate the beatification, with special prayer services being held inside and a carnival atmosphere outside in the grounds.

Live coverage of the ceremonies in Rome was being broadcast on a giant screen in the cathedral's forecourt, with food stalls selling treats and music groups performing.

Cardinal George Pell said he had no doubt that John Paul II would be canonized, but noted it was a long process.

"This is the penultimate stage. He'll be declared blessed, there'll be a pause — I don't know three years, five years, some period of time, before he's canonized," Pell said. "But he's making pretty good time."

Thousands of Mexicans held a prayer vigil in Mexico City's Virgin of Guadalupe Basilica on Saturday while two large screens inside the church projected the celebrations in Rome.

Jorge Lopez Barcenas, a 70-year-old painter and body shop worker, traveled from central Hidalgo state to witness the beatification from the Basilica.

"He was a person who elevated the faith," said Lopez, who saw the pope during two of his five visits to the country.

On Saturday night, dozens of mainly young people gathered at the Basilica to wait overnight for the culmination of John Paul II's beatification.

Michelle Lopez, 19, told The AP she first saw John Paul II from a distance as a girl during his 1999 visit and he has been an important figure in her life ever since.

"He looked like a small porcelain doll, very nice," she said. "He is like a saint to us."

Guillermo Lozano, a 15-year-old student, also planned to pass the night at the Basilica waiting for the beatification to be shown on the screens.

"In my house we adore him, he said. "He was the best pope, I believe, so far."

In 2002, during his final visit, pope John Paul II canonized Juan Diego as the first indigenous saint in the Americas. The Virgin of Guadalupe is said to have appeared to Juan Diego in 1531 on a hill where an important Aztec goddess had been worshipped.

Mexico was the third most-visited country by the pope after Poland and France.