DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 22 April) – Pope Francis will long be remembered in Mindanao as the Pope who named Mindanao’s first Cardinal in 2014 — Orlando B. Quevedo, OMI — and who helped push for the Bangsamoro peace process during his visit to the Philippines in January 2015. 

“I express my trust that the progress made in bringing peace to the south of the country will result in just solutions in accord with the nation’s founding principles and respectful of the inalienable rights of all, including the indigenous peoples and religious minorities,” the Pope said in Malacañang on January 16, 2015, referring to the peace process on the right to self-determination of the predominantly Muslim Bangsamoro.

Then Secretary Teresita Quintos-Deles, Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process, described the Pope’s message as a clarion call for everyone to work even harder, “collectively harnessing the power of hope and perseverance, to overcome all obstacles and push national consensus towards a just and peaceful settlement of the armed conflict that has divided our people for too long.”

Deles said the Bangsamoro peace process was “again newly-blessed” with the words of Pope Francis but she declined to answer MindaNews’ query then on why President Benigno Simeon Aquino III said nothing about the peace process at the reception for Pope Francis in Malacañang that day.

She said the Pope’s words of encouragement and blessing, came “at a critical time as Congress enters the final, difficult stages of deliberation of the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law.”

“We ask for continuing papal prayer, blessing, and hope as we continue to strengthen dialogue and forge partnerships towards a peace where no one will be left behind,” she said.  

Nine days later, the Mamasapano Tragedy where 66 persons were killed – 44 from the elite Special Action Forces; 17 from the Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces, the armed wing of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), and five civilians – happened. It was the game changer in the Bangsamoro peace process and the Aquino administration ended on June 30, 2016 with Congress unable to pass the Bangsamoro Basic Law or what would have been the enabling law of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB), the peace agreement signed by the Philippine government and the MILF on March 27, 2014.  The law was eventually passed in July 2018 and ratified in January 2019 under the Duterte administration, paving the way for the establishment of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).

Reacting to the Pope’s message of support then, MILF chair Al Haj Murad Ebrahim said the message “would be long remembered by the MILF in particular and the Bangsamoro people in general.” Murad, whose real name is Ahod Balawag Ebrahim, served as interim Chief Minister of the BARMM from February 2019 until March 2025.

MILF peace panel chair Mohagher Iqbal said then that the Pope’s visit to the country was “a journey with many good meanings.”

“We Muslims also greet him with all sincerity and hope that his blessing of the peace process reverberates in the hearts and minds of everyone, paving the way for the resolution of the Moro Question in Mindanao,” said Iqbal, now chair of the MILF Peace Implementing Panel and BARMM Education Minister.

In a statement released on Tuesday, BARMM’s interim Chief Minister Abdulraof Macacua said the Bangsamoro Government extends its deepest condolences to the Catholic Church, Catholic residents in the region, and to all who mourn the loss of Pope Francis.

“The news of his passing brings profound sadness as Pope Francis was a beacon of hope and a tireless advocate for peace, justice, and interfaith dialogue. A testament to this were his persistent and heartfelt appeals for peace in the Middle East, especially in the face of atrocities in Palestine,” Macacua said.

The Pope, he added, “was a source of moral clarity as he continuously urged world leaders to depart from war and instead seek peaceful resolutions. These were not mere pronouncements, but a call to action and a reminder of our shared humanity.”

Macacua said they stand in solidarity with “our Christian brothers and sisters, and we reaffirm our commitment to fostering a society where peace and mutual respect are the cornerstones of our existence.”

“We join our Catholic brothers and sisters in mourning the passing of Pope Francis,” Member of Parliament Naguib Sinarimbo said on Tuesday morning.

Sinarimbo, who had earlier served as one of the lawyers in the MILF peace panel, described Pope Francis as “a tireless advocate of justice, peace, and mutual understanding in a world facing great human suffering. He has been a frail but powerful voice for the Palestinians in the face of aggression.”

“We remember with profound gratitude the expression of support of His Holiness in 2015 for the peace process in Mindanao,” Sinarimbo said as he bid farewell to the Pope.

“Indeed, among the People of the Book, we find a true friend in the pursuit of a just cause,” he said.

Quevedo, now Archbishop Emeritus of the Archdiocese of Cotabato, was the lone Filipino among 19 bishops Pope Francis named as cardinals in January 2014, ten months after he was elected Pope. Through the years, the Pope was known for appointing what has been described as “cardinals from the peripheries,” including the first cardinals from El Salvador, Laos, Mali, and Mindanao in the Philippines, from an archdiocese within the Bangsamoro region.

Redemptorist Brother Karl Gaspar said it was “so sad to hear the death of the great Pope – Francis! The world will miss such a giant figure despite the critics. Now what type of Pope will emerge in the next Conclave?” (Carolyn O. Arguillas / MindaNews)