International Press meets Pope Francis

For tonight’s special presentation on our talk show Straight from the Sky, we bring you a talk about the Mango Industry with Ms. Virgie de la Fuente, President of the Philippine Mango Industry Foundation, Inc. In my near 13-years doing this talk show, I never had the opportunity to talk about the Mango Industry, which is close to the hearts of Cebuanos because we proudly proclaim that the Cebu mangoes are the sweetest in the whole wide world.

But I really learned a lot about mangoes in this interview with Virgie de la Fuente. A good example is… I thought Cebu was the biggest grower or exporter of mangoes, but Virgie told me that Cebu was only number 16th in her list. I also thought that Guimaras also had a huge mango industry, but it was miniscule compared to Cebu. So you can call this show as “Everything you need to know about the Mango Industry.” Call it timely that the 15th Mango Industry also kicks off this week. So watch this very interesting show on SkyCable’s channel 61 at 8:00pm and replay an hour later in MyTV channel 30.

*  *  *

Over the weekend, the international news networks were still giving a full-blown coverage of the activities of newly-elected Pope Francis who has done so many amazing things in just a few days as Pope. The most surprising of all, which gives us an idea of what his Pontificate could be like, is that he shunned the waiting Mercedes Benz that would have brought him to the Basilica Mariae Majore (Mary Major) to honor the Blessed Virgin Mary and took a standard Volkswagen sedan instead.

The Basilica Mariae Majore has an icon of the Blessed Virgin Mary that Catholics believe was painted by the Evangelist Luke himself. Below its main altar is a reliquary of the crib of our Lord Jesus Christ brought to Rome by Sta. Helena. This Basilica was just a ten-minute walk from our hotel and I have many photographs of this beautiful and ancient church, where I saw a sign in a confessional, which said, “Confessions in Italian, Spanish, English and Cebuano.”

After that visit, Pope Francis went to his hotel in nearby Piazza Navonna where he was billeted and went to the counter to check out his things and paid the bills from his own pocket. Then later in the afternoon, he boarded a mini-bus that took his fellow Cardinals to another building inside the Vatican. This moves by the new Pope is pregnant with so much meaning… that he intends to reform the Catholic Church and will shun a life of luxury and hopefully, it would trickle down to our parishes in this country.

When breaking news of the new Supreme Pontiff was blared out on the Internet and mainstream international news media, our local news outlets went out of their way to ask our local clergy what they think of the new Pope. I was dismayed to read a news item in The Freeman that our good friend, Msgr. Achilles Dakay was quoted saying that he did not believe that this Pope rode a bus or took public transportation or even cooked his own food. Well, it seems that Msgr. Dakay was caught with his foot in the mouth when photos of the Pope was shown inside a mini bus.

Last Saturday, Pope Francis met with a thousand or so journalist or media practitioners at the jam-packed Vatican Auditorium, where he gave some intimate insights of the moments that he was elected as Pope. If he gave more details about the conclave… he might have self-excommunicated himself. But the Pope is a jolly fellow. During a dinner last Friday night with the Cardinals that elected him, he told them, “May God forgive you for electing me as Pope!” Surely, he said this in jest….!

The meeting with the journalists was very inspiring as he told them that he wanted to see a “Poor Church and a Church for the Poor.” This statement is full of meaning, which could lead to reforms inside the Vatican. The Pope also clearly pointed out that “Jesus is the center of the Church, not the Pope.” There is no doubt that the International media is elated by the election of Pope Francis and will certainly give more airtime to his official inauguration in St. Peter’s Square tomorrow.

In his final words with the journalists, Pope Francis said, “The church exists to communicate this: truth, goodness and beauty personified. We are all called not to communicate ourselves, but this essential trio.” Then he gave the journalists a blessing and respecting the non-Catholics inside the auditorium he said that he would bless each one in silence, “respecting your conscience, but knowing that each one of you is a child of God. May God bless you.”

There’s more history coming our way when Pope Francis visits retired Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI in Castel Gandolfo or elsewhere. It will be the first time in 700 years that we would see two Popes meeting each other. For sure this will be breaking news again with the international media that has been smitten by the election of Pope Francis to the See of Peter in Rome.

*  *  *

Email: vsbobita@gmail.com.