Courtney McGrailIn the biggest gathering of Christians ever, Pope Francis addressed more than six million people in the closing Mass of his trip to the Philippines, calling on them to be “outstanding missionaries of the Faith in Asia”.
The turnout was more than double that which assembled at World Youth Day in Rio, and is significantly larger than the record set when Pope John Paul II said Mass in the same place – Manila’s Rizal Park – in 1995, hitherto the largest assembly of Catholics in history.
Speaking on the feast of Santo Niño, the Child Jesus, the Pope spoke of how the image of Jesus as a child had always accompanied the spread of the Gospel throughout the Philippines. Reminding the gathered crowds, many of whom had walked overnight and braved heavy rain to attend, of how Christians are God’s adopted children, created to be holy and blameless in his sight.
Lamenting social structures which perpetuate poverty, ignorance and corruption, Pope Francis cautioned the gathered crowds against giving up, warning against “ephemeral pleasures” and “superficial pastimes” that distract us so we focus on “the allure of being ‘modern’” rather than on “the things that really matter”.
Speaking of Jesus’ love for children, he stressed how each child should be seen as “a gift to be welcomed, cherished and protected”, and spoke of our duty to build a society worthy of them.
The Christ Child, he said, reminds us of St Joseph’s role as his earthly protector and the importance of his human family. “Sadly”, he added, “in our day, the family all too often needs to be protected against insidious attacks and programmes contrary to all that we hold true and sacred, all that is most beautiful and noble in our culture.”
Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, Archbishop of Manila, thanked Pope Francis on behalf of all the people of Manila, and said that every Filipino wanted to follow him not to Rome but to the peripheries. “We will go”, he said, “where the Light of Jesus is needed.”