For the last time, the Catholic faithful trooped to the Apostolic Nunciature in Manila early Sunday for one more glimpse of Pope Francis before he departs for Rome.
Pope Francis concluded his trip to Asia on Sunday with an open-air Mass for a rain-drenched crowd in Manila that the Vatican and the government said drew up to seven million people, the largest ever for a papal event.
The Armed Forces of the Philippines has already made the proper arrangements in securing Pope Francis during his expected departure from the country on Monday.
With rain pouring down on Sunday afternoon, Luneta became a sea of plastic-covered bodies struggling to make their way through the dense crowd and the damp floor.
Despite the sea of people at the Quirino Grandstand on Sunday to attend the Mass of Pope Francis, the military said the event was generally peaceful and orderly.
Pope Francis had a busy slate on the penultimate day of his trip to the Philippines, meeting with the youth at University of Santo Tomas before presiding over Holy Mass at Quirino Grandstand in Luneta.
Dagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas, in his gratitude message, compared Pope Francis to both a raincoat and sunshine. “You are our friend, our inspiration, our raincoat in the rain and sunshine when it is cloudy. Pope Francis, we love you,” Villegas said Sunday, before Pope Francis gave his final blessing during his concluding Mass at Luneta.
Nakipagkita nitong Linggo ang Santo Papa sa ama ng 27-taong-gulang na is Kristel Mae Padasas, ang volunteer na namatay sa isang aksidente sa Tacloban Airport matapos ang Papal mass na ginanap doon noong nakaraang Sabado.
He may be the head of the Roman Catholic Church, but Pope Francis curiously still wore an identification card for an event at University of Santo Tomas on Sunday morning for his Encounter with the Youth event.
Glyzelle Palomar had the fewest words to say to Pope Francis during Sunday's papal event at the University of Santo Tomas, but she was the one who had driven the pontiff to once again deviate from a prepared reply and speak Spanish "from the heart."
Pope Francis on Sunday met the father of 27-year-old Kristel Mae Padasas, the woman who died from a freak accident in Tacloban Airport just after a Mass was held there by Pope Francis on Saturday.
While many Filipinos are likely to miss Pope Francis when he leaves for Rome on Monday, not all will miss the barker leading the chants at the Quirino Grandstand where the pope's closing Mass was held.
After presiding over his concluding Mass at the Quirino Grandstand, Pope Francis went around the Luneta to bless the Filipinos who had gathered there to see him.
Continuing his strong message to the Filipino family and the youth, Pope Francis on Sunday consecrated Pinoy families and communities to Jesus, the Christ Child, asking them work together to build a “world of justice, integrity and peace.”
Pope Francis had strong words against sin and temptation in his homily on Sunday, during the Mass he officiated at the Quirino Grandstand, describing these as “great threats” to God’s plan.
"May the Santo Niño continue to bless the Philippines and to sustain the Christians of this great nation in their vocation to be witnesses and missionaries of the joy of the Gospel, in Asia and in the whole world."
Speaking before millions of devotees during his concluding Mass at the Quirino Grandstand on Sunday afternoon, Pope Francis highlighted the Filipinos' special relationship with Sto. Niño, the Christ-child, asking the faithful to embrace the identity of being “God’s children.”
Though he had his prepared speeches written in English with him, Pope Francis in several instances during his stay in the country has opted to go off script and delivered his messages to the Filipino faithful spontaneously in Spanish.
Authorities on Sunday opened more entrances to the Luneta Park in Manila after several pilgrims waiting for Pope Francis to officiate a Mass there got hurt because of the shoving and jostling.
Just hours after delivering yet another message for people to care for the less fortunate, Pope Francis on Sunday afternoon motored to the Quirino Grandstand amid the cheers of millions of rain-drenched Filipinos that gathered for what could be the biggest Holy Mass in the country in decades.
Below are the remarks in full of Pope Francis during his Encounter with the Youth event on Sunday at University of Santo Tomas, with parts spoken in Spanish translated into English.
As soon as Pope Francis entered the UST campus, people started cheering and raising their gadgets to capture the once-in-a-lifetime moment of personally seeing the pope. Those standing behind jeered as those taking photos of the pontiff blocked their view.
In time for the visit of Pope Francis in the Philippines and the Mass he will officiate Sunday afternoon, several groups asked the Catholic Church to truly work with the poor.
Just as Pope John Paul II was serenaded by millions of young voices during the 1995 World Youth Day celebration at Luneta with “Tell the World of His Love,” Pope Francis was also treated to the same song during his meeting with the youth in the University of Santo Tomas on Sunday morning.
Pope Francis on Sunday challenged the Filipino youth to "learn how to weep" for the poor and the marginalized during his second to the last day of his visit to the Philippines, where a fourth of the population live in poverty.
An official of the Roman Catholic Church in the Philippines on Sunday expressed gratitude to Pope Francis for believing the Filipino youth are not just the gems of the world, but also treasures of the world.
In tears, a former street child recounted before Pope Francis her life of poverty, living under a bridge before she was taken in by a non-government organization.
The papal motorcade, bearing Pope Francis, has left the Apostolic Nunciature for the University of Sto. Tomas shortly after 9 a.m. Sunday, the fourth day of his pastoral visit to the Philippines.
Despite barricades preventing the public from going to the UST Grandstand, the Catholic faithful are still hopeful to see Pope Francis in his second to the last major activity in the Philippines.
Pope Francis will celebrate mass with millions in the Philippine capital on Sunday in what could be the world's biggest papal gathering, capping off a dramatic trip in the Catholic Church's Asian heartland.
More than 11,000 people were stranded in various ports before dawn Sunday amid bad weather conditions from Tropical Storm Amang (Mekkhala), the Philippine Coast Guard said.
An unknown number of pilgrims who had lined up for Pope Francis' Mass at the Quirino Grandstand were injured early Sunday because of the shoving and jostling in the crowd.
Millions of people are expected to attend a pair of events with Pope Francis on Sunday on the penultimate day of his visit to the Philippines. GMA News Online has the freshest updates.
Filipinos before dawn Sunday started lining the route from the Apostolic Nunciature in Manila to the University of Santo Tomas for Pope Francis' encounter with the youth.