Pope Francis and the Philippines: How he won over the nation

BBC News

23-04-2025

Lashed by an off-season typhoon, Pope Francis stepped out on a rain-soaked makeshift stage in front of hundreds of thousands of weeping pilgrims in the central Philippines.Organisers had warned him to cancel the 2015 open air mass in Tacloban as the weather had worsened. But Francis was not be put off: he flew through the typhoon from the capital Manila to hold the mass in memory of more than 6,000 people who had perished in Super Typhoon Haiyan in 2013. As he rode in his popemobile around the vast airport carpark waving to the crowd, palm trees swayed furiously in the storm.In Asia's largest Roman Catholic country, all Popes enjoy rockstar status. Here, religion brought by Spanish colonisers in the 16th Century has become woven into the very fabric of society, and given a distinctly Filipino intensity and colour. In some towns devotees are even nailed to the cross at Easter to imitate the suffering of Jesus.But with his mass in Tacloban - along with his informal, down-to-earth manner and calls for justice - Pope Francis won particular affection among the Philippine's 80 million Catholics. Many have described Monday's death of the man they called Lolo Kiko, or Grandpa Francis, as leaving them feeling like orphans. Masses to mourn him have been held across the country. "So many of you have lost everything," he told those who had gathered in the rain to listen to his sermon more than 10 years ago. "I do not know what to tell you. But surely He knows what to tell you! So many of you have lost members of your family. I can only be silent; I accompany you silently, with my heart."And then tragedy struck.
A steel scaffolding collapsed, killing 27-year-old Kristel, an aid worker who was among the congregation.Paul Padasas Jr was at home in Taguig, a suburb of Manila, when he received the news of his daughter's death."I thought of questioning God, why did he let that happen to my daughter?" he told the BBC.The next morning, he woke up to a flurry of missed calls, asking him to come to the Pope's spartan accommodation at the Vatican's diplomatic mission near Manila's old Spanish quarter.He got dressed immediately and brought along his wife and brother-in-law.As he waited in a holding room at the Apostolic Nunciature, staff members asked him to listen to a radio broadcast of the Pope's mass at the nearby University of Santo Tomas. There, the Pope mentioned Kristel and offered his condolences to her family.At that point, Mr Padasas said he broke down. "I was feeling all kinds of emotions at that time." He said he felt extremely nervous as he was led to the Pope's room a few hours later.Beside the Pope was Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, then the Archbishop of Manila, who translated the Pope's words into Tagalog for Mr Padasas.Mr Padasas said the Pope told him that he was praying for Kristel. Then the pontiff placed his hands over Mr Padasas' head and blessed him."My heart was beating out of my chest. Then I felt something like an electric current going through my entire body," he said. "I told myself, that must be what the Holy Spirit feels like."Mr Padasas recalled feeling at peace. "Our children are just on loan to us from God. Kristel has served her purpose."
The rest of the Argentinian-born Pope's visit, which took place just two years into his papacy, was a success.His plane - codenamed Shepherd One - returned to Manila safely from Tacloban the next day, despite the stormy weather. Minutes later, a private jet skidded off the runway, shutting it down.The following day, six million attended the open-air mass he held in and around Luneta, Manila's main square at sunset - the largest congregation ever recorded by the Vatican. It unofficially exceeded the four-million strong crowd at John Paul II's Luneta mass in 1995, officially recognised by the Guinness World records as the world's largest papal gathering.Everywhere Pope Francis went during his five-day visit, traffic stopped and the Catholic faithful scrambled for selfies as his popemobile drove past.Rodrigo Duterte, who would assume the presidency the year after the papal visit, would make headlines after cursing the Pope for the traffic chaos he caused.
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When he learned that Pope Francis had died at the age of 88, Mr Padasas said he reached for daughter's photo at the family altar and said to her in prayer: "Please welcome Pope Francis in heaven."He said he still keeps the rosary that Pope Francis gave him as a gift. "I will not sell this, even for a million dollars."Across the country - where it is not uncommon for the smallest village to have a patron saint - church bells tolled and portraits of Pope Francis were hung inside churches as the faithful mourned. "Pope Francis is special to me. He is my favourite pope. As an LGBT member, I saw in him love for all genders, whether you are rich or poor. He is truly the people's pope," 19-year-old nursing student Renzie Sarmiento told BBC News outside Manila Cathedral on Tuesday."As someone who wants to return to the Catholic Church, Francis is someone who represents the love of Jesus Christ," he said.Mr Sarmiento said he hoped Francis' successor would maintain the Catholic Church's openness to diversity."Love should not exclude LGBT members," he said.But even as the nation mourns, Filipinos are thinking about what happens next: at the Manila Cathedral mass for Pope Francis, mourners were saying the time has come for someone from one of the largest Catholic populations on the planet to be the church's next leader.
In fact, the Philippines has five cardinals who are eligible to vote for - and also potentially be elected as - the next Pope, but many are pinning their hopes on Cardinal Tagle.Luis Antonio Tagle was in Francis' inner circle and is largely believed to be someone who would further his progressive agenda. Based in the Vatican, he is the pro-prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelisation, the office that promotes evangelisation and growth of new churches.Widely known as the "Asian Francis", Fr Tagle accompanied Pope Francis on his 11-day tour of South East Asia last year. He also constantly tries to make Catholicism relevant to younger Filipinos with a strong presence on social media platforms like Facebook, YouTube and X.For ice cream vendor Reymond Clores, a Tagle papacy would be like a dream."I used to see Cardinal Tagle here all the time. It will be a very happy moment for Filipinos. It will make me very proud as a Filipino," the 37-year-old vendor said.Mr Padasas said Tagle would make a kind Pope, like Francis."If that happens, I will consider myself very lucky. How many people can say that they met two Popes at the same time?"