Pope Francis consoled him in his grief, now he mourns his passing

Pope Francis greets the crowd after celebrating mass at a park in Manila on January 18, 2015. Pope Francis celebrated mass with millions of singing and cheering Catholics in the Philippine capital on January 18, in one of the world’s biggest outpourings of papal devotion. FILE PHOTO/Agence France-Presse

MANILA, Philippines — Once comforted by Pope Francis himself, Paul Padasas is now grieving the death of the 88-year-old pontiff, who died at his residence in Vatican’s Casa Santa Marta on Monday, April 21.

Padasas, the father of a young Filipino volunteer who died in an accident when Pope Francis celebrated Mass in Tacloban City in 2015, said he is “at a loss for words.”

“I am really in sorrow now. I was in disbelief when a relative told me, but sadness filled my heart when I checked the page of Vatican News,” he told INQUIRER.net.

READ: Pope Francis has died – Vatican

Padasas met the Bishop of Rome in Manila after the death of his then 27-year-old daughter Kristel Mae. Pope Francis honored her when he presided over a program with thousands of young Filipinos at the University of Santo Tomas a day after her passing.

“I immediately went to the altar where Kristel Mae’s picture is placed,” he said. “I talked to her and told her that Pope Francis is gone.”

Back when the leader of the Catholic Church was fighting a serious bilateral lung infection, Padasas asked for prayers for Pope Francis, who once “took away our sorrow.”

READ: Pope Francis: Remembering his life, teachings and legacy – Live Updates

“Now, he is already with God,” he said. “I was still hoping that I would get the chance to meet him again and say ‘thank you’ for the strength he has given us.”

“But even though this will no longer be possible, I am still relieved with the thought that he is now with God and Kristel Mae, who willingly assisted in preparing the Mass celebrated by the Pope in Tacloban City in 2015,” he said.