{"id":17777,"date":"2025-04-22T15:41:27","date_gmt":"2025-04-22T19:41:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/angatpangasinan.com\/alps\/?p=17777"},"modified":"2025-04-27T19:39:01","modified_gmt":"2025-04-27T23:39:01","slug":"pope-francis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/angatpangasinan.com\/alps\/pope-francis\/","title":{"rendered":"Lolo Kiko\u2019s Legacy Lives On: NaFFAA Honors Pope Francis"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Lolo Kiko\u2019s Legacy Lives On: NaFFAA Honors Pope Francis<\/b><\/h2>

Washington, D.C. \u2014 April 22, 2025<\/b> \u2014 The National Federation of Filipino American Associations (NaFFAA) joins the global community in mourning the passing of Pope Francis, who died on Easter Monday, April 21, 2025, at the age of 88 in Vatican City. Known affectionately as \u201cLolo Kiko\u201d by Filipinos, Pope Francis was a transformative figure whose humility, compassion, and unwavering commitment to the marginalized deeply resonated with Filipino communities worldwide.<\/span>
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Pope Francis embraces Filipino children during his historic 2015 visit to the Philippines, radiating warmth and compassion as \u201cLolo Kiko,\u201d the beloved grandfather figure to millions. His legacy of love, humility, and service continues to inspire Filipino communities around the world.<\/i><\/b>
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<\/span>Pope Francis touched the hearts of people across all faiths with his compassion, simplicity, and powerful commitment to the poor and vulnerable. His historic visit to the Philippines in 2015, particularly to Tacloban in the wake of Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan), became a defining moment of hope and healing. Standing before thousands amid stormy skies, he declared, \u201cI\u2019m here to be with you\u2026 I\u2019ve come to tell you that Jesus is Lord and He never lets us down.\u201d He continued, \u201cAll I can do is keep silent. And I walk with you all with my silent heart,\u201d offering a message of shared grief and deep solidarity.<\/span><\/h6>

Reflecting on this legacy, NaFFAA National Chair Mariela Fletcher shared that seeing Pope Francis pass by her group in Manila during the visit was a moment she would never forget. \u201cHis message in Tacloban reminded us that even in the hardest times, we are not alone,\u201d she said. \u201cPope Francis showed the world that true leadership means walking beside those who suffer.\u201d<\/span><\/p>

NaFFAA National President Ryan Namata emphasized how the Pope\u2019s message continues to resonate. \u201cPope Francis lived with deep compassion and humility,\u201d Namata said. \u201cHis legacy challenges all of us\u2014regardless of background\u2014to lead with kindness, to serve others, and to help build a more caring and unified world.\u201d<\/span><\/p>

As NaFFAA remembers the life of Pope Francis, we encourage Filipino Americans and all communities to carry forward his spirit of empathy, justice, and hope. Whether through small acts of kindness or bold steps toward greater inclusion, each of us can help create a brighter, more compassionate future\u2014one that reflects the values Pope Francis so passionately lived.<\/span><\/p>

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For more information about NaFFAA and its initiatives, please visit<\/span> www.naffaa.org<\/span><\/a>.<\/span>
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Lolo Kiko\u2019s Legacy Lives On: NaFFAA Honors Pope Francis Washington, D.C. \u2014 April 22, 2025 \u2014 The National Federation of Filipino American Associations (NaFFAA) joins the global community in mourning the passing of Pope Francis, who died on Easter Monday, April 21, 2025, at the age of 88 in Vatican City. Known affectionately as \u201cLolo […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":34,"featured_media":17782,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[89,15,83,103,81,96,82,109,65,70,223],"tags":[282],"class_list":["post-17777","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-advocacy","category-announcements","category-blogs","category-civic-engagement","category-naffaa-events","category-leadership","category-naffaa-national-events","category-official-statements","category-pressrelease","category-regionalupdates","category-san-diego-imperial","tag-popefrancis-rippopefrancis"],"blocksy_meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/angatpangasinan.com\/alps\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17777","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/angatpangasinan.com\/alps\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/angatpangasinan.com\/alps\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/angatpangasinan.com\/alps\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/34"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/angatpangasinan.com\/alps\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17777"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/angatpangasinan.com\/alps\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17777\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17792,"href":"https:\/\/angatpangasinan.com\/alps\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17777\/revisions\/17792"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/angatpangasinan.com\/alps\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17782"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/angatpangasinan.com\/alps\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17777"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/angatpangasinan.com\/alps\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17777"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/angatpangasinan.com\/alps\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17777"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}