A “miracle” was how Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle described Pope Francis’ four-day visit, which drew an estimated record crowd of 6 million at its concluding Mass on Sunday.
Francis left the Philippines—the “greatest home court” for any Pontiff according to a Vatican analyst—leaving behind euphoric Catholics re-energized in their faith.
Under sunny skies, a stark contrast to Sunday’s day-long rain, the Pope and his delegation boarded a special Philippine Airlines flight. Standing at the top of the stairs, the Pope waved, slightly bowed his head before the crowd and then walked into the plane, which took off for the 13-hour flight to Rome at 10 a.m.
About 700 street children yelling “Pope Francis, we love you!” saw him off.
“It’s very hard work so I’m here just to say thank you, in the name of the Holy Father Pope Francis, to the government and all sectors of the government,” the Apostolic Nuncio, Archbishop Guiseppe Pinto, said in a press conference.
Pinto said Francis and his delegation “received the best hospitality everywhere they went.”
Tagle described the papal visit as an “act of communion, an act of solidarity and a miracle in itself.”
“Thanks to God and everyone, we were able to show to the world that it is possible,” he later told reporters. “Communication, cooperation, collaboration—these are not just ideas, they can be put into action.”
President Aquino, who led the sendoff ceremonies with members of his Cabinet, said Francis repeatedly expressed “how he felt the love” of Filipinos.
The huge turnouts during Francis’ visit—an estimated 6 to 7 million people attended his rain-drenched Mass at Quirino Grandstand on Sunday—were “another affirmation that the Philippines is the greatest home court advantage for a Pope on the planet,” said Vatican analyst John Allen Jr.
Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas, president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, thanked the Pope for the assurance that “you will be with us, suffering with us who are poor, aged, sick, disabled, deaf, crippled, abandoned and ignored.”
“Gracias, Santo Padre, for personally showing us the face of mercy and compassion, the human face of Jesus Christ, the joy of the Good News in your words,” he said in a statement.
“Your words in our stories will be imbedded in our and their hearts; a constant reminder of the love of Jesus; a voice pricking our conscience: love the poor, always have hope amidst trials, keep faith in the Lord, and pray, always pray. It is the voice of Jesus telling us, I am with you and I will not leave you orphans.”
Tagle urged the faithful to reflect both on the “spiritual” and “missionary” dimensions of the Pope’s message, particularly the centrality of appreciating children who are helpless.
“Implementing it is not for the Pope anymore to do. It’s a decision all of us have to make in as far as the leaders of the church are concerned, we will reiterate, we will repeat that message and we will call on the priests and the religious and the lay people also to implement the message of the Pope,” he said.
At sunrise, three hours before his scheduled departure, a half-rainbow decked the sky, as tens of thousands of Filipinos began turning up along the route from the nunciature to the airport in a continuing outpouring of love for the Pontiff.