Pope Francis’ Mass in Manila drew an estimated 6 million people—a record that still stands more than a decade later—to Rizal Park and surrounding areas in 2015.
The faithful filled Manila’s rain-soaked streets and the city’s largest park as the pope concluded his Asian pilgrimage with an appeal for Filipinos to protect their young from sin and vice so they could become missionaries of the faith. A sea of humanity in colorful rain ponchos spread out across the parkland and nearby boulevards, lining the motorcade route.
A Vatican spokesman said the Holy See had received the 6 million figure officially from local authorities. This number surpassed the record of 5 million people who turned out for then-Pope John Paul II’s final Mass in the same park in 1995. John Paul II was declared a saint in an unprecedented fast-tracked Vatican ceremony in 2014.
