Bacolod tower to air late pope's beatification Sunday

A tower erected in Bacolod City in honor of the late Pope John Paul II will show a live telecast of the late pontiff's beatification this Sunday. Fr. Felix Pasquin, rector of the San Sebastian Cathedral, said a cable TV firm agreed to provide a live telecast of the beatification rites. The telecast at the John Paul II tower in Bacolod City is scheduled at 4 p.m. Sunday, news site Visayan Daily Star reported. On the other hand, Triduum Masses [ a series of special Masses over a three-day period] in preparation for the beatification were scheduled at the San Sebastian Cathedral from Thursday to Saturday. On the day of the beatification, businessman Simplicio Palanca will feed indigent children from a reclamation area there. After the live telecast of the beatification rites, flowers will be laid at the foot of the statue of Pope John Paul II at the tower. The Youth for Christ and the Singles for Christ will then hold a cultural program as an expression of rejoicing for the beatification, Pasquin said. The seven-storey tower stands in the area where Pope John Paul II spoke to thousands of faithful during his historic visit to Bacolod City on Feb. 20, 1981. John Paul II's side trip to Bacolod during his 1981 visit was one of the late Bishop Antonio Fortich’s biggest triumphs. "I told (the late Manila Archbishop Jaime) Cardinal Sin the Pope does not just want to see the scenery at Mayon Volcano; he wants to see the problems of the people," Fortich said at the time. At the time, Fortich noted the Pope delivered one of his most powerful messages in behalf of the poor in Bacolod. "Injustice reigns when the laws of economic growth and ever greater profit determine social relations, leaving in poverty and destitution those who have only the work of their hands to offer," the Pope said at the time. He also warned that "the church will not hesitate to take up the cause of the poor and to become the voice of those who are not listened to when they speak up, not to demand charity, but to ask for justice." — LBG, GMA News