MANILA, Philippines — While Pope Francis remaining in critical condition but with signs of improvement, the father of a young Filipino volunteer who died in an accident after the Papal Mass in Tacloban City ten years ago said “we should be (the Pope's) strength now.”

In 2015, Paul Padasas met with the 88-year-old pontiff in Manila after the death of his daughter, Kristel Mae Padasas, and he still remembers how he and his family were consoled by His Holiness in one of the darkest moments of their lives.

“When he laid his hand on me, I felt relieved. He became our strength, as if he took away the sorrow that we were feeling because of our loss,” Padasas recalled.

His 27-year-old daughter's death was volunteering during the Pope's visit in the Philippines when she was killed in a vehicular accident.

Her death was the first thing the Holy Father talked about when he presided over a program with thousands of young people at the University of Santo Tomas.

“I was only watching it on TV, but a local priest came and told us that Pope Francis will meet us at the Apostolic Nunciature,” he narrated.

“I was really comforted by his words, especially since he prayed for us, too,” Pasadas added.

Their conversation lasted for about 20 minutes and it later became the father's strength whenever confronted with life’s challenges and the sadness brought by the death of his daughter.

“(My daughter) had always been eager to be of help, (giving strength to a lot of people). So let us be his strength, too,” Padasas shared now that Pope Francis is in critical condition for a bilateral lung infection at the Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli (Gemelli University Hospital) in Lazio, Rome.
“I am praying that God will heal him from his sickness,” the bereaved father enthused while stressing that praying for Francis’ health is nothing compared to how he has been good.

“Even when he left the Philippines, I have always felt his consoling presence,” Padasas pointed out.