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Remembering The Legacy of Lolo Kiko

By Ara Misluhani

May 6, 2025
1-min read

Copyread by Denise Angela Salamat

Remembering the Legacy of Lolo Kiko

On the morning of Easter Monday, Pope Francis died at the age of 88 after suffering a stroke in his residence at Casa Santa Marta in Vatican City. His passing was announced by Cardinal Kevin Farrell, Camerlengo of the Holy Roman Church, who stated that “The pontiff's entire life was dedicated to the service of the Lord and of His Church. He taught us to live the values of the Gospel with fidelity, courage, and universal love, especially in favor of the poorest and most marginalized.” Ever since February, the pope had been battling respiratory infections after his longest 38-day hospitalization at Gemelli Hospital.

The pope’s death came as a sudden shock to the Catholic community globally, as 50,000 people had witnessed the Holy Father show up on the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica just a day before his passing. He was able to deliver the Urbi et Orbi Blessing for Easter in his jovial mood. Afterwards, he took a ride in the square—greeting people along the way. 

In the Philippines, where 78.8% of Filipinos are Roman Catholics, the entire community mourns the Holy Father's passing. Way back in 2015, Pope Francis visited the Philippines, with 6 to 7 million people who attended his final mass at Rizal Park. The day before, he led a mass in Tacloban City, wherein the deadly Typhoon Haiyan struck in 2013, leaving 11.8 million people affected. Despite the rain, the pope comforted the people of Leyte, “So many of you have lost everything. I don’t know what to say to you. But the Lord does know what to say to you.” 

Glyzelle Palomar, one of the five youths who met Pope Francis  during the “Encounter with the Youth” event, asked him, “Why does God let children suffer?” Moved by this question, the Papal admitted he has no answer for this, but still he commends the young girl's intelligence. “If you don’t learn how to cry, you cannot be a good Christian. This is a challenge. When they posed this question to us—why children suffer, why this or that tragedy occurs in life—our response must be either silence or a word that is born of our tears. Be courageous, don’t be afraid to cry,” the pope says. He asserted that one's understanding of another's suffering is something people must not forget.

In a statement by Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas, president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), he looks back to Pope Francis as the “Jesus of our age.” He further states that, “He was the gift of the Good Shepherd to the Church. He served us with humility. He showed us God’s mercy. He linked us with bridges of compassion with fellow believers and with non-believers.”

For three days, around 250,000 sorrowers came to St. Peter's Basilica to pay their respects to the pope, who is laying in a wooden coffin. Dressed in a red chasuble with a rosary in his hands, mourners prayed until his last lying state. The following rites of covering the pope's face with a white silk cloth and the sealing of the coffin were done before he was laid to rest last April 26, 2025 at the Basilica of St. Mary Major.