As the world awaits the beatification of Pope John Paul II on May 1, a blogger — a seminarian in Australia who met him 16 years ago — recalls his encounter with the pope who is on his way to becoming a saint.
The blogger, who requested GMA News Online to be identified only as "Seminarian Bluep" will be celebrating his birthday on Sunday, the day that the late pope will be beatified. Seminarian Bluep requested anonymity since he is currently in a seminary and one of the rules they follow is not using their real names in cyber space. He is also known as “Blue Panjeet," his pen name used in his
blog. Seminarian Bluep said meeting the late pope during the World Youth Day (WYD) in the Philippines in 1995 “changed his life." The seminarian, who will turn 34 on Sunday, was a college freshman when Pope John Paul II visited the Philippines in 1995 for the celebration of the 10th World Youth Day. Seminarian Bluep, the author of “On The Wings Of My Dream Blog," a site dedicated to the World Youth Day, feels blessed as he celebrate his birthday on the day that John Paul will be proclaimed “Blessed." “As I celebrate my birthday, John Paul II will be celebrating with me with his beatification. I may not be there in Rome [for his beatification] but someday, on his canonization, in God’s will, I will see him again."
Papal visit The six-day WYD began with a Holy Mass, officiated by the late Archbishop of Manila Cardinal Jaime Sin and other priests in Luneta, Manila.
The Mass was attended by millions of Filipinos and people from other countries who went to the Philippines to catch a glimpse of the pope. According to Seminarian Bluep, the WYD participants spent three days attending lectures, talks, and other activities set by the WYD Secretariat. The fifth day was devoted to the evening vigil with the Pope, “a night of prayer, reflection, music, and dances." “Most of you probably don’t know that the Pope arrived in the Philippines on January 12, 1995, two days after the official opening of the world youth day," Seminarian Bluep, a registered nurse and now a seminarian in Australia, said in his e-mail to GMA News Online. "It was his second official visit as a Pope and his fourth as Karol Wojtyla as what others don’t know," he added.
Determined to see the pope Seminarian Bluep said he was determined to see the pope and did what he could to get close to the pontiff. He recalled that on the day of the Pope’s arrival, he was heartbroken when he was not able to see the Pope even though the house where he was staying was just a few kilometers away from airport. His colleagues, who was with him then, decided not to go so he was forced to stay at home and just watched the pope on television. “Seeing so many young people on national TV risking their own lives crossing the highway just to be near the Pope was enough to make me cry. “I was supposed to be there," I mumbled," he said in his e-mail to GMA News Online On the day of the vigil, he and his group went to Quirino Grandstand in Manila early to get a good chance of seeing the Pope. However, the place assigned to them by the organizers was just enough to see dot-sized figures on the stage. “You can barely see people moving on the stage from our spot," he said. Driven by his strong determination to see the Pope, he sneaked out of the fence just to get in front and have a closer view of the Pope. “What I did was I crawled literally on the ground and pass underneath the feet of the people. And in five seconds, I was already in front of the crowd, holding my ground lest I be pulled at the back. This was the only chance I have," he narrated. Equipped with an analog camera, he prepared to take shots of the Pope. As the pope mobile was moving fast, he was worried that he could not take the best shot. He was stunned when it unexpectedly stopped right in front of him. With the Pope just a few meters away from him, Seminarian Bluep managed to take a good shot of the pontiff. “My whole body was literally trembling. An electric current was running from my spine down to my feet. My heart was pumping heavily and I was sweating profusely but strangely with great joy that I have never experienced before in my entire life," he said. While the pope mobile was in front of him, the pontiff looked at Seminarian Bluep's direction and “made a sign of blessing." “I knew he glanced at me because I clearly saw his eyes looking at my own eyes. I was stupefied. It was the longest split second I have ever experienced in the space-time continuum. At that instant, realizing that the Pope just looked at me directly, tears began to flow," narrated Seminarian Bluep. “I stood there motionless and crying like a child. It changed my life forever," he continued. Seminarian Bluep went back to his group, speechless. He spent the entire night praying and listening to the Pope’s message. “That evening, his voice rang to me like a Chinese gong, which shook my complacent and mediocre self. Up to this day, I can still here his voice, the very same way he spoke them 16 years ago," he said.
After the event, he considered himself a changed person, all because of Pope John Paul II. “He doesn’t even know that I exist…but for me, seeing him was already enough to last a lifetime of relationship with him. He is the father whom I never had. He is my confidant whom I never had the privilege to talk to," Seminarian Bluep said. "He is my hope who never gets tired of reminding me that we are the light of Asia. And he is the one whose voice till now rings true to my ear, as loud as the thunderclap in a dark gloomy night saying “As the father sent me so am I sending you" (John 3:16)," he added.
Largest papal crowd The pope's visit to the Philippines in 1995 was recorded as the largest papal crowd ever. The Philippines was the first Asian country to host the World Youth Day, held from January 10 to 15, 1995, and the Pope’s message had the theme: “As the Father sent me, so am I sending you" (John 20: 21). World Youth Day was first celebrated in 1986 after the Pope announced the institution of the event in December 20, 1985.
Pope John Paul II According to the
website of the Vatican, Pope John Paul II (Karol Józef Wojtyła, known as John Paul II) was born in Wadowice, Poland on May 18, 1920 and died on April 2, 2005. He was ordained to the priesthood in Krakow, Poland on November 1, 1946. "On July 4, 1958, he was appointed titular bishop of Ombi and auxiliary of Krakow by Pope Pius XII, and was consecrated September 28, 1958, in Wawel Cathedral, Krakow, by Archbishop Eugeniusz Baziak," the Vatican website said. "On January 13, 1964, he was appointed archbishop of Krakow by Pope Paul VI, who made him a cardinal June 26, 1967 with the title of S. Cesareo in Palatio of the order of deacons, later elevated pro illa vice to the order of priests," the website added. As a cardinal, the would-be-pope participated in Vatican Council II (1962-1965) and helped draft the Constitution Gaudium et spes. Later, on October 16, 1978, Catholic Cardinals from around the world elected him Pope and he took the name of John Paul II. On October 22 that year, a Sunday, called the "Lord's Day" by Catholics, Pope John Paul II solemnly inaugurated his ministry as the 263rd successor to the Apostle Peter. His pontificate, one of the longest in the history of the Catholic Church, lasted almost 27 years.
- VVP, GMA News 
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