Key Points
- Bumisita sa Vatican at dumalo sa misa ni Pope Francis ang taga-Sydney na si Violi Calvert noong 2014 at 2023.
- Ikinagulat ni Violi ang pagpanaw ng Papa sa kabila na batid nito ang kamakailang pagkaka-ospital.
- Personal na hindi malilimutan ng community leader ang pagiging mababang-loob ng Papa at pagtanggap nito sa lahat ng tao.
It really felt like losing a very close member of your family. Up to now, I'm still grieving for my mother and my father, whom I've lost years ago, and the sense of loss seems to be the same intensity.Violi Calvert
Bagaman nalulungkot sa pagkawala ni Pope Francis binalikan naman ng aktibong myembro ng simbahang Katoliko ang masayang alaala nito nang makita ang Santo Papa ng dalawang beses.
"In 2014, we visited Rome before we joined a cruise. We attended the Papal Mass. It was a surreal experience for me when the Papal vehicle came so close to us.
"He was not hurried. He was interacting with people, looking us in the eyes as he walked past, and he was waving at us," pag-alala ni Violi.
It was a feeling that, 'Wow, maybe I can die now because I have seen the Pope and he was so Holy.
Sa pangalawang pagpunta sa Vatican, kasama si Violi ng isang grupo ng Marian pilgrimage at muli itong dumalo sa misa ni Pope.
"I’m so blessed to have seen our Pope twice in my lifetime, and it was so hard to explain. It's almost like seeing an apparition, if you want to call it that."
Violi Calvert (middle photo) with friend, Father Vladimir Echalas, attending the Papal mass in Vatican City. Credit: Violi Calvert
"Personally, having married a divorcee, I never considered myself a sinner, marrying somebody who was divorced before.
I'm touched by his kind words to people. As he would say, you are in that situation not of your own making, and God loves you and you project your love for God in the way you live. It's how you live."
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