Pope Francis hailed Filipinos, especially migrant workers, on Sunday, March 14, as he led a historic Mass in Saint Peter’s Basilica to celebrate the 500th year of Christianity in the Philippines. 

“You received the joy of the Gospel,” Pope Francis told Filipinos. “And this joy is evident in your people: We see it in your eyes, on your faces, in your songs, and in your prayers.”

“I want to thank you for the joy you bring to the whole world and to our Christian communities,” said the Catholic leader fondly known in the Philippines as “Lolo Kiko” (Grandpa Kiko).

Tiziana Fabi/Pool via Reuters

The Pope presided over the Mass at 5 pm (Manila time) on Sunday alongside Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, former archbishop of Manila and now prefect of the powerful Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, and other priests based in Rome.

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That the leader of the 1.2-billion-strong Catholic Church led this Mass spoke volumes of the importance of the Philippines, the most predominantly Christian country in Southeast Asia. 

More than 80 million Filipinos, or 8 out of 10 people in the country, belong to the Catholic Church. With millions of them working overseas over the past decades, migrant Filipino workers have brought their faith to other corners of the world, prompting the Pope to once describe them as “smugglers of the faith.”

The Pope in particular said that Filipino women “are banners of joy here in Rome.”

Referring to the faith of Filipinos, Francis said: “This is an illness that goes from one generation to the other, but it’s a good illness that you need to pass on. It comes from the gift you received 500 years ago, and that you bear, even today.”

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Cardinal Tagle speaks

Towards the end of the Mass, Tagle delivered a message thanking Francis on behalf of Filipinos. 

“The coming of the Christian faith to our land is God’s gift. The fact that the Christian faith was received by the majority of our people, who gave it a Filipino character, is also a gift of God. Now the Philippines has the third largest number of Catholics in the world,” Tagle said.

“We attribute the enduring faith of the Filipino people only to God’s love, mercy, and fidelity, not to any merit of our own,” he added.

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The cardinal said Filipinos continue receiving faith “in facing poverty, economic inequality, political upheavals, typhoons, volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, and even the current pandemic.”

The gift of faith, he said, “must continue being a gift” and “must be shared.”

“By God’s mysterious design, the gift of faith we have received is now being shared by the millions of Christian Filipino migrants in different parts of the world,” Tagle said.

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In his message to the Pope, Tagle also referred to the difficulties faced by Filipino migrant workers, such as loneliness and separation from their families back home. 

“When there is no one to talk with, we pour out our hearts to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament and ponder his word. We take care of the children under our charge as if they were our own children, and the elderly as our own parents,” Tagle said.

“We sing, we smile, we laugh, we cry, and we eat,” the Filipino cardinal said. “We pray that through our Filipino migrants, the name of Jesus, the beauty of the Church, and the justice, mercy, and joy of God may reach the ends of the earth.”

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“Here in Rome,” Tagle ended, “when we miss our grandparents, we know we have a Lolo Kiko.” – Rappler.com