Epic First Encounters of 3 Filipinos with Pope Leo XIV

Dominus Est
Jun 4
4 min read

by Margaux Salcedo

Aside from Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, who happened to be the seatmate of Cardinal Robert Prevost—now Pope Leo XIV—at the Conclave, here are the stories of 3 Filipinos who have had the blessing of being among the first few who have met with our new pope up close.

Msgr. Esteban Lo

Msgr. Bong is the Executive Director of the Pontifical Mission Societies Philippines. The directors from around the world, including Msgr. Bong, had an audience with Pope Leo XIV last May 22 at the Vatican's Clementine Hall.

But Msgr. Bong had an even more personal encounter with the pope. He personally handed the Holy Father a photo of his visit to the Philippines in 2008—when he was still Fr. Robert Prevost, OSA, prior general of the Augustinians—and even shared a beer with Cardinal Gaudencio Rosales, Archbishop Emeritus of Manila. The photo was signed by Cardinal Rosales and dedicated to Pope Leo XIV.

In this encounter with Pope Leo XIV, official Vatican photos show the warm smile of the Holy Father, the photo evidently evoking wonderful memories of his trips to the Philippines.

Fr Genesis Pacaldo Labana, OSA

Fr Genesis is an Augustinian friar now based in Rome for his post-graduate studies in communications. He was at the General Curia of the Augustinians when Pope Leo XIV made a surprise visit for lunch, just like he used to when he was just a cardinal. For this visit, he just snapped photos of the pope from his room, which had an excellent view from his window, as the Holy Father exited the Curia. However, he had another opportunity to meet Pope Leo XIV when the Holy Father attended the luncheon for the 70th birthday of the Augustinian prior general, Fr. Alejandro Moral, OSA.

Pope Leo XIV with Fr. Benjamin Garcia Franco, OSA, Prior of the Augustinian Santa Monica community (left) and Fr. Genesis Labana, OSA (right)

At this event, Fr. Genesis not only took photos, Pope Leo XIV himself called him by name. He recalls:

"As we entered inside the Collegio at the receiving sala and before proceeding to the refectory, he called out my name and ... in Italian, I only heard the words, 'Genesis, facciamo una foto… libero.' I did not hear clearly and only understood it as like I have to take a picture. Then I moved forward in front of them quickly and made a hand gesture to let them come together. ...

"His holiness then shifted to English to tell me, 'What I said is, let us take a photo together because later you will not have time to take pictures with me.'...

"This quick and candid moment filled me with so much joy because His Holiness not only called out my name but it was also an encounter of how he thinks first of others. He truly cared. That’s who he is as a father who cares for his children."

Fr. Genesis captures an epic groufie of Pope Leo XIV with his Augustinian brothers.

At this luncheon, Pope Leo XIV also had a photo with the Filipinos in the community holding an image of the Sto. Niño. The Augustinians have a distinct Augustinian Province of Sto. Niño de Cebu.

Br. Armin Luistro, FSC

Br. Armin Luistro, currently the superior general of the La Salle Brothers worldwide, met with Pope Leo XIV on May 15, 2025—one of the first Filipinos to meet him—on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the proclamation of St. John Baptist de La Salle as the patron saint of Christian teachers.

This meeting was unexpected as it was originally a scheduled papal audience with Pope Francis. "When (Pope Francis) passed on, we assumed the Secretary of State would just cancel our meeting. As it so happened, we were the first delegation in his papacy to be received in a papal audience," Br. Armin explained.

Br Armin Luistro at the very first Papal Audience with Pope Leo XIV.

He took the opportunity to share with the pope, who was born in Chicago, a relic of a La Sallian brother who lived in Chicago.

Br. Armin shared with Dominus Est, "Aside from Lasallian reading materials, I was presenting Pope Leo a relic of our martyred Lasallian Brother, Blessed Santiago Miller. He was an American by birth and lived in Chicago but was a missionary to Guatemala where he met his death while serving the Indigenous Community."

Filipino Bishops

Aside from Msgr. Bong, Br. Armin and Fr. Genesis, two bishops have also met Pope Leo XIV. At his first Wednesday General Audience on May 21, 2025, the Holy Father also greeted Bishop Gerardo Alminaza of San Carlos (left) and Bishop Gilbert Garcera of Lipa (right).