‘This is the heart of the Jubilee. How the Philippines and the Young Filipinos remind the world of what it means to believe.’
BEFORE the young Filipino stood on global stages and carried faith across continents, a single candle burned in their hands, lit in the stillness of a Philippine church. Perhaps it was in a quiet parish in Pasig, or an old chapel in Cebu, or by the sea in Samar. That flicker of faith, simple and unassuming, has traveled across oceans. And now, in the great piazzas of Rome, that same light converges with millions of others, each one carrying a story, each one part of a greater flame.
From July 28 to August 3, 2025, the Jubilee of the Youth, part of the Jubilee Year 2025, welcomed thousands of young Catholics to Rome for the first global youth encounter under Pope Leo XIV. Among them were Filipino pilgrims, parish volunteers, young clergy, and newlywed couples, whose faith journeys began long before they ever boarded a plane.
This pilgrimage was more than a gathering; it was a living echo of Asia’s Catholic heart. When Filipino Catholics pray together, you hear Asia’s heartbeat, steady, enduring, and hopeful. You hear it in their songs of struggle, in the quiet sighs of sacrifice, and in the resilient melodies of hope that tie neatly into their stories.
The Philippines, home to approximately 86 million Catholics, roughly 79% of its population, remains the largest Catholic nation in Asia and the third-largest in the world, after Brazil and Mexico. Every Sunday, across the dioceses and 7,000 islands, faith is kept alive in countless chapels, street processions, parish ministries, and youth gatherings.
But the youth, nearly 30 million Filipinos aged 15 to 30, carry this faith differently today. Where previous generations clutched their novenas and rosaries quietly in wooden pews, today’s young Filipinos livestream Masses, join online prayer groups, and organize novenas via Messenger group chats. Yet at the heart of this adaptation is the same desire: to grow closer to Christ.
As Bel Belonio Matic, a young Filipino Catholic and newlywed, reflected:
“Our relationship has deepened our faith through accountability and shared commitment. Our faith keeps us grounded in God, and as a couple, we hold each other accountable in living out our vocation of marriage. Together, we strive to support one another in growing closer to Christ, with the ultimate goal of helping each other live for heaven, all by God’s grace.” Bel and her husband were even blessed to receive the Sposi Novelli blessing from Pope Leo XIV during the Jubilee. She recalls:
“We told him that he is deeply loved and that we are praying for him.
We also personally asked him to bless our marriage. He said, ‘Have faith. Trust in the Lord. If God brought you together, He will make a way.’ Then he gave us his blessing.”
This is the unseen story behind every Filipino pilgrim who arrived in Rome: before their voices joined millions in St. Peter’s Square, they were first nurtured by their own parish catechists, youth ministers, and small faith communities back home.
Fr. Jay Dador, a young Filipino priest now residing at the Pontificio Collegio Filipino in Rome, sees this pilgrimage not just as a gathering but as an unveiling:
“Filipino youth have a strong faith that shows in how they love, serve, and hope. They pray with heart, and they’re not afraid to share God online or in real life.”
For Fr. Dador, the presence of Filipino youth in the Jubilee is not incidental; it is prophetic:
“They’re seen as joyful, prayerful, and full of life. People notice their smiles, their energy, and their deep faith. The Collegio helps me see the Church from a wider view while staying close to my Filipino roots. It gives me hope that the Church in the Philippines will keep growing, young, active, and missionary.”
When Filipino Catholics pray together, the world listens. It is a faith carried across seas, into migrant communities, and now, into the central squares of Rome.
Bishop Mylo Hubert Vergara, DD, Bishop of Pasig and a key voice for the youth in the Philippines, believes this Jubilee is a call to the Church itself:
“The Church should create attractive programs that are more welcoming for the youth so that they can feel a sense of belongingness.”
But for Bishop Vergara, it’s not enough to make programs fun; they must be rooted in Christ:
“Aside from that, our programs should be centered on their Catholic faith. It is important to know the Lord through Scripture teachings and the Church’s mission for the youth of today.”
The bishop also highlights the digital shift:
“Young people now immerse themselves in the digital space, and the Church must accompany them there. But we must also create face-to-face parish programs where they can experience belongingness and be formed as evangelizers to the poor.”
In the Pasig Cathedral, he points to initiatives like the Soup Kitchen, which “not only accompanies the young people but also catechizes them.”
Filipino participation in the Jubilee of the Youth is more than symbolic it reflects the Philippines’ growing role as a missionary Church. Today, Filipinos are among the world’s most prolific senders of faith. According to the World Christian Database, the Philippines ranks fourth globally in missionary-sending countries, with around 25,000 missionaries deployed across continents.
Recognizing the faithful among Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) as modern-day missionaries, Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle observed:
“There are 10 million Filipino workers all over the world… This migratory movement has become a missionary movement.”
Through formal missions training and informal witness, Filipino Catholics are spreading the Gospel from parishes in Dubai to community centers in Canada, reflecting the country’s role not just as a recipient but as a vibrant force for global evangelization.
But every missionary story begins small. It begins with a young person lighting a candle in the dim stillness of a chapel. It begins with a parish youth ministry gathering after Sunday Mass. It begins with someone like Bel, or Fr. Jay, or the countless nameless volunteers who brought their faith from the margins to the center of the world stage.
Before the Filipino youth became global, they were first local.
Standing in St. Peter’s Square among the throngs of pilgrims, you hear something else a rhythm beneath the cheering crowds, a sound older than the basilica’s stones: the heartbeat of the ages.
It’s in the Tagalog hymns, softly rising beneath the basilica’s shadow.
It’s in the Visayan prayers, whispered between friends with quiet devotion.
It’s in the Ilocano “Amen,” cried from the back row of a catechetical hall, different tongues, one faith, a single heartbeat carried across the world.
Fr. Horacio de la Costa, S.J. once said that the Filipino, though poor, carries two precious jewels: faith and song. And here in Rome, you see them shine together.
When Filipinos pray, they do not whisper; they sing. And when they sing, they tell their story of struggles borne with dignity, of hopes carried across seas, of belonging found in faith. The melody and the prayer are one, inseparably bound, like rivers meeting the sea. This is why, when Filipino Catholics pray together, you do not just hear a sound, you hear Asia’s Catholic heartbeat.
The Jubilee of the Youth 2025 marks a beginning, not an end. For many young Filipinos, it is not just a pilgrimage but an affirmation of relevance, that their voices belong to the global Church.
As Fr. Dador reflects:
“It reminded them that they matter, that they are part of something big. The Church is sending them out to bring joy and hope wherever they are.”
And perhaps that is the greater story here: before these youth carried their prayers to Rome, Rome had already carried its faith to them, across centuries, across oceans, and now, across a new generation.
The candle they lit at home now burns in the heart of the world. And from there, the light returns, carried back to the Philippines by the very same hands that once lit it.
This is the heart of the Jubilee. How the Philippines and the Young Filipinos remind the world of what it means to believe.
