Walk for John Paul II to build new shrine

A WALK for the late Pope John Paul II is scheduled on May 1 on the gentle, rolling hills of Morong, Bataan province, where he celebrated Mass in 1981 for Indochinese refugees who sought temporary shelter in the Philippines.

The “Walk for Pope John Paul II,” organized by the Diocese of Balanga and the state-owned Bataan Technology Park (BTP), will be held on the same day that John Paul II is beatified and conferred the title “Blessed” at the Vatican on Sunday, May 1.

The walk starts at the BTP gate in Barangay Sabang at 6 a.m. and ends in Barangay Kanawan where the BTP built a hanging bridge over a stream that supports the irrigation and drinking needs of Aetas there, said Amado Sanglay, BTP vice president and chief operating officer.

Sanglay urged participants to bring clothes and food for the Aetas, members of the Negrito tribe who were reportedly displaced when the Philippine Refugee Processing Center (PRPC) operated on almost 400 hectares in the villages of Sabang and Kanawan from 1980 to 1994.

To Aetas, Sabang means “to face or confront” while Kanawan means “comfort.”

Proceeds from registration fees of P500 for children and P1,000 for adults will be used for the diocese’s plan to convert a new shrine at the BTP into a chaplaincy and eventually into a parish, said Sanglay.

The shrine is a replica of the papal stage where the Pontiff led the celebration of the Eucharist at noon of Feb. 21, 1981, before some 20,000 boat people from Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. They fled their countries using wooden boats that sailed rough seas to reach the shores of Palawan or Bataan.

The shrine facing the South China Sea consists of woven bamboo for the ceiling and features a 500-kg, 5-foot and 6-inch concrete image of John Paul II traveling with a refugee family on rough seas.

Report from Inquirer.Net