Social media gift for Pope Francis: #ShowThePope photos

MANILA, Philippines – On his way back to the Vatican, Pope Francis received a gift from the world’s social media capital: a collection of photos taken by netizens all over the Philippines using the hashtag #ShowThePope. 

The Pope saw Rappler’s collection of photos which were taken by citizens based on what they wanted to show the Pope during his visit to the Philippines from January 15-19, 2015.

#ShowThePope photos featured a wide range of images of the Philippines: its beautiful sunset, pristine beaches, fiestas, homeless children, hardworking farmers, happy families, artwork and letters written schoolchildren and, of course, selfies.

Joe Torres, correspondent of Union of Catholic Asian News (UCAN), a partner of Rappler for the coverage of #PopeFrancisPH, is part of the Vatican-accredited media that traveled with Pope Francis on his trip to Sri Lanka and the Philippines. On the Pope’s return trip to the Vatican on January 19, each of them was given the rare chance to sit down and talk with him on board the papal plane.

When his turn came, Torres gave the Pope two gifts: An album of #ShowThePope photos from Rappler and the book that Torres wrote about Claretian missionaries caught in the war against the terrorist Abu Sayyaf, “Into the Mountain: Hostaged by the Abu Sayyaf.” 

Torres talked about the experience on his Facebook post early Tuesday, January 20:

Each one of the Filipino journalists on the papal plane was given the rare chance to have a few minutes with the Pope. We were ushered in to the front of the plane and took turns chatting with the Pope. When my turn came, I was introduced as a reporter of the Union of Catholic Asian News. The Pope smiled and offered his hand to shake, but I made “mano” and then kissed his hand. He invited me to seat beside him and I told him that many more ordinary Filipinos wanted to talk to him and ask for his blessing. I then showed him a collection of photos from social media that used the hashtag #ShowThePope that was gathered by Rappler, a partner of UCA News in the papal coverage. We browsed through the pages together and he smiled when I showed him photos of children, families, etc. Next, I handed him the book I wrote “Into the Mountain: Hostaged by the Abu Sayyaf,” that was published by the CCFI Claretian. I told him that it was about Fr Rhoel Gallardo, a Claretian missionary who was killed in Basilan. His face turned serious as he murmured, “Claretianos, missioneros.” I said, “yes, missioneros in Mindanao.” He nodded. Then I asked him to “bless the poor Filipinos” and “pray for the missionaries working in Mindanao.” He then embraced me. I then said thank you, and stood up.

In December, Rappler launched #ShowThePope, a crowdsourcing platform for anything that netizens wanted the Pope to see in the Philippines – from selfies to tourist sites to images of poverty.

Rappler readers sent thousands of photos and messages using the hashtag #ShowThePope, and we published about 800 of them on our interactive microsite on #PopeFrancisPH. (READ: In quotes: Pope Francis in the Philippines)

The Pope and his group arrived in Rome on Tuesday Manila time, ending a week-long visit to Sri Lanka and the Philippines that brought millions of Filipinos to his rain-soaked events in Leyte and Metro Manila. – Rappler.com