I told Hailey and Hannah that the Philippines is blessed to be among the countries to be visited by Pope Francis, the leader of the Catholic Church.

“The Pope will also break bread with the survivors of Supertyphoon “Yolanda” in Tacloban.

“The Pontiff came all the way from the Vatican in Rome as God’s messenger of love and compassion for the Filipino people.

“Hailey, who is 7 years old, said that she wants to meet the Pope or see him on TV. Hannah, who is 3, said that she’s happy because there will be no classes for three days!” —Treena Cueva-Tecson

“Coming from Catholic schools, our children Sabine, 12, Matteo, 9, and Basti, 7, talked to us about the visit of the Pope. They are aware who he is and what he represents. We initially had little plans of attending the Mass at Rizal Park but they were the ones keen on breathing the same air as Pope Francis. So we will all be there on the 18th.” —Mon Guinto

“When I told them that we’re going to see the Pope in Tacloban, their response was  ‘Yesss!’ We live 176 kilometers away from Tacloban and for them, that place is synonymous with malls, arcades, cinemas, KFC and McDonald’s—city life. They are always excited to go to Tacloban.

“I asked six-year-old Migue if he knows Pope Francis. He said, ‘Yes, he is an old man who believes in Christ and God, too.”
Gab, who is 11, said, ‘Yes, he is like Jesus Christ. Seeing the Pope is like seeing Jesus Christ.” —Adelle Idjao Geraldo

Pray for his ‘sipon’

“Yes, we’ve spoken to our 7-year-old daughter about the Pope. From school, she also knows about his visit. We tell her who the pope is, and our experience during the  ‘old’ pope’s visit in the ’90s. Our 3-year-old knows him only by name, as told by her Ate.” —Nida Ramirez

“Gavin is 8. We didn’t talk about it until this survey. He said he first knew of the Pope’s visit in the news and from people who kept talking about it. And then it was also discussed in school.

“He said if he’d get the chance to meet Pope Francis, he’d ask to pray to God for Him to take away his sipon.” —Marinel Cruz

“We talked to Igo, who is 10, about the pope-related activities they had in school. He had homework on facts about Pope, and CSA Makati had a Pope rally last week. They are learning the Papal Visit song. He said he’s excited about the papal visit (but I’m betting that has something to do with the five-day weekend also).” —Kat Paguio Casin

“Diego, 7, was the one who told us that the Pope was coming. He then proceeded to say that the Pope would go to Ateneo and go from classroom to classroom to say hi to all the kids.

“Then he insisted that I take him to Mall of Asia for the family meet-and-greet and that he was sure the Pope would be surprised to see him again.

“I was stumped whether to have him realize the unlikely possibility of that visit and of being remembered, or just let him stay in Pope fandom.” —Noel Nieva