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Pope Francis, Church reformer and pope of many firsts, dies at 88

By Logan Kal-El M. Zapanta and Ammiel B. Maestrado

POPE FRANCIS, the first Jesuit and Latin American and the first non-European in over a millennium to lead the Catholic Church, died at 7:35 a.m. on Easter Monday, April 21, at the age of 88, the Vatican announced.

The announcement was made at Casa Santa Marta, where Francis had resided, by Cardinal Kevin Farrell, the Camerlengo of the Holy Roman Church who is tasked to administer the Church upon the death of the pope.

The Supreme Pontiff was hospitalized for over a month from Feb. 14 to March 23 for bronchitis and double pneumonia, his most serious health crisis during his pontificate. The 88-year-old pope was so close to death during his recent health scare that his doctors even mulled discontinuing treatment.

Pope Francis’s final appearance before the public was at St. Peter’s Basilica on Easter Sunday, when he delivered his Urbi et Orbi (to the city of Rome and to the world) blessing from the loggia of St. Peter’s while in a wheelchair.

Days before on Maundy Thursday, the pope even visited Rome’s Regina Coeli prison.

A pope of firsts

Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, S.J., then aged 76, was elected to the See of Rome in 2013 following the historic resignation of the late Pope Benedict XVI, the first pope to abdicate in nearly six centuries.

When he was led to the Room of Tears and asked to put on the traditional garments of the pope, Bergoglio told the papal master of ceremonies, “I prefer not to,” marking the first of many times he rejected the traditional trappings of a pontiff.

Introduced as “Franciscus” to a jubilant crowd in St. Peter’s Square, Bergoglio became the first pope to use a non-Roman regnal name, taking from the austere and peace- and nature-loving St. Francis of Assisi.

Pope Francis, who was born Dec. 17, 1936 to an Italian immigrant family in Argentina, is the first pope from the Global South. He was ordained a priest in 1969 and became archbishop of Buenos Aires in 1998 and cardinal in 2001.

As pope, his signature project was also the first of its kind: the Synod on Synodality.

Through the Synod, Pope Francis sought to reform the Church by initiating a four-year synodal process beginning in 2021 to tackle topics such as calling for a greater role for lay people and improving decision-making at all levels.

The synod also marked a high point of Pope Francis’s efforts to make the Church authentically inclusive, in response to both the rapid secularization in the West and the infighting between conservatives and progressives.

After years of conducting listening sessions and consultations, Pope Francis in 2024 enshrined the final synod document as part of the ordinary magisterium.

Living by his motto “Miserando atque eligendo” (Having mercy, he called him), the pope presented himself less as a guardian of orthodoxy and more as a pastor from and at the peripheries.

The pope insisted on the Church becoming a poor Church for the poor and a metaphorical field hospital for the vulnerable. He also called on Church leaders to “be shepherds with the smell of the sheep.”

Pope Francis’s concern for the marginalized and oppressed showed in his many offthe-cuff statements, the most iconic coming from the airplane ride home during his first papal trip to celebrate the 2013 World Youth Day in Brazil.

“If someone is gay and he searches for the Lord and has good will, who am I to judge?” he said.

A Jesuit, Pope Francis proved he was attuned to social issues by standing up for immigrants and criticizing deportations, even coming into conflict with hardliners like Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and US President Donald Trump.

‘Hagan lio’

Pope Francis saw through several initiatives that proved polarizing.

His efforts to reach out to divorced and homosexual couples through the documents “Amoris Laetitia” (The Joy of Love) and “Fiducia Supplicans” (Supplicating Love) became a stumbling block for conservative Catholics but a glimmer of hope among progressive believers.

Seen as more welcoming of LGBT individuals, Pope Francis allowed generic blessings for same-sex and other couples in “irregular” situations under the controversial “Fiducia Supplicans.”

In 2017, Cardinals Walter Brandmüller, Raymond Burke, Joachim Meisner, and Carlo Caffara presented the pope a set of five dubia (questions or, literally, doubts) that sought clarification on the “ambiguities” in “Amoris Laetitia.”

True to his namesake, Pope Francis used the extraordinary reach of his see to advocate for the environment, raising the alarm over global warming and destructive habits through his encyclical “Laudato Si” (Praised be to You).

In 2021, Pope Francis issued “Traditionis Custodes” (Guardians of Tradition) in an attempt to end what he saw as extremism in traditionalist Catholic communities, after years of positive regard by his predecessors John Paul II and Benedict XVI.

He restricted the use of the old liturgy, which had been liberalized by his predecessor, Benedict XVI, and insisted on the validity of the liturgical and other reforms of the Second Vatican Council.

He railed against careerism in the Church and reformed the Curia, placing lay people and women as heads of key Vatican dicasteries or departments. In one of his final acts, Pope Francis in February 2025 appointed Sister Raffaella Petrini, F.S.E. as the first woman president of the Pontifical Commission and Governorate of Vatican City State.

Pope Francis made apostolic journeys that were historic firsts, including to Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, Myanmar, and the French island of Corsica.

Pope Francis visited the Philippines, home to the third largest Catholic population, in 2015.

Dubbed the “People’s Pope,” Pope Francis drew the largest crowd for a papal event in history, with six to seven million Catholics attending his Mass at Rizal Park in Manila. His visit also marked the fourth time a pope visited UST, a pontifical university.

He elevated three Filipinos to the College of Cardinals: Cotabato Archbishop Orlando Quevedo in 2014, Manila Archbishop Jose Advincula in 2020, and Kalookan Bishop Pablo Virgilio David in 2024.

Up to his death, Pope Francis lived by his name and training. He did away with elaborate papal burials, opting instead for a simple wooden casket and a burial at the papal basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, with a tombstone reading only “FRANCISCVS.”

Whether progressive or rigorist, the next pope is expected to inherit a call that Pope Francis often repeated, especially to the youth — “Hagan lío” — to make a mess, and call everyone to Christ.

EDITORIAL

The complex legacy of a simple pope

HIS FIRST act as pope was to reject the traditional papal regalia. He refused to “judge” homosexual Catholics and later allowed nonritual blessings of homosexual couples. And, to the surprise of many — especially within the very Church he led — he acknowledged that all religions could be paths to God.

From the beginning, Pope Francis was never one to conform to traditional expectations of a pope. The first pontiff from the Americas and the first to take the name “Francis,” he signaled early on that his papacy would be different from the others. Over the course of 12 years, he tested the pastoral limits of Catholic doctrines and practices once thought untouchable, stripping a centuries-old institution of the weight of its own rigidity.

Context gives a clearer picture of why Pope Francis did just that. When he stepped onto the loggia of St. Peter’s Basilica in 2013, Jorge Mario Bergoglio inherited a Church in crisis. The world was becoming increasingly secular, and the Church — reeling from scandals of sexual abuse, homosexual discrimination, and financial opacity — began to look antiquated and out of touch.

Faced with these fractures, Pope Francis leaned on the essence of his office as “pontifex maximus” or the supreme bridge-builder. He embodied the “primary bridge between God and humankind” and served as a crucial link between change and tradition, doctrine and practice, and Rome and the peripheries.

Pope Francis sought to construct bridges in areas where the world built walls.

To homosexual Catholics long shut out by the Church, he extended a welcoming hand through non-ritual blessing, though he stood firm against same-sex marriage. To women and lay people, he opened the doors of Vatican leadership while upholding the male exclusivity of priesthood. To the family, he extended grace even to the divorced and the remarried, but he remained until the end a hardliner against abortion.

These and more of Pope Francis’s moves and statements prove his legacy — praised and condemned for the same reasons — is complex as it may be contradictory. His critics often invoke the approaches of his predecessors — John Paul II, intellectually dialogic, geopolitically adept, and communicatively bold and dramatic, and Benedict XVI, doctrinally fastidious and anti-relativist but very paternally solicitous — as standards to which Pope Francis supposedly did not measure up.

But to understand Pope Francis is to accept he was neither of the two. He blazed a different path and embodied a mix of tradition and progress, of pastorality and moral rigor. He refused to separate theology from human justice, as exposed as he was to the social reality of Latin America.

Pope Francis also envisioned the Church not as a fortress but as a field hospital, where the healers meet the faithful in their woundedness. In letter and in spirit, the pope dis-

mantled the institutional trappings that had made the papacy appear unattached.

On April 21, Easter Monday, after 12 years of challenging the Church to put down its walls, and after building so many bridges to reach people once shunned by Catholicism, Pope Francis went gently into the good night, leaving behind a papacy that sought to soften, open, and humanize faith.

Fittingly, the Pope’s final send-off was a gathering of those at the margins: the poor, homeless, imprisoned, migrants, and transgender people. There was also an outpouring of tribute from leaders of other religions and nations for the pope, who had made synodality a hallmark of his mission.

For what it’s worth, Pope Francis’s pontificate would be best remembered not only for the debates it stirred, but for the walls it tore down and the bridges it built. And while it will take years for the full image of his legacy to crystallize, Pope Francis will for sure be best remembered for pushing the envelope of what it meant to be Catholic and what it took to be pope.

Thank you, Pope Francis. You taught us to love without measure, to serve with humility, and, fittingly now, to weep with hope. You brought the Church down from its pedestal and closer to the people it is meant to serve — and changed it, for the better or, if not, to challenge us further to make the Church worthy to be called indeed as the mystical body of Christ and the people of God.

THE song, It’s Getting Better, sung by the famous singing group in the 60’s, TheMamasandthePapas describes what I felt during Pope Francis’s visit in UST in 2015. I changed the lyrics a bit to fit my recollection:

WhenIfirstsawhim, Ididn’tfeelexcitedandstarryeyed, Ijustfeltasweetcontentmentdeepinside. Andwhenhesmiledatme, itseemskindofnaturalandright. And it’s not hard to see that with that smile came the assurance thatlifewillgetbettereveryday. Yes,bettereveryday.

Although I never had the chance to go near him, simply seeing him from a distance made me feel that, even if life would not get easier, it could still become better. His joyful presence reassured me that we could move forward with hope, for as St. Paul wrote: “If God is with us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31)

One moment, in particular, made the Pope’s visit to UST unforgettable for me. When he welcomed a group of homeless children at the UST grandstand, one little girl asked him, “Why does God allow us children to suffer so much...?” She couldn’t finish her question because she began to cry. The Pope responded not with words, but by embracing her in silence.

Perhaps his now-famous words, “Who am I to judge?” were born from this very place of self-awareness. He understood that he, too, is in constant need of grace and forgiveness.

The struggle to reconcile a loving God with the undeserved suffering of the innocent touches us where our faith is most vulnerable. Indeed, why does God remain silent amid the unspeakable horrors in our world? Victims of war, illness, discrimination, natural disasters, and human cruelty ask: “Why is God silent? Why doesn’t He intervene?”

These questions echo Job’s own cries to God after he had lost everything: “I cry to you and you do not answer me; I stand, and you merely look at me.” (Job 30:20). Job’s lament remains one of the most profound expressions of anguish directed toward a seemingly absent God.

When God finally speaks to Job, He does not answer Job’s question directly. Job asked about justice; God responded with a declaration of His omnipotence. It was as if He were saying, “I am not an idol. Only idols always respond the way people want.”

In the Gospels, even Jesus experienced this divine silence—from the Garden of Gethsemane to the cross at Calvary. The only voices He heard were His own and those who demanded His death. The God who remained silent even as His Son pleaded

Joselito

At the Master’s Feet

THE MOMENT that the lowkey Argentinian appeared before the world without the red papal mozzetta — which signalled that the Pope is set apart from his brother bishops — anyone who had eyes to see knew that it would be a papacy unlike any other.

For 12 years, Catholics saw Pope Francis set aside the traditional expressions of the papacy. Though his predecessors, following Vatican II’s pastoral push, also made acts of humility, it was Francis who made radical gestures that captured the imagination of the world.

It was a needed change of pace for an institution reeling from a severe hit in credibility and reputation in the wake of clergy sex abuse.

In a world of rapid secularization and religious disaffiliation, doubling down on old assumptions and expectations to obedience does little to increase morale.

As the Reformation showed, how can the peo-

Rebranding Catholicism

ple trust that your teachings are true if you yourself, the teacher, do not follow it?

There is a growing realization that the old ways are not reaching the larger segments of society, where the need for evangelization and witnessing is pressing.

A rebranding, so to speak, was in order. But it was not really wiping the slate clean; for Pope Francis was following Jesus’ own example more closely and in thought-provoking ways.

While this meant that he often dismayed conservative side of Catholicism, he delighted Catholics and non-Catholics who followed the Western secular versions of tolerance, inclusivity, and equality.

For 12 years, Pope Francis revised people’s expectations of a pope. Through him, the pope is now expected to be merciful and welcoming, to focus more on the peripheries, to prune away outdated traditions that people do not understand anymore and have become stumbling blocks for them to take the Church seriously.

The excited reaction of the wider world to Pope Francis’ stripping down of the symbolic layers of the papacy betrays a weariness of wide-ranging claims to authority and of tradition.

His signature project, the Synod on Synod-

ality, is meant to be the vehicle of “rebranding.” Now, it’s a walking together and listening to each other, against the old notion that the hierarchy knows best and the lay people should do what they’re told by the bishops.

It’s a refreshing concept for Catholics, a welcome innovation in a world that just does not see the need for the extensive authority that prelates loved to wield back in the old days. This age is marked by a love for democracy and distrust of power. It is an age when tradition is met with suspicion. It is an age that searches for the new, to become a better world that casts away or repurpose things that remind them of an inglorious past.

The world looks at the Catholic Church, its old fashion, and its adherence to ancient teachings, and sees an institution unwilling to go along with the times, a threat to progress, an enemy. It sees the papal mozzetta as a reminder that the popes were once medieval monarchs that sanctioned a murderous Inquisition and continue to wield power by pressuring the consciences of over a billion Catholics worldwide.

Of course it’s a distorted image of the papacy.

Francis’ papacy marked by both compassion and contradiction

IF WE are to describe Pope Francis’s legacy, it can be summed up in one word: “mercy.” From the moment he stepped out of the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica on the evening of May 13, 2013, he already set the tone of his pontificate with his simplicity and humility.

It has been said that while John Paul II can be characterized as a philosopher and Benedict XVI can be identified as a brilliant theologian, Francis can be remembered as a good pastor who gave flesh and blood to reason and faith in his service for the Church.

His motto, taken from a homily by St. Bede the Venerable, “miserando atque eligendo,” (by having mercy, by choosing him) can be roughly rendered as: “lowly, but chosen,” or in a more colloquial language: “pasang-awa.” It expresses the goodness of God who meets human misery with his mercy.

A few years following his accession to the Chair

of St. Peter, he opened the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy, marking a time of compassion and forgiveness in the Church that has been racked by much upheaval and controversy due to the sexual abuse scandal among its own ranks.

While some would say that Francis did his best to build a bridge in the midst of a largely polarized global community by advocating for the protection of our common home, calling for a culture of encounter and fraternity, promoting hospitality toward immigrants, and encouraging interreligious dialogue between believers and nonbelievers alike, others would argue that his leadership has caused a wider rift within the Church and in society between conservatives and liberals, the latter of whom the mainstream media have a penchant of associating him with.

His suppression of the Latin Mass in the motu proprio Traditiones Custodes, his openness to giving communion to divorced and remarried couples in the apostolic exhortation Amoris Laetitia, the sanctioning of blessing couples in irregular unions in the declaration Fiducia Supplicans, the Pachamama incident, his silence on convicted sexual offenders such as Cardinal Theodore McCarrick and the Jesuit priest-artist Marko Rupnik, are only some of the in-

stances that drew the ire of the more conservative members of the Church.

But reading Pope Francis’s papacy only in the light of political and ideological narratives is to totally miss his mission. In fact, to regard the Church and society with such a dichotomizing attitude is what Francis endeavored to overcome. For while doctrinally, the pope has to remain clear and unequivocal regarding faith and morals, the unfolding of Church teaching in the lives of people will necessarily have to endure the tension between God’s sanctity and human frailty.

Indeed, Francis’s papacy was marked by contradiction and ambiguity in its daring attempt to keep the faith alive in the hearts of men and women. This contradiction is both the weakness and strength of his pontificate, for it allowed him to be whoever the people wanted him to be, and this goes for both traditionalists and progressivists.

Fortunately for those who were paying close attention, the Francis who steered the helm of the Catholic Church was far more complex than the Francis portrayed by the media. The pope who said, “Who am I to judge him?” specifically responding

Lessons FROM PAGE 8 ►

can we understand and give some kind of response.”

Coronel said he hoped his small role in the encounter would serve as a reminder to the Thomasian community of the essence of Pope Francis’s message — mercy and compassion.

“In that (encounter), he did not explain suffering — he entered it. He embodied the very culture of encounter he preached: one that begins in compassion, grows in listening, and culminates in communion.”

Lessons from the Pope and the 2015 papal visit

In addition to translating for the Pope, Coronel wore several hats during the pontiff’s visit to UST. He coordinated with artists performing ahead of the event, assisted then-Public Affairs Director Prof. Giovanna Fontanilla in handling media needs, and helped prepare pastoral materials, including the official homily guide used across dioceses.

He described the experience as an “intimate window into the pastoral heart of Pope Francis” and reflected on the Pope’s persistent call for “encounter,” pointing to a message the pontiff wrote in the University’s guestbook: “May the Lord bless all those studying and working for a culture of encounter.”

“For the Thomasian community, this meant engaging the world not from a place of prestige, but from the margins,” he said. “In that brief but personal inscription, he revealed the heart of his pastoral approach —Christ-centered, dialogical, inclusive, compassionate, and missionary.”

“Unconventional, deeply human, and prophetically pastoral, Pope Francis showed the Thomasians — and the world — that true leadership kneels, listens, forgives, and embraces. He called us not to defend the Church from the world, but to bring Christ into it.”

Coronel, a former parish priest of UST’s Santisimo Rosario Parish, noted that Pope Francis’s emphasis on journeying together helped foster stronger ties between the Dominicans and Jesuits — the Pope’s religious order.

“There has been a renewed emphasis on pastoral care, discernment, and engagement with the peripheries, values that resonate deeply with both the Dominicans and the Jesuits,” Coronel said. “What we now witness is not merely institutional partnership but a pastoral synergy as pilgrims of hope, where the wisdom of Aquinas and the discernment of Ignatius are brought into harmony for the good of the Church.”

for comfort is a God beyond human control. The cross and the empty tomb reveal a God who defies our expectations and our desire to manipulate Him.

I understand Pope Francis’s response to the little girl in that light. By embracing her in silence, he seemed to say: “Only God knows the answer to your question—and I am not God. So, I must remain silent.”

Many on social media criticized the Pope, accusing him of evading the question. They asked: if silence is all he could offer to suffering children, why did he come all the way from Rome? Wouldn’t it have been better if he stayed there and kept silent? Besides, Jesus is the eternal Word, not eternal Silence.

But we must remember that silence is deeply embedded in the words of Jesus. His teachings were often cloaked in parables—stories that say everything while saying nothing. His preaching was filled with questions that left ample space for silence and contemplation.

We should not try to compensate for God’s silence by speaking more. Pope Francis touched hearts not primarily through his words—which were often lost in translation—but through eloquent gestures of love, compassion, and humble service. As St. Francis of Assisi once said: “Preach the Gospel at all times; when necessary, use words.”

If only Pope Francis had consistently maintained his silence on many contentious issues of our time, perhaps he could have avoided the controversies that some of his pronouncements have stirred among the faithful.

His now-famous words, “Who am I to judge?” were praised by many as a reflection of his emphasis on mercy, inclusion, and openness. But others found them confusing—lacking doctrinal and moral clarity. When he approved a provisional agreement with the Chinese government on the appointment of bishops, even many Chinese Catholics felt betrayed, viewing it as a concession that undermined the underground Church’s loyalty to Rome.

Similarly, when he allowed for the possibility of priests blessing same-sex couples under specific pastoral conditions, and of divorced and civilly remarried Catholics receiving Holy Communion, he was accused by some bishops and theologians of weakening Church teaching on the Eucharist and the indissolubility of marriage.

These pronouncements, however, are better understood in light of Pope Francis’s broader vision. Since his election in 2013, Pope Francis has embraced a more pastoral and reform-minded approach to the papacy. In contrast to Pope Benedict XVI, the eminent theologian, and Pope John Paul II, the charismatic global evangelist and diplomat, Francis has expressed a desire to be remembered like St. Matthew—a tax collector and sinner whom Jesus called to be an apostle (Matthew 9:9–13).

This vision is reflected in his papal coat of arms, where he retained his episcopal motto: Miserando atque eligendo. The phrase, drawn from a homily by the Venerable Bede, refers to Jesus calling Matthew: “Seeing Matthew through the eyes of mercy, (miserando) and choosing him (eligendo), Jesus said: ‘Follow me.’” The motto encapsulates Francis’s deep awareness of his own unworthiness and his conviction that God’s mercy precedes all calling.

Austen Ivereigh’s biography, The Great Reformer, recounts a poignant episode that sheds light on Francis’s sense of unworthiness. In 1961, Jorge (as he was then known) visited the hospital where his longtime spiritual guide, Fr. Enrico Pozzoli, lay gravely ill. When Jorge arrived, Fr. Enrico was asleep, so he spent some time speaking with another priest in the corridor. Later, when informed that Fr. Enrico had awakened and wished to see him, Jorge responded, “Tell Fr. Enrico I’ve already left the hospital.”

Fr. Enrico passed away a few days later. When Jorge learned of his death, he was overcome with remorse. He had lied to a dying man who deeply needed his presence in those final moments. It was this man had guided and supported him for years. For a long time, Jorge carried the weight of that regret. He came to recognize within himself a persistent tendency toward indifference, selfishness, and a failure to love.

Perhaps his now-famous words, “Who am I to judge?” were born from this very place of self-awareness. He understood that he, too, is in constant need of grace and forgiveness. In showing solidarity with others who find themselves in similar struggles, he consistently favored pastoral compassion over strict theological or doctrinal precision.

Fr. Rolando de la Rosa, O.P. is a professor emeritus at UST and a former chairman of the

Popes maintain a direct connection with UST, which was designated a Pontifical University by Pope Leo XIII in 1902 and later recognized as the “Catholic University of the Philippines” by Pope Pius XII in 1947.

The Vatican is actively involved in the selection of UST’s rectors, with final approval resting with the Holy See. Pope Francis affirmed three such appointments: the second term of Fr. Herminio Dagohoy, O.P. (2016-2020), and both terms of Fr. Richard Ang, O.P. (2020-2024; 2024-present).

In a tribute posted on Facebook, the UST remembered the Pope’s 2015 visit as a “historic moment,” describing how he “went beyond governance to minister to Asia’s pioneer university.”

“He continued the Church’s long-standing advocacy for social justice and made prominent the missionary nature of the Church,” UST’s statement read. “In the latter part of his pontificate, he made a clear emphasis on the need to walk and journey together, as pilgrims of hope, and led the institutionalization of synodality.”

Pope Francis died at 7:35 a.m. on Easter Monday, April 21, at Casa Santa Marta following a prolonged hospitalization for double pneumonia. He was 88. The cause of death was reported as a stroke and irreversible cardiocirculatory collapse. His funeral took place on April 26.

As the 266th pontiff, he sought to reshape the Catholic Church’s global image through humility, inclusivity, and reform, departing from the more traditional stance of his predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI.

Contra Coro

EUGENE DOMINIC V. ABOY, O.P.

AMMIEL B. MAESTRADO

SecGen recalls lessons from Pope Francis and his 2015 encounter with youth at

UST

By Reya Vincent P. Misa

DURING POPE Francis’ UST visit on Jan. 18, 2015, an emotional moment unfolded as thousands of young people gathered in the rain-soaked Grandstand and Open Field. Onstage, two children, Glyzelle Palomar and Jun Chura, both former street children supported by the Tulay ng Kabataan Foundation, stood before the Pope to share their stories.

The crowd fell silent when 12-yearold Palomar broke down in tears as she asked the Pope why God allows children to suffer.

“Marami na po ang mga batang pinabayaan ng kanilang mga magulang,” Palomar said, weeping. “Marami sa kanila ang naging biktima, at masama ang nangyari sa kanila, tulad ng droga o prostitusyon.”

“Bakit po pumapayag ang Diyos na may ganitong nangyayari?”

As the children spoke, Pope Francis listened intently, holding a translated copy of their message in Italian. The translation had been prepared by Fr. Louie Coronel, O.P., who then led the now-defunct UST Social Media Bureau.

The assignment came to Coronel on short notice — just a day before the papal encounter — after the Archdiocese of Manila sought a translator for the questions presented to the pontiff, including those from Palomar and Chura.

“Translating those lines, I was overcome with emotion,” Coronel, now UST secretary general, told the Varsitarian “I remember wanting to share that moment with someone — but the content was under strict embargo until the encounter had concluded.”

“Hearing the children deliver their speeches in Filipino, and seeing the Holy Father gently receive and read from the copy I had painstakingly translated, was a joy unlike any other. When the 12-year-old Glyzelle Palomar broke into tears, I knew — without question — that it was the very part where I, too, had nearly wept.”

After a pause, Pope Francis stood, walked toward Palomar, and embraced her on stage. The Pope, visibly moved, then addressed the crowd, urging Catholics to allow themselves to feel deeply and weep.

“Let’s learn to weep. … Let’s not forget this witness. She asked the big question, and the big answer which we can give, all of us, is to learn how to weep. Only when we are able to weep over the things that you experienced,

Master General reflects on Pope Francis’ affinity with the Dominicans

By Vince Alfred M. Pilagara

“

BECOME A Dominican!”

This was the humorous response of the late Pope Francis, the first pope from the Jesuit order, when asked in 2024 what advice he would give young men aspiring to join the Society of Jesus.

Although said in jest, Pope Francis had once considered joining the Order of the Preachers in his youth, according to Dominican Master General Fr. Gerard Timoner III, in an interview with the Varsitarian

Timoner, citing one of Pope Francis’s first interviews as pope with America Magazine, the Jesuit-run publication, said the pontiff ultimately chose the Jesuits out of familiarity.

“After his election as Pope, he was asked, ‘Holy Father, why did you become a Jesuit?’ And then he said, ‘I know the Dominicans, but I studied with the Jesuits, so I joined the Jesuits,’” Timoner said on April 22 at the sidelines of the first international assembly of Dominican canon lawyers in UST.

Pope Francis was ordained a priest in 1969 and made his final profession as a Jesuit four years later. In 1973, he was appointed provincial of the Jesuits in Argentina, his homeland. He became archbishop of Bue-

nos Aires in 1998 and cardinal in 2001.

“So, it’s interesting that he has the Dominicans in mind. But of course, the Franciscans too — that’s why he took the name Francis,” Timoner said.

Timoner, one of a handful of Filipino heads of global religious orders based in Rome, became a member of the Vatican’s International Theological Commission under Pope Francis from 2014-2019, before becoming Master of the Order of Preachers, the mendicant order founded by St. Dominic de Guzman in 1216.

Despite belonging to a different religious order, Pope Francis maintained a warm relationship with the Dominicans, Timoner said.

By tradition, popes celebrate Ash Wednesday Mass at the Basilica of Santa Sabina, the oldest existing Roman basilica entrusted to the Dominicans, and the first of the Lenten stational churches.

The Master of the Order recalled how the late pontiff allowed his group of Dominicans to bypass the Swiss Guard upon recognizing their distinctive habit — a white tunic paired with a black cape. Popes have worn white cassocks since Pope Pius V, a Dominican, in 1566.

“My brothers were wearing the Dominican habit with a cappa, and the Swiss Guard told us, ‘You cannot approach.’ And then he (Pope Francis)

We pray for the cardinals that they may elect a successor who has the heart of Pope Francis — a heart that is truly the heart of a good shepherd who cares for his people.

Fr. Gerard Timoner, O.P. MASTER OF THE ORDER OF PREACHERS

saw the Dominican habit and he said, ‘Oh, Dominicos, Dominicos!’ And he came and had a chat with us,” Timoner recalled.

“After that, one friar put out his cellphone for a photo, and the Swiss Guard said, ‘No, you cannot do that,’” he continued. “But Pope Francis said, ‘Okay.’ He gave the camera to the Swiss Guard. He’s very grandfatherly.”

‘A good shepherd who cares’ Timoner said Pope Francis, who died on Easter Monday, April 21, at the

At the Master’s Feet

UST

POPE Francis was not expected to appear before the crowd at St. Peter’s Square on Easter Sunday.

The 88-year-old pontiff had scaled back his Holy Week engagements as he continued to recover from a five-week hospital stay due to double pneumonia, the most serious health scare of his papacy. While he managed to visit a Roman prison on Maundy Thursday, he skipped other Lenten traditions, including the washing of the feet.

So when Pope Francis was wheeled onto the loggia of St. Peter’s Basilica — the same balcony where he had first greeted the world as pope 12 years ago — the crowd erupted in cheers, unaware they were witnessing his final public appearance.

Among the faithful in the square were UST College of Fine Arts and Design Regent Fr. Edgar Alaurin, O.P., Dean Christie Que, and faculty member Federico

the smell of the sheep’

Mendoza, who were in Europe for cultural immersion.

They arrived in Rome with the intent to “fulfill the indulgences.” To celebrate the last day of Holy Week, the three braved a packed and high-security Vatican filled with pilgrims from all over the world.

“Hindi pa namin alam na si Pope ang magmimisa, pero gusto lang namin mag-simba for the Easter Mass,” Alaurin told the Varsitarian. “More than two hours kami bago nakapasok. Siksikan. You cannot go through. Makikita niyo how eager they want to come close to the Pope as much as possible.”

Visibly weakened and breathing laboriously, Pope Francis delivered only the opening line of his traditional UrbietOrbi (To the City and to the World) blessing: “Dear brothers and sisters, Happy Easter.”

Archbishop Diego Ravelli, the

Francis paved the way to dispelling such an impression. His foot-washing of prison inmates, his promotion of women to Vatican high office, his “Who am I to judge?” remark, his call for todos, todos, todos, and many more unconventional gestures: they show the world that the Church does listen to its concerns and can meet it where it is.

By stripping the papal office of anything that reminds everyone of something princely like the Apostolic Palace, Pope Franics allowed the message of the Church to shine through, to be something worth listening to. In every gesture, Pope Francis communicated the love of God, a love that knows no bounds.

It cannot be denied that he has made a mark on the papacy.

Maybe the world will not care if the next pope will wear once more the fur-trimmed mozzetta or go back to emphasizing the Magisterium. Public memories are fickle anyway. Maybe synodality will fade away as just a three-year blip in the two thousand-year old Church.

Even his successors will ditch Pope Francis’ legacy, it will be weighing in their minds, a reminder that the world has seen what a papacy without pomp and circumstance can be, and that there might be no going back.

FROM PAGE 5 ► Contra Coro FROM PAGE 5 ►

to a question about a homosexual cleric (and not, as news agencies would have us believe, a vindication of the entire LGBT community), was the same pope who said gender ideology is “demonic”. The Francis, who is often shown as warm and welcoming to personalities openly supporting abortion, is also the same Francis who said having an abortion is like “hiring a hitman.”

The modern-day heresy dictates a false dichotomy: that we can only choose one instead of both. But Francis has shown us that the mercy of God is so spacious, indeed so catholic, that it can embrace the contradiction as part of the mystery. We can hate the sin and love the sinner. We can understand or respect the other and disagree with him. In a world that has increasingly become tone-deaf to faith and religion, Pope Francis has allowed the Church to be heard once again by showing that it truly listens to humanity’s deepest concerns and longings. Who could ever forget the image of a solitary figure in the middle of a gloomy St. Peter’s Square, praying for the whole world during the Covid-19 outbreak? Who can say that they weren’t deeply moved when Francis consoled the crying girl during his meeting with the youth at the University of Santo Tomas in Manila, or when he celebrated Mass soaking wet with the victims of typhoon Yolanda in Tacloban?

Whether one is a rabid critic or an avid supporter of Pope Francis, it cannot be denied that he made a significant impact on the life of the Church and of the world. The mercy and compassion he exemplified in his life demonstrated the old truism that the Church is not a fortress for the flawless, but a field hospital where sinners can find healing and grace. The contradiction of Francis’s papacy is the divine mercy of God meeting miserable humanity in all its wounds and complexity.

Eugene Dominic Aboy, O.P. is a solemnly professed brother of the Order of Preachers. He was the Varsitarian’s editor in chief from 2019 to 2020. He is currently taking up his licentiate in philosophy at the UST Ecclesiastical Faculties.

Vatican master of ceremonies, took over from the struggling pontiff, reading the rest of his

the conflict in Gaza

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the square,

priest at Easter Sunday Mass in Vatican recalls Pope’s final appearance: ‘Francis died with

► Master of the Order of Preachers Fr. Gerard Timoner, O.P. pays a courtesy call to Pope Francis in 2019. — PHOTO FROM ORDER OF PREACHERS

► Pope Francis gives his Urbi et Orbi blessing from the balcony of St. Peter’s on Easter Sunday, April 20, the last time he appeared before the public.— PHOTO FROM VATICAN MEDIA

WITNESS

Thomasian sculptor recalls encounter with pope: ‘He asked me to pray for him’

By Karis M. Tsang

FEW CAN say their art has been recognized by the pope, and even fewer can claim to have earned one of the Church’s highest honors because of it. But for renowned Thomasian sculptor Willy Layug, experiencing both was less exalting than it was humbling.

Layug, a UST College of Fine Arts and Design alumnus, was the artist be-

hind a number of religious images used during Pope Francis’s apostolic visit to the Philippines in 2015.

The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines had commissioned the Pampanga-based sculptor, who hails from the town of Betis, prominent for producing woodcarvers called “manduquit.”

“No’ng pagbisita ng pope, ang lakas ng pressure noon,” Layug recalled in an interview with the Varsitarian. “I’m not dealing with the one parish, dio-

UST pays tribute to Pope Francis with mementos display

By Marco Luis D. Beech

IN MEMORY of Pope Francis, the last pontiff to visit the Philippines, UST launched an exhibit featuring memorabilia from his campus visit in 2015.

Set up in the Main Building lobby, the display included the papal chair he used, the UST guestbook he signed, and his official ID with lanyard, among other items.

Nearly two years into his papacy, Pope Francis visited UST in January 2015 during his five-day apostolic trip to the Philippines. He met with several religious and addressed a massive gathering of young people gathered at the UST Open Field.

UST, in its message of sorrow and hope after the pontiff’s death, recalled his 2015 visit as a “historic moment” that showed how the pontiff “went beyond governance to minister to Asia’s pioneer university.”

Pope Francis, born Jorge Mario Bergoglio in Argentina, passed away on Easter Monday, April 21, nearly a month after being released from a five-week hospital stay due to double pneumonia.

Below are some of the key items displayed at the exhibit.

Papal chair

The chair used by Pope Francis during his guestbook signing and Mass at the UST Grandstand remains one of the most treasured papal relics on campus.

Emblazoned with the Latin phrase “pastor bonvs” (good shepherd) to symbolize his humility, the chair was custom-built for his 2015 visit by local furniture VitreArtus.

Its designer, Fr. Alex Bautista from the Diocese of Tarlac, said the papal seat was intended “to serve the liturgical purpose and have Filipino character, and reflect the simplicity of the Vicar of Christ.”

The chair displays three symbols: the papal coat-of-arms at its center, the

cese, or archdiocese; I’m dealing with the whole world.”

An example of Layug’s works for the fourth papal visit was the “Crucified Christ,” the centerpiece of the pope’s Mass at Quirino Grandstand, which drew a record crowd of approximately six to seven million Catholics, the largest in any papal event.

He also crafted the altar table crucifix displayed at the Manila Cathedra and gave the pope a personal gift, the “Filipina Immaculada,” a twofoot Marian image clad in traditional Filipiniana.

But most notably, Layug carved the now-iconic image of Our Lady of Hope of Palo, a 7-foot Filipinized Marian image made of yakal wood from a tree that had fallen when super typhoon “Yolanda” ravaged Visayas in November 2013.

Pope Francis venerated the statue during a Mass at the tarmac of the Tacloban International Airport.

“Noong nag-refer siya doon sa statwa…Tumutulo na ‘yong luha ko. Kahit ano na ngang gawin ko, hindi ko na [mapigilan],” Layug said, referring to a part of the pope’s homily where he asked the faithful to turn to Mary just as the Child in the statue clings to the Mother’s skirt.

Despite his sculptures reaching the pope, Layug did not get the chance

to meet him during the 2015 visit. He stayed at a nearby church during the Tacloban Mass, and his return flight for the Quirino Grandstand Mass was grounded by poor weather.

It was only in 2016 when Layug met Pope Francis up close, after receiving the Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice (For the Church and Pope) medal, the highest honor the Holy See confers on the laity for their service to the Church.

Recalling the encounter, Layug said he was holding up a replica of his Our Lady of Hope of Palo in the crowd when Pope Francis noticed it, paused to pray before it, and then continued to bless other pilgrims.

But when Layug called out to him and showed his papal medallion, Pope Francis turned back did something that left a lasting impression on the sculptor.

“He came back and held my left hand, and he whispered, ‘Please pray for me,’” he recalled.

“But now I am sure he is in heaven. Pope Francis, please pray for me and my family.”

Layug described the moment as a once-in-a-lifetime experience, as he can proudly say that a pope once personally asked him for prayers.

“Napaka-humble niya, talagang hindi mo makikita sa kaniya ‘yong authority. Very holy siya e. ‘Yong status niya, parang nakita mo ang Panginoon sa kaniya,” Layug said. “‘Yong experience ko, once-in-a-lifetime. I’m sure ‘di na mauulit ‘yon.”

Dominican Order seal to the left, and UST’s logo to the right.

Signed UST guestbook, UST ID with lanyard

Upon his arrival at UST, Pope Francis signed the University’s guestbook at Plaza Benavidez, accompanied by Fr. Herminio Dagohoy, O.P., then the rector magnificus, and Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, then-Manila Archbishop and now conclave member.

In his inscription, the Pope wrote: “May the Lord bless all those studying and working for a culture of encounter.” The pen he used was also displayed in the exhibit.

He was also issued an official UST ID, complete with the iconic yellow lanyard showcasing the logos of all academic units. The ID, categorized under administration, was labeled: “His Holiness Pope Francis.”

Bestowed by Pope Leo XIII in 1902, the title “Pontifical University” gives UST the distinction of having its rectors appointed and confirmed by the Pope, from nominees provided by the Dominican Order to the Vatican.

Pope Francis approved three such appointments: Fr. Herminio Dagohoy, O.P. for a second term (2016–2020), and both terms of Fr. Richard Ang, O.P. (2020–2024; 2024–present).

Publications on the fourth papal visit

Three publications chronicling the pontiff’s visit were also showcased.

These included a coffee table book titled “Pope Francis @ UST: Bringing Christ to the Youth”; an edition of Academia, the University’s international bulletin; and a two-part issue of Boletin Eclesiastico de Filipinas, the official interdiocesan publication of the Catholic Church in the Philippines.

Book of Remembrance

Following the Pope’s death, Thomasians were invited to write personal tributes in a special book of remembrance. It was filled with prayers, reflections, and memories in honor of the pontiff.

“Let the Thomasian community of this Pontifical University honor this book as a tribute to the legacy of a humble and merciful shepherd of the Church,” read the inscription above the book.

UST announced plans to digitize the entries and send them to Archbishop Charles John Brown, the apostolic nuncio to the Philippines.

Life-sized standee

Greeting visitors at the exhibit’s entrance was a life-sized, five-foot-nine standee of Pope Francis.

Dressed in his white cassock, zucchetto, fascia, and pectoral cross — and wearing his Thomasian ID and lanyard — the standee depicted the Pope’s simple and humble persona.

Behind it stood a message of thanks and prayer from the University:

“Kalakip ng aming panalangin ay ang isang taos pusong pasasalamat po. Nawa’y makapiling ka ng Diyos na siyangmatapatmongminahalatwalang kapagurang pinaglingkuran tungo sa buhaynawalangwakas!”

(Included in our prayers is our heartfelt gratitude. May you be with God, whom you faithfully loved and

age of 88 following a stroke and a bout of double pneumonia, was not only compassionate but also deeply attentive.

He recalled how Pope Francis found time to check in on Cardinal Timothy Radcliffe, O.P., a former master general and one of three Dominicans elevated to the cardinalate in a December consistory, after the English friar underwent surgery.

“One of the most memorable (encounters) was when he called me by phone, and I was afraid of what the phone call would be,” Timoner said. “And it was just to say, ‘I heard that Timothy [Radcliffe] had a surgery yesterday. I called just to express my closeness to the Order and to let you know that I am praying for him.”

“The Pope has so many concerns, and yet he took the time to take the phone and call me.”

Pope Francis will be buried on April 26 and, after a nine-day mourning period called “novemdiales,” his successor will be chosen in a conclave, a closed-door vote among cardinals under the age of 80, which may start as early as May 5.

His successor will take on the leadership of 1.4 billion Catholics and the tall task of sustaining the broad appeal Francis — dubbed the “People’s Pope” — among believers and non-believers alike.

Timoner expressed hope that the next pope would reflect the spirit of Francis.

tirelessly served, as you journey toward eternal life.)

Photo of the Pope at UST

Perched on the papal chair was a photo of Pope Francis surrounded by Filipino youth singing at the UST Grandstand. In his impromptu remarks that day, the Pope encouraged the young to hold firm to their values and live out Christ’s teachings through compassion and kindness.

“When you give of your time, your talents, and your resources to the many people who struggle and who live on the margins, you make a difference. It is a difference that is so desperately needed, and one for which you will be richly rewarded by the Lord,” he said.

A particularly touching moment was his interaction with street children Glyzelle Palomar and Jun Chura. To them, and to the crowd, Pope Francis said true compassion begins with the courage to feel deeply — because “our world today needs weeping.”

“If you don’t learn how to weep, you are not a good Christian,” he said. “And this is a challenge. … When they ask us: ‘Why do children suffer? Why does this or that tragedy occur in life?’ — let us respond either by silence or with a word borne of tears. Be brave. Don’t be afraid to cry!”

The exhibit was open from April 22, the day after the pope’s death, until April 29.

“We pray for his eternal repose,” Timoner said. “We pray also for the cardinals that they may elect a successor who has the heart of Pope Francis — a heart that is truly the heart of a good shepherd who cares for his people.” WITH REPORTS FROM AMMIEL

B. MAESTRADO

Easter Sunday FROM PAGE 8 ►

words. He died the following morning, Easter Monday, April 21 — closing a 12-year papacy that began and ended on the same marble balcony of St. Peter’s, with the same blessing. Alaurin described the moment as both mystical and profound.

“Ang feeling ko no’ e parang ‘yong blessing niya, parang hangin na lumipad. Tapos parang kinilabutan ako,” Alaurin recalled in an interview held days after Pope Francis’s death.

“It’s like a fire. Energy. Fire. Once na bless kami, nag-spread out siya. Nag-bless siya, napaka-simple lang na gesture, pero, it became so… it’s like a wildfire.”

One with his flock

After giving his blessing, Pope Francis toured St. Peter’s Square in an open-air popemobile. Alaurin noticed how the pope could barely lift his arms, a contrast to his usual engagement with crowds.

“Ginather niya lahat ng energy niya in order to just come down for the last time,” said Alaurin, recalling how he jostled with the crowd just to get closer.

For Que, the encounter brought quiet joy.

“I only saw his cap moving because there were so many people in the Square. I felt happy,” said Que, who had seen the pope twice before — once in Rome and again during his 2015 visit to UST.

Near the end of the motorcade, Pope Francis removed his zucchetto — his white skullcap.

“‘Yong last shot ko nung pumasok siya, very symbolic kasi tinanggal niya na ‘yong zucchetto niya e,” Alaurin recalled. “Parang, time is up.”

When news broke of Pope Francis’s passing at 7:35 a.m. on April 21, Alaurin initially dismissed it as a hoax. It wasn’t until the Vatican confirmed it that the gravity of what the Dominican priest had witnessed began to sink in.

“Doon lang nagkaroon ng significance sa’kin ‘yong pagtanggap ko (no’ng blessing). Parang, sige, it’s time for you to go,” Alaurin said. “Nanlambot ako. Nanlalambot na naiiyak. Lagi ko kasi siyang sinusundan. Ang gaganda ng mga messages niya. Iba ang pananaw niya.”

Reflecting on the pope’s final moments, Alaurin said they embodied Pope Francis’s oft-repeated call for priests to be “shepherds who smell like the sheep.”

“You are with your sheep, on the level of your people, the people of your country. Kaya nga tinawag siyang ‘People’s Pope’ because he goes down to the level of the people.” MICAH G. PASCUA

► Layug — PHOTO BY JEREMY R. EDERA

► Thomasians visit the exhibit of Pope Francis memorabilia at the UST Main Building lobby launched a day after the pontiff’s death. — PHOTO BY

JEREMY R. EDERA