Period of national mourning declared for Pope Francis

Marcos, Liza flying to Vatican for pontiff’s funeral

MANILA, Philippines — President Marcos has issued a proclamation declaring a period of national mourning over the passing of Pope Francis.

Proclamation 871, signed by Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin yesterday, declared a period of national mourning effective immediately until the late pope’s burial on Saturday.

During the period of mourning, the national flag shall be flown at half-mast from sunrise to sunset in all government buildings and installations throughout the Philippines and abroad.

“Pope Francis holds a special place in the hearts of the Filipino people, particularly for his apostolic visit to the Philippines in January 2015, where he offered comfort and solidarity to victims of Typhoon Yolanda and celebrated the resilience of the Filipino faithful despite adversities,” the proclamation read.

According to Marcos, the pope’s passing is a moment of profound sorrow for the Catholic Church and for the Filipino people, who recognize him as a global leader of compassion and a tireless advocate of peace, justice and human dignity.

A large majority of Filipinos are Catholics.

Francis served as the 266th pope of the Roman Catholic Church from March 13, 2013 until his passing on Easter Monday, April 21. He was 88.

Born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, Francis was the first Jesuit, first Latin American and first non-European pontiff in over 1, 200 years.

Meanwhile, Malacañang confirmed that President Marcos and First Lady Liza Marcos would attend the funeral of Pope Francis, with travel details yet to be provided by the Palace.

Other world leaders who are expected to attend the pope’s funeral are US President Donald Trump, Argentinian President Javier Milei, French President Emmanuel Macron and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Francis’ funeral mass will take place on Saturday, April 26, at 10 a.m. (Vatican time) in St. Peter’s Square, to be presided over by Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, dean of the College of Cardinals.

“Pope Francis is one of a kind. That’s really sad. I love this pope. The best pope in my lifetime as far as I’m concerned,” the President previously said.

Francis is “a man of profound faith and humility” and “led not only with wisdom but with a heart open to all, especially the poor and the forgotten,” Marcos said.

“By example, Pope Francis taught us that to be a good Christian is to extend kindness and care to one another. His humility brought many back to the fold of the Church,” he noted.

Cardinals flying to Vatican

Kalookan’s Pablo Virgilio Cardinal David is scheduled to leave for the Vatican today to attend the funeral of the pope.

David said there would be a pre-conclave meeting after the funeral.

“Probable, the start of the actual conclave is 15-20 days after death, any day between May 5-10,” he said.

The Kalookan cardinal added that it is possible that the conclave would run for a week.

Aside from David, Manila Archbishop Jose Cardinal Advincula is also expected to attend the pontiff’s funeral, but the Archdiocese of Manila has not released his travel schedule.

David, Advincula and Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle, the Pro-Prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelization, are the three Filipino cardinals who would be attending the conclave.

Pope Stamp

Meanwhile, the Philippine Postal Corp. is seriously considering issuing a stamp in honor of the late pontiff.

PHLPost postmaster general Luis Carlos yesterday told The STAR that they have already made an initial discussion on issuing another Pope Francis stamp during their Stamp Committee meeting.

“I think it will be patronized. The Post Office should put out one,” he said.

The committee would have to discuss the design of the Pope Francis stamp and have them printed, with a likely release next month.

PHLPost could print 5,000 to 10,000 copies of the Pope Francis stamp, Carlos said.

In 2014, the PHLPost featured Pope Francis in a stamp that was sold at P40 each. They produced 90,000 copies of the stamp.

No change toward LGBTQ+

Even with a new pope, the Catholic Church’s attitude toward the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ)+ community will remain the same – no discrimination, an official of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) said.

In an interview over “Headstart” on ANC, CBCP Episcopal Commission on Public Affairs executive secretary Fr. Jerome Secillano yesterday said that while the words used by Pope Francis that showed the inclusivity of the LGBTQ+ community may be “novel,” the Church’s attitude toward them has been the same.

“When we speak of non-discrimination and accepting the LGBT community, I think the Church has always been open to accommodating them. There was never a moment that the Church condemned them,” Secillano said.

According to the Church official, Pope Francis may have just highlighted the issue because of the words “who am I to judge?”

Francis has been regarded by many as a champion of the LGBTQ+ community because of his statements showing acceptance and compassion.

At one time, the pontiff was reportedly asked what is the most important thing for the LGBTQ+ people to know about God, to which he replied, “God is Father and He does not disown any of His children. And ‘the style’ of God is ‘closeness and mercy and tenderness.’ Along this path you will find God.”

“Even the catechism of the Catholic Church, there was no word that would say that we condemned these people, that we discriminate against these people. Again it was highlighted because it was the pope speaking,” Secillano said. — Alexis Romero, Evelyn Macairan