Cardinal David: Emulate Pope Francis’s compassion for the marginalized, victims of war

Kalookan Bishop Pablo Virgilio Cardinal David on Monday paid tribute to Pope Francis and urged Catholics, like the pontiff, to have compassion for the marginalized and victims of war.

“Pope Francis taught how to treat not just fellow Catholics, not just fellow Christians, not just fellow believers, but all human beings and even every fellow creature in our common home as fellow travelers in the common journey as fellow pilgrims of hope,” David said in his homily in the Tuesday Octave of Easter and Mass for the Eternal Repose of the soul of Pope Francis.

“Today, we weep and we mourn the passing of our beloved Jorge Mario Bergoglio, who, in spite of his advanced age was able to serve as the successor of Peter, Bishop of Rome, and supreme pontiff, or the builder of bridges. The Church is not a builder of walls. We are builders of bridges over troubled waters,” he added.

David, who is also Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines president, warned the faithful against apathy.

“We have more reason to be worried when people just do not weep anymore. When people just couldn’t care less, that is something worse to worry about. When people say, ‘I will not waste my tears on that,' when we see signs that our humanity has been taken away from us,” he said.

Echoing Pope Francis's words, David said, “We can see more clearly only with eyes washed by tears.”

The faithful were also reminded that Jesus Christ built the Church to be a “field hospital for the wounded and the sick.”

“That's why we are never to look at the Eucharist as an exclusive meal for the holy, righteous, and deserving people. No, it is a body broken for broken people like you, like me. The more broken you are, the more you are in need of the Eucharist,” David said.

Pope Francis was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He was elected as successor to the late Pope Benedict XVI in 2013.

The pontiff died of a stroke and irreversible heart failure, Vatican doctor Andrea Arcangeli said in a death certificate released on Monday for the 88-year-old pontiff.

The certificate, which was published by the Vatican, said the pope had fallen into a coma before his death early on Monday. — BAP, GMA Integrated News