The enthusiasm began very early, in the great Plenary Hall of the Philippine International Convention Center. Hilario Davide, Chief Justice of our Supreme Court, received a standing ovation! Four thousand people on their feet, cheering! Carl Anderson, of the United States, Supreme Knight of the Knights of Columbus all over the world, could not come because the American officials warned everyone that the Philippines was Terrorist Territory. But he sent a video tape, excellently done. And he received a standing ovation, even though he was thirteen thousand miles away!
Rosa Linda Valenzana, of the University of the Philippines, was terrific on demography. She was the first woman – and a lay woman at that – to receive a standing ovation. The African Cardinal, His Eminence Francis Arinze, and our own new Bishop of Imus Cavite. His Excellency Chito Tagle received the same tribute. The audience was reacting to them all the way through their talks, interrupting them with laughter, and with applause.
On the last day of P.I.C.C. – Thursday, January 24 – the proceedings went hopelessly overtime. The session was to have ended at 6:30 p.m. But it was still going strong at nine o’clock. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, President of the Philippines, came for the final Mass. And when Celeste Legaspi Gallardo sang "Only Selfless Love" in his language – French, Spanish, Italian, Chinese, English and Tagalog – the audience went wild. It was three hours overtime, and the foreign delegates were on their feet, cheering for Celeste. She deserved it. She was really out of this world.
In the Luneta, when John Paul II appeared on the great screen, in the center of the Quirino Grandstand, the audience was amazed to see a room full of Asian families, crowded together behind him – Filipinos, Koreans, Chinese, Japanese. And about a dozen children playing on the floor, in front of him! They were fascinated by one little girl, who was industriously cleaning the sleeves of the Holy Father, while he was consecrating on the screen, which showed him the tremendous gathering in the Luneta. The Holy Father accepted the children cheerfully, as if they were his own. It was a beautiful portrayal of Christ in the Gospel: "Let the little children come unto me."
After the morning Mass, one foreign delegate, from the United States, said: "The choreography! The choreography carried the day!" Because the whole Mass was really choreographed. It was not the kind of choreography that would compete with the Fred Astaire, or with Grace Kelly, and it would never make the great ballet dancers jealous – but it was natural! It was just pure joy, expressed in body language.
The Mass began with men and women, young and old, dancing down the center aisle before the original image of the Santo Niño, brought here to Manila specifically for this World Meeting. It was a street dance, the Caracol – very simple, but the dancers were all smiling, and dancing with all their hearts. The dances done on the main stage featured our Filipino youth, young people, reaching up to God in prayer. The dances made the prayer seem spontaneous, springing from the heart.
The singing was superb, from start to finish, most of the songs were our own local Filipino compositions. And the sound system carried the voices, clean and clear, all through the Luneta. The singing was beautiful, live, as it came from the Quirino Grandstand, but it was just as beautiful on radio, and on television, all over the Philippines.
Our technicians did not have to blush about their performance over the full five days of this World Meeting. The sound, and the lights, at all four Congresses in the P.I.C.C. were excellent. All four programs were as smooth as silk. Never a dull moment. And we produced inter-active television in the Luneta clean, clear, and on time. John Paul II never did this before. The Philippines was the first in the world to bring him to a great religious conference, thousands of miles away, from his quarters in the Vatican.
Coming away from the Mass, a European delegate said: "You Filipinos really know how to celebrate!" An African delegate said: "This is once in a lifetime! Once in a lifetime!" A Spanish delegate said: "The next World Meeting of Families will be in Valencia, Spain, in 2003. I don’t know how we will be able to match this!"
And on the last day, at Villa San Miguel, His Eminence Alfonso Cardinal Lopez Trujillo baptized Maria Jose Alenton, who was born to a delegate from Cagayan de Oro, during the World Meeting! The tenth child in her family. She has seven brothers, and two sisters. The eldest is 20. And the baby is beautiful. The World Meeting of Families brought new life into the world.
And our security should be given medals! They fielded 1,785 police and military. There was not one single act of terrorism. The great crowd in the Luneta was always disciplined and orderly, in complete control. There was room for all the necessary movement. A masterpiece of planning. And a result of long, careful preparation.
Everyone went home happy. But the most powerful factor in the success of this event was the natural, spontaneous, warm, affectionate smile of the Filipino. Everyone felt accepted. Everyone felt that he was loved. We are not quite as bad as we thought we were. Sometimes, we do some things. . . . right!