When the white smoke rose over the Vatican on May 8, few in the Philippines knew much about Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost. But when he stepped onto the balcony and was introduced as Pope Leo XIV—the first pope from North America—something stirred across this island nation of more than 80 million Catholics. Not just curiosity, […]

For half a millennium, the Philippines has carried the torch of Roman Catholicism in Asia—burning bright through colonization, dictatorship, and diaspora. It is one of the Church’s last true strongholds, home to more than 80 million Catholics and a culture steeped in devotion, processions, novenas, and public faith. Yet even here, the flame flickers. Young […]