Over a year after he visited the Philippines, Pope Francis still remember that Filipinos call him "Lolo Kiko."

Filipino priest Fr. Robert Young was able to give the Pope a doll version of him during his visit to the Archbasilica of St. John Lateran in Rome on Thursday.

“Here’s a gift for you, made in the Philippines by a friend of mine,” Young said.
Upon receiving the doll, the pontiff exclaimed, "“Oh, Lolo Kiko! Is it for me?”

Pope Francis then smiled and thanked the priest for the gift. Young is taking up a doctorate in Canon Law at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross.

Young's encounter with Lolo Kiko was posted on the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) news website.

CBCP News also reported that Pope Francis skipped the usual greetings to the bishops and priests because he had to prepare for his trip to Mexico.

Father Young, however, took a chance and crossed security lines to hand over his gift to Pope Francis. The doll, which was made by his friend, was one of the many souvenirs volunteers prepared during the papal visit in the Philippines last year.

The brief encounter was captured in a photo:

It seems that Pope Francis has warmed up to the nickname Filipinos gave him.

Two months after his visit in the Philippines, he recalled how Filipinos called him "Lolo Kiko" while talking about the importance of the elderly during his General Audience at the St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City. — Trisha Macas, BAP, GMA News