Pope Francis Reveals “Most Moving Moments” During Philippine Visit

The head of the billion-strong Roman Catholic Church, Pope Francis revealed to the media his “most moving moments” during his 5-day visit to the Philippines from January 15-19, 2015. Pope Francis admitted that he was touched and almost could not speak when he saw the hundreds of thousands of people weeping and staying in the rain just to hear Mass at the Tacloban Airport.

Pope Francis Leyte

The 78-year-old Pope Francis told reporters on-board the official carrier, Philippine Airlines (PAL), that we was so grateful with what he witnessed in Tacloban, the ground zero of the world’s most devastating typhoon, the super typhoon Yolanda that hits the country during the year 2013.

Pope Francis held a mass at Tacloban airport wearing a transparent yellow poncho cover over his vestments as heavy rain and strong winds lashed a large crowd of worshipers, who stood amid puddles in a mud-soaked field.

The supreme head of the Vatican City was quoted as saying “The most moving moment for me, the mass in Tacloban was very moving. Very moving. To see all of God’s people standing still, praying, after this catastrophe. Thinking of my sins and those people, it was moving, a very moving moment. In the moment of the Mass there, I felt as though I was annihilated. I almost couldn’t speak. I felt very little, I don’t know what happened to me, maybe it was the emotion,” he said in an interview with reporters.

“And then the gestures were moving. Every gesture. When I passed and a father would make this (gesture) and I blessed him, he would say thank you but…for them, a blessing was enough. I thought, but I who have so many expectations, I want this and I want that. This was good for me, no? Moving moments. After I found out that in Tacloban we landed with winds at 70 miles per hour, I took seriously the warning that we needed to leave no later than one o’clock because there was a danger. But I wasn’t afraid,” he added.

Aside from the overwhelming attendance in Leyte, Pope Francis was also moved by the huge turnout at the Rizal Park last Sunday with an estimated 6-7 million people showed up for the mass gathering and considered as the world’s largest crowd by the new Pope.

Pope Francis also revealed to the media that one thing about Filipinos that touched his heart was the “weeping.”

Leave a Comment