When Pope Francis carries his message of compassion and mercy
to the Philippines this week, a local priest will be among
those who welcome him to the Southeast Asian country still
recovering from 2013’s devastating typhoon and earthquake.
The
pastor of St. Ann Church in Arlington and a Philippines
native, Missionhurst Father Ramel (“Mel”) O. Portula will
concelebrate a Jan. 17 Mass and attend an address by the
pope, as well as enjoy time with family and help where he
can.
He made the nearly 9,000-mile trip to the island country last
week, a trek that included two delayed flights and
temporarily lost luggage.
But the journey was well worth it for the 43-year-old priest,
who sees the pope’s Jan. 15-19 visit as a source of hope and
healing for his struggling homeland and as a
once-in-a-lifetime personal blessing.
“Pope Francis has inspired me with his writings, his
homilies, his closeness to people, his simplicity and his
call to pay more attention to the poor,” said Father Portula
the day before he left. “I am so blessed to have this
opportunity to welcome him to my country.”
The pope will spend his first day in the capital city of
Manila before traveling to the island of Leyte, located in
the Eastern Visayas – one of three principal geographic
regions in the Philippines and one of the areas most affected
by Typhoon Haiyan last year. In the city of Tacloban, in
northeastern Leyte, Father Portula will concelebrate Mass
with the pontiff.
Although the wet season typically starts in June and wanes in
October, Father Portula said recent rains have flooded the
spot where the Mass is to be celebrated. With the forecast
predicting additional rain, Father Portula prays the sun will
make an appearance alongside the pope.
The Holy Father’s next stop on the island will be Palo, where
Father Portula was born and grew up – one of nine children in
a devout Catholic family.
The city is the seat of the archdiocese, what Father Portula
referred to as the “the Arlington of the area.”
It is also where during World War II Gen. Douglas MacArthur
fulfilled the famous words, “I shall return.” He’d made the
promise two years earlier, in 1942, when the Japanese army
chased him out of the islands. “So the town has historic
meaning for the Philippines-U.S. relationship,” Father
Portula said.
Later in the day, Father Portula will attend an address by
Pope Francis to clergy and religious, seminarians and
families in Palo’s Cathedral of the Transfiguration of Our
Lord, the place where the Missionhurst priest received his
sacraments and where he was ordained in 2000.
Reflecting the visit’s focus, the pope will eat lunch Jan. 17
with survivors of Typhoon Haiyan, known in the Philippines as
Typhoon Yolanda. The November storm was one of the strongest
ever recorded and the deadliest Philippine typhoon in modern
history, killing more than 6,000 people. Just three weeks
prior, the country had suffered a magnitude 7.2 earthquake.
One of Father Portula’s high school classmates died in the
typhoon, and he admitted that he wasn’t sure he was ready to
see the place where he grew up, which was transformed by the
storm. “I’ve been told I need to prepare myself,” he said.
On Jan. 11, Father Portula visited two churches, where mass
graves of typhoon Haiyan victims marked the front grounds.
“It feels so heavy,” he wrote in an email. “But the sadness
has turned into joy, albeit temporarily, due to the pope’s
visit.”
After the pope heads back to Rome Jan. 19, Father Portula
plans to help his community as much as possible. He’s brought
donations and gifts from St. Ann parishioners that he will
distribute to the less fortunate. And he also wants to see
firsthand – even if painful – what shape the country is in
and to bring that knowledge back to the states.
“I want to get in touch with the real stories there,” said
Father Portula. “I want to tell people here (in the United
States) what the situation is, help them remember places that
don’t get enough media coverage.”
He also hopes to meditate upon the pope’s message to the
Filipino people and to integrate that into his ministry at
St. Ann.
The visit, said Father Portula, speaks to his heart and to
that of his native country.
“The pope’s message is to draw closer to God and to change
our ways,” he said. “The Philippines is struggling to find
itself. Politically there is so much corruption; there is so
much social injustice. In spite of all of this, (the pope)
responds with a call for us to serve one another. This is a
very powerful message to the nation, to all Filipinos.
“Despite what people have been through … to be visited
by such a person brings such joy and so much comfort,” said
Father Portula.
Three days before the pope’s arrival, he described a sense of
euphoria in the country: “It means a lot to the people to get
a visit from a pope. To us his visit touches the very core of
the human spirit – that he cares for us, that he wants to
lift us up, and that he wants us to be assured of God’s mercy
and compassion.”
