MANILA — Apostolic Nuncio to the Philippines, Archbishop Gabriele Giordano Caccia, wanted to see the Filipinos’ devotion to the Black Nazarene, that was why he attended Tuesday’s midnight mass at the Quirino Grandstand, said Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle.
“His first interest, since he is new here, (is) to know the Filipinos and because he has heard so much about the devotion of the Filipinos… So he wanted to see,” Tagle said in an interview Wednesday.
The cardinal said that the Vatican ambasssador was amazed upon seeing the thousands of devotees who attended the Eucharistic celebration.
“I told him this is just for the Mass. The procession will be conducted later. Ang sabi nya, ‘Wow ang daming tao!’(He said, ‘Wow, so many people!’) Ang sabi pa niya, (He added,) ‘Look at how the faith of the simple people could inspire us,’” Tagle said.
The head of the Archdiocese of Manila was the celebrant of this year’s Traslacion Mass.
Meanwhile, Tagle said that people should be very cautious in commenting on the reported chaos during the procession.
“Yung sinasabing magulo, medyo mag-iingat din tayo sa ganung comment. Kasi kapag andun ka sa loob, ‘yung mga nagpuprusisyon hindi naman sila naguguluhan e. (What they call chaotic, let’s be careful about commenting on that, because it is not chaotic for those who joined the procession.) It’s all part of the experience,” he said.
“If you have millions, tapos ang goal ay hindi naman ‘yung maglakad kundi ‘yung to come close dun sa imahe, talagang medyo may makikita ka na movements (and your goal is not to walk but to come close to the image, then you would really see movements),” he added.
The procession ended 3 a.m. Wednesday when the image of the Black Nazarene reached its destination, the Quiapo Church, 22 hours and 19 minutes after it left the Quirino Grandstand.
Authorities said the event was generally peaceful. (PNA)