US-China Forum (English)
                             
  • Home
  • Weekly Forum
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Special Events
  • Donate
  • Article
  • 中文

My Audience with Pope Francis

3/17/2018

0 Comments

 
Ambrose Wang
Picture
 
One day in September 2017, I received a phone call from my friend Serge Pun. He phoned from Myanmar to tell me that the Archbishop of Yangon was in a bind about the impending visit of Pope Francis which was set to take place in less than three months. The small Catholic Church of Myanmar did not have enough money in its coffer to pay for all the local expenses. (The TV company would broadcast the live telecast free of charge, but the Church had to pay for the rental of satellite bandwidth.)  Serge had promised that he would help solve the Archbishop's problem, and was soliciting assistance from me and another one of his good Catholic friends to pay for this TV broadcast expense. Over the phone I immediately agreed to open my wallet for this good cause, and electronically remitted the funds (amount omitted) on the same day. At the time, I view it as the performance of the duty of a Catholic disciple, and the answer to the plea of a dear friend. I expected nothing in return and had no inkling that I would gain an opportunity to meet with the Holy Pope.
 
Two months later, on November 20, 2017, I received another phone call from Serge. 
"Would you like to see the Pope up close and personal?" He asked.
"Is this a joke?  Who would say no to such a great honor?" I wanted to know.
"And what do you mean by up close?" I added.
"Only us three donors and our close dependents."
 
It turned that in appreciation to our donation and assistance, the Archbishop of Myanmar made a special arrangement for us to meet with Pope Francis. That was only eight days before the Pope's arrival in Myanmar.
 
Pope Francis arrived in Yangon on November 27, the same day Polly and I got there.  The second day, November 28, Pope Francis went to Naypyidaw, the new capital of Myanmar since 2006, to meet with Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi and other military and political leaders. The 3rd day, November 29 at 9 am, the Pope celebrated mass on an open field in Yangon. The temperature that day was 38 C (100.4 F). In order to occupy a seat closer to the alter, thousands of faithfuls entered the ground the previous night. By 7 am, two hours before the mass began the field was crammed with 150,000 people. The papal mass was conducted under a hot blazing sun, all attendees were drenched in sweat. As VVTPs, we were seated in the only area that was covered by open canopies and was shielded from the direct scorching sun. Even so, since we were wearing suits, our shirts were totally soaked.
 
That afternoon, Pope Francis stood in reception line for 500 priests, nuns, bishops and cardinals from all over Southeast Asia. That was the first time I saw so many members of the clergy stood in line like parading military officers and soldiers.
 
Finally, at around 5 pm, it was our turn to meet with the Pontiff in the Archbishop's residence. Our party of 9 people from 3 families was the only group of non-clergyman he would meet privately and photograph with in this entire trip.
 
We waited respectfully in the main hall for about 25 minutes before the great moment arrived! We heard Pope Francis and his entourage slowly walking into the main hall. Our heartbeats accelerated with the approaching footsteps. After his long flight from Rome plus two days of packed schedule, the Pope seemed a little fatigued. But he still shook our 9 hands with a warm smiling face. He gave us his blessing and had pictures taken with our 3 families separately.  
 
What honored and touched us most was how tightly Pope Francis held our hands with both of his hands. We could feel a warm current flowing from the Pontiff's palms directly into our hearts. This was indeed the greatest honor of our lives. For me, a baptized Catholic since infancy, this was the greatest blessing of a lifetime. I thank God for His gracious gift.
 


0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Categories

    All
    Chinese Society
    International Politics
    Reprints
    Taiwan Politics



    An advertisement
    will go here.




    Archives

    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly