POPE IN MORONG. John Paul II reads message to the boat people as First Lady Imelda Marcos listens. PHOTO BY BONG LACSON
MORONG, Bataan- The Memorial Shrine of the Blessed Pope John Paul II in the former Philippine Refugee Processing Center here is all set to hold a Holy Mass this coming Sunday to celebrate the canonization of the new saint, the parish priest of Morong said Wednesday.
“We are preparing the Liturgy to be officiated by Bishop Ruperto Santos, the Holy Mass to be attended by many Catholic faithful from different parts of Bataan,” Fr. Gerardo Gregorio Jorge said.
“Ang mga deboto ng Mahal na Birhen sa Nagbalayong, Morong ay dadalong lahat,” the parish priest said. Morong Mayor Jorge Estanislao, former surgeon of the St. Lukes Hospital in Manila, said they will attend the Holy Mass with many of his constituents.
The shrine was erected right at the spot where the beloved pope held his fi eld Mass for thousands of Indo-Chinese refugees when he visited the Philippines on February 21, 1981. The memorial shrine was completed when PJPII was beatified.
The shrine shows the pope with a family of Indo- Chinese refugees in a boat while traversing the rough and turbulent sea to escape persecution in their countries of origin – Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. “As a child, Jesus fled his native land and escaped death,” PJPII then told the refugees.
The former PRPC that became home to about 400,000 so-called boat people was turned into the Bataan Technology Park but that also closed shop.
