“Every Filipino wants to go with you, not to Rome, but to the peripheries” (Cardinal Tagle)

The peripheries refer to the shanties, prison cells, hospitals, world of politics, finance, arts, the sciences, culture, education and social communication. In saying these words at the end of the Holy Mass at the Luneta grandstand on that rainy Sunday the eighteenth of January 2015, Manila archbishop Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle was echoing the grateful farewell not only of 7 million people mostly Filipino Catholics in Luneta park but also of millions of Filipinos throughout the archipelago and around the world.

By that eloquent gesture Cardinal Tagle was not only putting a sentimental closure to the unforgettable five-day pastoral visit of Pope Francis; he was, to my mind, summarizing for us what to reflect on and what to carry out from the entire message and presence of Christ’s Vicar on earth whose radiant beauty was irresistible, fascinating and captivating.

True, the archbishop was speaking for the entire Church in the Philippines as well as for those non-Catholics and admirers of Pope Francis here and around the world.

But I felt that the archbishop of Manila was speaking for me and for many of his brother bishops and priests who during the papal visit were touched and moved to tears and reminded to do much more for the poor. It was for me especially an examination of conscience.

It is imperative therefore to know WHY our people are poor. Social Injustice to the poor is caused by what Pope Francis calls “trickle-down theories” in economics.

The expression “world of politics” seem to encompass all the other peripheries. It was a wake-up call to join and/or confirm the struggle of those already working to peacefully eliminate the real causes of material and moral poverty. This is the periphery that is sending an urgent call. It is the focus of Pope Francis first Papal Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium, Joy of the Gospel.

It is imperative therefore to know WHY our people are poor. Social Injustice to the poor is caused by what Pope Francis calls “trickle-down theories” in economics (Evangelii Gaudium, n. 54). The real culprit is the pervasive existence of interlocking socio-economic-politico-cultural systems of big business, government, oligarchs and international NGOs being supported by the present administration and all previous administrations.

This is the cause of corruption and poverty in the other peripheries mentioned by Cardinal Tagle where admittedly there is corruption and poverty although something is already being done there to bring the light of Christ. Yet what is being done there is simply to answer the questions, Who, Where and How are the people poor? The answers in terms of projects have not solved the problem of injustice and poverty so far. It has even become worse.

To me then the real meaning of Mercy and Compassion, the theme or main purpose of the papal visit, is the effective response to the question, WHY are our people poor?

I thank Cardinal Chito for that soul-stirring farewell message and suggestion where to go from here on.
Now the most important question is: When? How? Each of us and each community must answer NOW! Otherwise SAYANG, USELESS, would be the Pope’s visit.