00:00In 1973, I was in second year college and Chito came in and he was first year college in our
00:21seminary where the students studied in Ateneo. So he was this very skinny boy from Imos Cavite and
00:33very quiet but then if you start talking to him, he's a conversationalist. You can talk, you can talk
00:41and he's very intelligent, very friendly. So Chito made a mark for himself in academics.
00:50Everybody knew that he was brilliant and as early as that time, it was I think prophetic that
00:58some of the professors who knew how brilliant he was were saying he will become cardinal in the 70s.
01:07And when they got tired of saying he will become cardinal, from time to time, he might even become
01:16pope. Can you imagine, in his youth, he already showed exceptional qualities that made people think
01:30that he will go very far in the ecclesiastical ladder and which, many years later, happened.
01:39Nobody doubted that he will go very far because even in the seminary in Ateneo and later on in the
01:48School of Theology, he was always up there, up in the clouds, too far away from us all. Yet, in spite of
01:56his excellence in all of our studies, he didn't stay there, he always landed where we are and helped us
02:06along to survive our academic requirements. He was very good in bridging the gap between individuals and
02:17groups and groups. He was a facilitator. He will bring people together and encourage them to talk,
02:25encourage them to listen to him, and then he will listen to others. And, you know, the word
02:33pope comes from the Latin pontifex, which means bridge. So, a pope is one who bridges the gap
02:44between people and God and bridges the gap amongst peoples, nations, groups, races. So, Chito had all of that.
02:58I will find it a self-fulfilling prophecy because, as I said, we were teenagers and they were already
03:06teasing him, Cardinal Tagli. And some were even teasing him when they got sick and tired of just saying,
03:13Cardinal, Cardinal, Cardinal, why not Pope Chito? I will look at God and tell God, you really know how to surprise us.
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