Crying girl at UST event left ‘speechless’ by Pope’s embrace

Glyzelle Palomar had the fewest words to say to Pope Francis during Sunday's papal event at the University of Santo Tomas, but she was the one who had driven the pontiff to once again deviate from a prepared reply and speak Spanish "from the heart."

The 12-year-old, who is under the care of the Tulay ng Kabataan Foundation, was reduced to tears when she asked the Pope, "Bakit po pumapayag ang Diyos na may ganitong nangyayari?"

As the crowd sobbed and reacted in collective awe, she went on, "Kahit walang kasalanan ang mga bata? At bakit kaunti lang ang mga taong tumutulong sa amin?" [Read story here.]

Her questions drove Pope Francis, an Argentine, to ask youth representatives and the public at the UST if he could deliver his remarks in Spanish, a language he's most fluent in.

After making light of Palomar being the lone female youth representative to give a testimony that morning, he went on to talk about how her question points to “a worldly compassion, which is useless.”

“You spoke something of this,” the Pope told Palomar, as translated from Spanish.

“When the heart is able to ask itself and cry, then we can understand something,” he added, then went on to urge the youth delegates to have the courage to cry, as Jesus did by suffering with the people.

"Let us learn how to weep as she has showed us today," the Pope said.



'Speechless'

In an interview with GMA News Online after the encounter, Palomar still could not put into words why she was overcome by emotions during her testimony.

She said she was praying to be reunited with her family in the moments counting down to her big moment with the Pope.

“Nag-wish po ako na makatapos po ako ng pag-aaral. Gusto ko na rin pong makasama 'yung pamilya ko, 'yung mama ko po sana makabalik na ng Pilipinas. Nasa Dubai po siya,” she said.

Instead of tears, she was already smiling, though she had few words, because she said she was still processing the whole experience.

“Masaya po ako na nayakap ko si Pope at saka naka-kiss ako sa singsing niya,” she said.

Giggling, she also admitted that she didn't catch much of the Pope's reference to her during his speech as it was in Spanish.

'May pag-asa pa po sila'

Palomar, however, said regardless of the language the Pope used, she hoped it would inspire children like herself to be kind and to change their lives.

“Sana po maging mabait sila. Makakapagbago pa po sila ng buhay. May pag-asa po sila,” she said.

Palomar and another former street child, Jun Chura, told the Pope about the plight of children living in poverty and abandonment.

The Pope met with youth representatives from various sectors as part of his official itinerary, a tradition similar to that of his predecessors that visited the Philippines, Blessed Paul VI and Saint John Paul II.

Pope Francis' visit to UST comes in line with the 20th anniversary of the World Youth Day festivities.  —KBK, GMA News