Elderly, infirm Jesuits celebrate Pope arrival from home

Pia Ranada

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Elderly, infirm Jesuits celebrate Pope arrival from home
Elderly Jesuit priests say they feel a 'profound gratitude' for Pope Francis' arrival in the Phillippines

MANILA, Philippines – Far from the cheering crowds at Villamor Airbase, 10 elderly Jesuit priests watch Pope Francis’ arrival in the Philippines in a quiet common room in Quezon City.

They are patients at the JM Lucas Infirmary for Jesuits within the Ateneo de Manila University campus. Like the countless sick, infirm and elderly in the country, they are unable to travel to the Pope’s public events. But it doesn’t mean they won’t watch. (IN PHOTOS: Pope Francis in the Philippines, day 1)

Father William McGary SJ, with the help of caregivers, lugged down his oxygen concentrator to the common room to monitor the broadcast. Father Peter Chuang SJ, who depends on a rollator to get around, was there too. 

“I felt profound gratitude for giving him the opportunity to visit us,” said 83-year-old Fr Ruben Tanseco SJ about what he felt watching the Pope step out of the SriLankan Airline jet.  

The priests were riveted to images of his plane touching down. Some clapped the moment the pontiff, a fellow Jesuit, stepped out of the plane. A few, like Father Tanseco, chuckled when the wind blew away the Pope’s white skull cap or zucchetto. 

“It’s a very unique blessing from the Lord because it does not happen often. It’s very rare it happens during our old age or during our sickness,” he added. 

Tanseco, famous for founding the Center for Family Ministries (CEFAM), has been a Jesuit priest for 50 years and was ordained in 1965, just 4 years before Pope Francis (then Jorge Mario Bergoglio) himself was ordained.

FRANCIS' FAN. Father Sim Sumpaico says he collects copies of all the Pope's speeches and interviews

Father Sim Sumpaico stayed in front of the television until the Pope reached the Apostolic Nunciature, ending his first motorcade in the country.

Sumpaico, who at 85 years old, has been a patient of the infirmary for two years, says he’s a fan of the Argentinian pontiff. 

“I have a collection of all his speeches, his interviews. He’s so credible, he’s holy. He’s very brilliant also,” he told Rappler.

Still part of the fold

There are around 25 elderly Jesuits being cared for at the infirmary, said Provincial Assistant for Jesuit Health Care Fr Florge Sy. (READ: Filipino Jesuits on Pope visit: It’s a form of renewal)

Their ages range from 80 to 90. Most patients suffer from Alzheimer’s disease, dementia, Parkinson’s disease, failing kidneys or post-stroke and post-cancer conditions, he told Rappler. 

Many of them have been waiting in anticipation for the Pope’s visit. 

“Some were even requesting for a life-size image [of the Pope] to be displayed,” said Sy.

The sick and elderly have a special place in Pope Francis’ heart. In his most important speech so far, Evangelii Gaudium, he lamented a “throw away” culture which excludes those who are no longer useful or new – people like the elderly and sick. 

He mentioned the elderly and infirm as one of the groups of people who are “increasingly isolated and abandoned.”

Pope Francis, at 78 years old, is himself not someone you’d call young. He’s made public statements referring to his own old age – even his mortality. He recently pronounced that he would have only “two to three years and then, to the house of the Father.” 

83-year-old Fr Rafael Borromeo knows what it’s like to serve as a priest until his twilight years.

“I had my active days in the past and I have many happy memories. But as of now, I’m not doing anything and I feel a bit frustrated that I’m not anymore active,” he told Rappler.

Borromeo was director for student affairs at the Xavier University in Cagayan de Oro for 23 years.

'RARE OPPORTUNITY.' Though they can't be at the events physically, elderly Jesuit priests watch the Pope's arrival from the infirmary common room

About his vocation, he says, “I cannot think of any other.” He had wanted to be a priest since he was a grade 4 student, inspired by the “ideal of a Jesuit and the Jesuit founder.” 

Like Francis, Borromeo has confronted the prospect of death.

“I welcome it and the sooner the better. This past year was the biggest harvest of heaven. Ten Jesuits went to heaven last year. This year, I don’t know how many are going home. It’s really a going home.”  

But for now, he’ll be with his fellow Jesuit priests watching Pope Francis inspire the Philippines. – Rappler.com

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Pia Ranada

Pia Ranada is Rappler’s Community Lead, in charge of linking our journalism with communities for impact.