Maverick entertainer, Charles Oputa aka Charly Boy has written one of
the most respected world leaders, Pope Francis, an open letter.
He showered encomiums on the priest and revealed how he once planned to be a priest himself.
He writes: “My Dear Francis, I hope it is ok to call you by your
papal name; this is only because I feel so close to you. You have
captured my heart with your simplicity, humanity, humility and love.
The first 25yrs of my life was filled with dreams of becoming a
priest, having been stuffed with an overdose of religion, a very serious
matter in my family. When I turned 16, I became an altar boy, never
missed Bible class or the regular confessions. My late father was a
Knight of the Catholic Church. That’s where I’m coming from.
We were a family that prayed together, staunch Catholics for that matter.”
He moves on to talk about his dabbling into Occultism and more.
“Being an adventurous young man however, I dabbled into the
occult, metaphysics, Buddhism, astrology, magic and all that jazz; but
be that as it may, I still, am fundamentally a Catholic. The Catholic
fate had suddenly become boring and old fashioned for me. Well, until
you came along.
You have shown to be true, the saying that the only thing needed for evil to thrive is for good men to do nothing.
I am very glad and pleased that you are doing something. It is
clear that you possess a beautiful spiritual light burning inside of
you. I recognize your effort in trying to bring a better image and name
to Catholicism. No matter how anybody wishes to flip it, you are full of
surprises, born of true and faithful humility; it sparks of
Charlyboyizim.
And he openly declares his love for him.
“Francis, I am head over heels in love with your person, you are
my Rock Star. I saw you in The Philippines rocking the world again after
Brazil, through the CNN lens. The World has fallen in love with you: is
it Jews, Moslems, Atheists, Punks, Monks? In short, nothing is
stranger, ever since you came onboard, than the reactions of
evangelicals all over the world. Never before in history has a Pope been
so widely accepted by Protestants and evangelicals, Muslims, Buddists,
non-believers, all and sundry.
Finally, we have a Pope who doesn’t see himself as equal to God, a
Pope who abandoned the red shoes (that were never an official part of
the papal wardrobe anyway): a Pope who dresses modestly, pays
his own lodging bills, drives around Vatican City in a Ford Focus, calls
many people on the phone, brings jam sandwiches to on-duty Swiss Guards
at his door and invites street people to his birthday breakfast. Haba,
how far my guy.
The way you embrace and kiss babies, embrace the sick, disfigured
broken bodies and the abandoned of society. You are one world leader
who speaks the truth to power, walks his talk, and calls idolatry and
greed by their real names. You are a bold and courageous shepherd who
lifts up the poor and tells us that if they are not part of our lives,
then we are a sad and even doomed lot. Just like Francis of Assisi did
in his day.
You spent time on your knees washing the feet of young women
incarcerated in prisons; first time ever that a Pope would wash the feet
of women, not to mention that some of them were Moslems. Hummm, a
bloody break in papal tradition.
I remember when you were a mere Bishop in Buenos Aires, you
received letters from gays and lesbians who said they were “socially
wounded” by the church, and in an interview you answered, “But the
Church does not want to do this,”
I recall also, your visit to Brazil, when asked your opinion
about Gays and you gave them a beautiful one liner. “Who am I to judge
gay people?”
Simply put, you blow my mind each and every time! Kai!”
He concludes with the sorry state of the world today.
“The world is sick; selfishness, sadness, meanness, vengeance,
terror and harshness seem to have the upper hand, and we need the
message of Christmas which you preach all year round: goodness, joy,
kindness, mercy and the tenderness of our God.
There is this childlike unflinching freedom that allows you to do
what you do because you are so unafraid and totally free to be yourself
at the same time. I know because it takes one to know one.
You are such a faithful son of the Church.
I see how you want the church to be an instrument of reconciliation
and welcome, a church that is capable of warming hearts, a church that
is not bent over on herself but always seeking those on the periphery
and those who are lost, a church capable of leading people home to God.
We need the Francis’ revolution of tenderness and mercy now more than ever before.”
