John Paul Was Here: Exhibit recalls historic 1981 Cebu papal visit

The vacant field of the old Lahug airport, now a bustling IT Park, was the venue of an open air Mass celebrated by Pope John Paul II in Cebu City in this archive photo. (CDN PHOTO/ CHOY ROMANO)

A wooden ceremonial chair with carved scenes of the Philippines is laden with memories of the only papal Mass held in Cebu 33 years ago.

The chair was where Pope John Paul II sat when he officiated an open-air Mass on Feb. 19, 1981 attended by thousands in the old Lahug Airport, which is now the bustling IT Park.

“This is the number one relic we have here,” said Louella Alix, one of the curators of the Cebu Cathedral Museum in downtown Cebu City.

“I believe his (Pope John Paul II) sweat remains there. This chair has never been cleaned since he last used it,” she said.

The chair made from narra does not have a single nail and is part of a special museum exhibit, “A Saint Among Us” that opens today in honor of Pope John Paul II, who will be canonized tomorrow in Rome along with Pope John XXIII.

Pictures of John Paul II’s visit to Cebu in 1981, commemorative medals and a white chasuble or liturgical vestment he wore during a Mass he celebrated at the Manila Cathedral are also on display.

Alix said she hopes the month-long exhibit, put together with the University of San Carlos, will help people remember the historic event and realize what a privilege it was to have hosted the Pope’s visit.

“The very idea that he stepped in Cebu is a blessing. That should count for something to Cebuanos,” she said.

“Holy men walked among us. And they have shown us the way. Let us write in our hearts how they lived their lives,” said Alix.

The throne-like chair was designed by Makati-based furniture maker Ricardo Adriano for the occasion. Four people worked on the chair for over a month, wood carvers from Pampanga and Paete in Laguna were tapped for this labor of love.

The white upholstery was from Rome, as white is a papal color, and embossed with gold leaf designs. The back is upright with low armrests to support the pontiff’s arms.

An old article by Deedee Siytangco in the People’s Journal newspaper said the chair was specially made for the event in Cebu. The papal seal appears at the top of the backrest and below it the Philippine flag and map.

Lower down is a mini-mural of three places which John Paul II visited—scenes symbolic of Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.

Miniature carvings depict the rice terraces and tinikling dancers to represent Luzon, while Ferdinand Magellan planting the cross on Cebu’s shores symbolizes the Visayas. “Singkil” folk dancers and a vinta appear on the papal cross to represent Mindanao.

Msgr. George Tumulak, who was in charge of Pope John Paul II’s visit to Cebu, had requested Adrinao to prepare two chairs for the pontiff and three chairs for the cardinals.

One chair was used in the Mass at the old Lahug Airport. The second chair was used by the Pope when he addressed seminarians, priests, and nuns at the old Sacred Heart School along Mango Avenue in Cebu City.

The Chair used by Pope John Paul II when he visited Cebu on January 1981 is exhibited at the Cathedral Museum of Cebu. (CDN PHOTO/CHOY ROMANO)

The second chair is kept at the Archbishop’s Residence in D. Jakosalem Street.

Behind the imposing chairs is a brass plate with the name of A.G. Adriano, his seal with the legend “since 1911.”

Siytangco, who later became the spokesperson of the Aquino family, said the Adrianos refused to reveal how much the two chairs cost. But a rough estimate of the chairs’ cost add up to P60,000.

Alix yesterday said the chair which the pope used during the Mass in Cebu can be considered a first class relic, especially that it has remains of John Paul II’s sweat.

Although she wasn’t in Cebu for the event itself, Alix was among the crowd of thousands in Manila waiting by the road on Taft Avenue for the Pope’s motorcade to pass through.

“I was very excited. Then I saw him. I was warm all over. In my mind, the one who passed by was a holy man” she said.

John Paul II came to the Philippines in 1981 to beatify Lorenzo Ruiz in Manila on Feb. 18, 1981. The following day, the pope left for Cebu.

He presided over an open-air Mass at the former Lahug airport then spent the night at the Archbishop’s Residence. He left the following day.