Church bells rang out in the Philippines, a predominantly Catholic nation, on Monday in mourning for Pope Francis who died aged 88 after a 12-year papacy that included extensive travel across Asia.
The Argentine pontiff’s humble style and care for the poor resonated beyond his followers in the Catholic Church.
During his tenure, Francis drew huge crowds in countries such as the Philippines, Indonesia, Bangladesh, and Thailand where Muslims and Buddhists were in the religious majority and Catholics were in the minority. He also visited South Korea, Japan, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Timor-Leste and Singapore.
The Vatican announced that the pope had died at 7:35 a.m. local time on Monday. He was hospitalized for 38 days from mid-February with respiatory problems that developed into double pneumonia. He had suffered from chronic lung disease as a young man.
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr described Pope Francis as the “best pope in my lifetime,” saying in a Facebook post that he “led not only with wisdom but with a heart open to all, especially the poor and the forgotten.”
Church bells tolled across Manila on Monday. Nearly 80% of Filipinos identify as Roman Catholic.
Francis visited the country in 2015 – two years after he was elected to head the Catholic Church on March 13, 2013, after the surprise resignation of Benedict XVI. An estimated 6 million to 7 million faithful attended an open-air Mass in Manila during his visit.
Timor-Leste President Jose Ramos-Horta said on Monday the death of the Francis, the first Latin American to be pope, was a tremendous loss for the world, not just Christians.
“He leaves behind a profound legacy of humanity, of justice, of human fraternity, a tremendous loss for the world, not only for Christians,” he told Reuters.
Francis was the first pope to three decades to visit Timor-Leste, Asia’s youngest, predominantly-Catholic nation. That 2024 trip also took him to Papua New Guinea – the only country in the Pacific region that he ever travelled to as pope.
Taiwan said it would send envoys to the funeral of Pope Francis and President Lai Ching-te sent his condolences Monday.
The Vatican is one of only 12 countries to maintain formal diplomatic relations with Chinese-claimed Taiwan.
In South Korea, both the ruling and main opposition parties expressed sorrow.
The opposition Democratic Party of Korea called him “a friend to the poor,” and the ruling People Power Party said it would do its utmost to establish peace on the divided Korean Peninsula, “remembering his words that ‘peace is not merely the absence of war, but the result of justice.’”
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by RFA Staff.