The ascension of Pope Francis was widely viewed as a breath of fresh air for the Christian world as for the first time in over millennium a non-European pope acceded to the papacy.
Not surprisingly during his first visit to the Asian continent, hundreds of thousands of people came out to greet the Holy Father for ever since his ascension to Papacy, he has made it abundantly clear that Asia might be his top priority, a region with a small but fast growing Catholic population.
The first country he toured was Sri Lanka and leaving aside some protests from the country’s Buddhist zealots who view the rising Catholicism in Sri Lanka as a threat to their own dominance, the tour went rather well as thousands of people gathered to welcome the white saint who true to his status as the head of one of the largest religious groups in the world preached tolerance, mutual respect and urged the masses to seek the ‘‘the pursuit of truth.’’
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The last statement on pursuit of truth though might not go well with Sri Lanka’s political elite as it was no doubt a reference to the pursuit of culprits responsible for human rights abuses in Sri Lanka’s civil war against Tamil Tiger but nevertheless the Pope’s visit was widely welcomed throughout the country.
His next in Philippines drew even more crowds where he won over the hearts of millions of women through his sermon on women superiority over men which though might not have gone well with others. Around six million people are estimated to have turned up to welcome the Pope in Philippines’, a figure unmatched before.
And though his visit was cut short by a tropical storm, the Pope unquestionably left a deep mark on the hearts of the Philippines’ known for their religious devoutness.
Pope Francis is no doubt a great man for ever since becoming a Pope he has taken a principled stand on all issues and unlike his predecessor has never managed to fall into any controversy. His principled stand on international disputes and statements condemning blasphemous cartoon have won over the hearts of millions of people around the world. For many he is a white saint standing up for principles and morals in an increasingly depraved and corrupt world.