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Pinoy Abroad

Muslim Pinoy pilgrim urges peers to join next WYD


A Muslim Filipino who joined this year’s World Youth Day in Spain is encouraging fellow Muslims to go through the same experience he had. Yussef Paglas, 17, the lone Muslim in the Philippine delegation, said he “meaningfully" fulfilled his Muslim traditions during the “Catholic" WYD event. “Even though I was with the Catholic community, I was still able to practice Ramadan because of the long walking that we endured. And despite the busy schedule, I still pray and bring the Qu’ran with me always," he said in an article posted on the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines news site. He also said he had a chance to “sacrifice" during a week of “immersion" spent at the Coria Caceres diocese before the actual WYD. Paglas said that if young Muslims like him will attend the WYD, the conflict between Catholics and Muslims will cease to exist. “By participating in the WYD, I learned to respect the Catholic faith even more. Since respect leads to peace, I think participating in the WYD will help solve the problem," he added. Overwhelming feeling Paglas was one of three Filipino youths privileged to sit near Pope Benedict XVI during the vigil before the WYD formally ended at Cuatro Vientos. He recalled the overwhelming feeling of being close to the Pope, the highest official of the Catholic Church. “Even if I am a Muslim, I felt how the people felt when the Pope arrived for the vigil. I saw them cheering for the Pope and it moved me," he said. ‘Very surreal’ A Catholic pilgrim, Joana Pauline Manalo of Assumption College Antipolo, described her experience praying at the vigil very near the Pope as “very surreal." “I was already sitting near the Pope during the vigil but I still cannot believe that the successor of Peter is in front of me. Attending the WYD is already a blessing in itself and having been chosen to be one of Filipinos for that rare experience is more than the blessing that I expected," she said. Ma. Reinisa Cabual from the College of the Immaculate Conception of Cabanatuan City said being one of the privileged Filipinos that sat near the Pope made her want to be a missionary. “I think God wants to tell me through my experience that He wants me to spread His word and to be a missionary," she said. Cabual also urged other Filipino youth to join the next WYD in Brazil to experience what they had experienced. — JE, GMA News

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