Now that Pope John Paul II and Pope John XXIII have been canonized saints I suppose I can now say that I walked with a saint, talked with a saint and photographed a saint as thousands of others have done during Pope John Paul II's many travels and public appearances. It was in 1981 when he came to the Philippines and I was assigned to photograph and write about his visit. He had a hectic schedule. I made travel arrangements to be in the places where he would be.
Pope St John Paul II from Poland was not adverse to positive political positions and strong solidarity with the Church in Poland. He supported those that were organizing trade unions and staging non-violent demonstrations for freedoms and human rights in Poland. After all, the social teachings of the Church were already strongly established in Papal teachings. The Solidarity movement eventually won elections and soon the communist state collapsed. Many hoped he would likewise speak up for the poor during his visit to the Philippines.
In the Philippines at that time the dictatorship of President Ferdinand Marcos and his wife Imelda held sway over a brutal regime that oppressed the poor and the church and plundered the public treasury at will. Marcos was claiming he was a democratically elected official but the cemeteries were overflowing with victims of his death squads.
It was a stifling hot February day in 1981 in Tondo, a slum area of Manila, when I stood side by side with Pope John Paul II. A small stage had been set up on the side of the road and roped off. I took a taxi and walked the rest of the way. My Press Card got me through security. 
The people had gathered and strangely there were no politicians, bishops or priests or even an official delegation waiting to greet the Pope. The media had not yet arrived.
I stood around alone by the little stage and after a while some vehicles came through the crowds. The vehicles stopped and out stepped Pope John Paul II. He was escorted by his security people to the small stage. The bishops, press and other officials were nowhere to be seen. Apparently there was a huge traffic jam nearby.
It was an amazing scene. He was dressed in a simple white cassock and skull cap and only a few of his staff were there. Gone was all the glitter, pomp and ceremony of Rome. He stood alone calmly with a smile and gave a light wave to the clapping crowd. Nothing seemed to perturb him. I stood within three metres and greeted him with, "Welcome your Holiness".
I didn't know what else to say. He just smiled and nodded. I was perplexed standing around alone with a Pope inside the roped enclosure. Even though I was standing almost beside him, I forgot to take lots of photographs.
After about eight minutes vehicles with the sound of sirens wailing, started arriving through the crowd and a horde of church and civic officials rushed to the stage and got on with the official welcome. John Paul gave a speech that applied the beatitudes to the people of Tondo.
"Blessed are the Poor," he said. He encouraged them to pursue the social teachings of the church. It was a warning to the rich cronies of Marcos to respect the dignity of God's children. After flowers were presented to him, the pope and all the officials got into the cars and were driven away in a convoy.
It was not the first time I had met and walked with living saints. Those who have dedicated their lives to the unselfish service of the sick and helpless, those risking their lives by defending human rights and the poor, those dying in the struggle for justice and the rights of the oppressed are all martyrs and saints. I have walked and worked with many of them. They live heroic lives of virtue and self-sacrifice and can and will stand proudly with the two popes in God's kingdom.
Columban Fr Shay Cullen has been a missionary in the Philippines since 1969.
Read more from The Far East, July 2014