Largest ever Papal crowd recorded
The fabulous Pope Francis famously backed same-sex civil unions in 2020, which is a wild and surprising change for the Catholic church! But did you know that he also helped to assemble the largest ever papal crowd recorded in history?
In the increasingly Catholic country of the Philippines, the Pope ended his state visit with an open-air mass. On January 18th, 2015 (the Feast of Santo Niño) somewhere between six and seven million Filipinos gathered in Rizal Park to participate in this worship ceremony. Despite a seemingly never-ending rainfall, the group stayed firm and listened closely to the Pope’s words. The last time a papal crowd got close to this size was 1995 when Pope John Paul II held mass for just five million Filipinos at Luneta Park.
To give perspective, the biggest Pride in the world draws just two million people out of their homes. Impressive doesn’t even begin to describe this historical event!