Jun Padasas agonizingly remembers the day his only child Kristel died about ten years ago.

On that day, Kristel was volunteering during an event in which Pope Francis met victims of the devastating Super Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) in the southern Philippines city of Tacloban. 

The typhoon had killed over 6,000 people in the area when it struck about two years earlier. The 27-year-old Kristel had been working out of Tacloban for over a year as staff at an aid organization, helping with the recovery of the surrounding region.

What was supposed to be a happy occasion suddenly became a tragedy for the Padasas family as scaffolding holding a speaker system collapsed on Kristel, killing her instantly.

A day after Kristel’s tragic death, Francis met with her father Jun and uncle in Manila, offering prayers and condolences. 

Padasas said he remembered feeling mixed feelings at the time, and was “numb” when he met Francis in person. But the meeting—and the memory of Francis—gave him strength as he mourned the death of his beloved daughter.

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On Tuesday, just one day after hearing of Francis’s passing, Jun clutched one of the rosaries gifted to him by Francis.

"I'm heartened that maybe they (Pope Francis and Kristel) will finally get to meet. That is what I (wished) for when I prayed to my daughter in the altar yesterday after lighting candles. I told my daughter 'Pope Francis has passed, you can accompany him to the kingdom of Jesus, that is what I prayed,’” a visibly emotional Padasas told Reuters during an interview at his home in Manila.

Padasas said he was “heartbroken” when he heard of Francis’s death, but now feels “comforted” that the pontiff is out of pain and can finally rest.

The Philippines, home to more than 80 million Catholics, has long had a special connection with Francis, who visited the country in 2015, drawing a record crowd of up to seven million people at a historic Mass in the capital.

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Francis, the first Latin American leader of the Roman Catholic Church, died on Monday (April 21) after suffering a stroke and cardiac arrest, the Vatican said, ending an often turbulent reign in which he sought to overhaul an ancient and divided institution.

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(Production: Adrian Portugal, Peter Blaza)