Sawt Falasteen - 'Shared loss': Filipino Catholics bid Pope Francis farewell

Young people crowded into the front rows of the Sacred Heart Parish Shrine, where a trio of large fans kept parishioners cool as four days of national mourning in Asia's Catholic bastion neared an end.

Giving people a place to share their pain and loss was an "act of gratitude," parish priest Father Randy Flores told AFP.

"Pope Francis is special for Filipinos because he came here and we saw his impact on the faithful, especially his message of peace and caring for the vulnerable and the poor," Flores said.

"Filipinos really love him."

Known to many Filipinos as "Lolo Kiko", or "grandfather Francis", the pope visited in 2015, when he ministered to the survivors of Super Typhoon Haiyan, the deadliest storm in the country's history.

Within hours of the announcement of his death this week, bells were rung and requiem masses were held at churches across the country of more than 90 million Catholics.

On Saturday, as Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re delivered his homily in Rome, Joylene Sto. Domingo, 38, recounted how she had strained to catch a glimpse of the pontiff as he passed by on the streets of the capital.

You could feel his kindness even from afar, the church youth advisor said.

"As the faithful, our faith was reenergised and doubled" by his visit, she said.

"He really cared for our youth," she added. "That's why he is our pope."

Nedji Lee, a grade 9 student and parish volunteer, told AFP his own fondest memory of Pope Francis had come courtesy of a TikTok video.

"He was asked if he could grant only one miracle (what would it be), and he answered that he wanted to heal all the sick children," the 16-year-old remembered.

"It made me want to be a better person, a better Catholic."

The funeral in Rome was still ongoing when the Manila service concluded.

Some stayed and watched silently as the pageantry unfolded on the screens.

The young people gathered around a framed photo of the pontiff to snap a group picture, then rushed off for promised snacks.

Sister Imaniar Rusani, an Indonesian nun assigned to the Philippines, told AFP she had come to the service because it felt right to be with fellow believers for the funeral.

"It's good to be with the people," she said, adding she was unbothered by the service being conducted mostly in Filipino, a language she does not speak.

"What we have here is shared loss and faith, there's no language for that."

T.Samara--SF-PST