Filipino cardinals preside over requiem Masses for Pope Francis before heading to Rome
The Minor Basilica and Metropolitan Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Manila, Philippines. / Credit: Kagejuni001, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Rome Newsroom, Apr 22, 2025 / 14:37 pm (CNA).
Cardinal José Advíncula, OP, and Cardinal Pablo David — two of three cardinal electors appointed by Pope Francis — on Tuesday presided over requiem Masses in the Philippines and praised the late Holy Father for his humble service and love for the poor and wounded.
Speaking to Catholic faithful gathered inside the Metropolitan Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception (also known as “Manila Cathedral”) in the country’s capital, Advíncula, who was made a cardinal in 2020, said Filipinos should be “filled with gratitude” for the gift of Pope Francis’ pontificate.
“From the very beginning of his Petrine ministry, the Holy Father has reminded us that the Church must be close to the poor, merciful to all, and a welcoming home for the forgotten,” the prelate said on Tuesday morning.
Referring to the pope as “Lolo [Grandpa] Kiko,” the cardinal archbishop of Manila said Francis had a “special love for Filipinos all over the world” and “embraced” the joy and faith of Asia’s largest Christian nation. The Philippines has a Catholic population of approximately 85 million people, according to the country’s latest census.
“We will always remember his visit to our country in 2015 — a moment of grace forever etched in our national memory,” he said. “Under the rain in Tacloban, standing with the survivors of Typhoon Yolanda, Pope Francis showed us what it means to suffer with others and find hope in the midst of pain.”
“His presence, prayers, and preaching have confirmed us in faith, enlivened our hope, and animated us to charity,” he added.
David, president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines who was created a cardinal in the pope’s last consistory in December 2024, presided over the Tuesday afternoon requiem Mass at the San Roque Cathedral Parish in the Diocese of Kalookan.
Describing the pope as a “bridge builder,” David said the Argentine pontiff wanted an inclusive Church that builds “bridges over troubled waters” and not walls to divide people in society.
“Today we weep and mourn the passing of our beloved Jorge Mario Bergoglio, who, in spite of his advanced age, was able to serve as successor of Peter, bishop of Rome and supreme pontiff,” the cardinal said in homily.
“Pope Francis taught us how to treat not just fellow Catholics, not just fellow Christians, not just fellow believers, but all human beings — and even every fellow creature in our common home — as a fellow traveler in a common journey as fellow pilgrims of hope,” he said.
“[Jesus] never meant the Church to be an exclusive company of the righteous,” he added, saying: “He always meant the Church to be a field hospital for the wounded and the sick.”
Advíncula and David are expected to travel to Rome to participate — alongside fellow Filipino Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, pro-prefect for the section of first evangelization of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Evangelization — in the upcoming conclave to elect the next leader of the universal Church. It will be the first time in the Church’s history that three Filipino cardinals will participate in a papal conclave.