The Catholic Church welcomed Pope Leo XIV (Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost) as its new pontiff with the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) on Friday recalling how he already visited the country “several times.”
The new pope, then known as Fray Prevost, is seen in photos shared on Facebook by CBCP from November 2008 celebrating Mass to inaugurate the Augustinian community’s formation house in Manila.
The CBCP also reposted photos from September 2010 of Father Prevost of the Order of Saint Augustine visiting the Philippines for the congregation’s Intermediate General Chapter. There, he was also shown presiding over a Mass at San Agustin Church in Intramuros, Manila.
Meanwhile, Reverend Fr. Jonas Mejares, vice president for Augustinian Formation and mission at the University of San Agustin in Iloilo, fondly recalled Cardinal Prevost’s 2010 visit to Cebu.
During this time, the latter was still the prior general of the Augustinians and blessed the Augustinian Friary of Mohon in Talisay City.
“We are in safe hands. I’m really thankful. But until now, it still hasn’t sunk in. I was tongue-tied. I just screamed with joy. I really cried,” Mejares said of Prevost’s ascension as Pope Leo XIV in a Philippine Information Agency report.
“He has a lot of kind and generous words for Filipinos, most especially here in Cebu… He visited communities including Tolotol, Consolacion, Cebu, the Basilica, and our novitiate house in Talisay,” the priest added.
On social media platform X, Pope Leo XIV was the second most trending topic in the politics category on Friday. The words ‘Habemus Papam,’ Cardinal Tagle, Santo Papa, and Chicago also trended in relation to Prevost’s election as the 267th leader of the Catholic Church.
The Philippines’ Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle was among those favored to succeed the late Pope Francis. While Prevost’s rise to the papacy was met positively, some Filipino netizens could not help but express their disappointment at not seeing the so-called ‘Asian Francis’ in the leadership role.
“I am not Catholic, but this came as a surprise. Pope Leo seems like a good guy, but he has got some big shoes to fill, as I think Pope Francis was fantastic. My daughter was hoping they would choose Cardinal Tagle. We desperately need peace, love, unity, and kindness,” a social media user wrote on X.
