MANILA - Four days. Millions of people. One country. One man.

Many things have been said about Pope Francis’ visit to the Philippines, an event that again brought the biggest Catholic nation in Asia at the center of the world’s attention and a place at humanity’s history.

Men and women, children and the old, believers and non-believers from all walks of life welcomed the leader of 1.2 billion Catholics across the globe.

Father Aris Sison, rector of the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Cubao said that the Pope has inspired and encouraged many in a unique way in what international media called as the “Francis Effect.”

Francis at ground zero

It was a tumultuous beginning of a year for Filipinos who were still reeling from the onslaught of past calamities. From the Malacanang Palace to the make-shift homes in Tacloban, Pope Francis preached the same message he’s been delivering ever since his election in 2013: mercy and compassion.

But as those four days quickly turned into months and those months into years, after the cheers and shouts of “viva il Papa” and the singing of “We are all God’s children”, what becomes of a nation that was once enthralled by the visit of the man called the Vicar of Christ?

Although his mass at the Luneta Park was hailed as the biggest in papal history, many people consider the mass at the tarmac of Tacloban airport as the most memorable and the most emotional.

“He said that when he saw the destruction wrought by the typhoon in Tacloban, he told himself he had to go there, so that was the heart of the visit,” fatsaid.

The Pope came to the Philippines hoping to console the destitute and bring hope to people. Little hadn't realized that he himself was to experience the onslaught of a typhoon.

“It was typhoon ‘Amang’, signal number 2, and it's been a while a pope celebrated an outdoor mass during really bad weather. He was using a raincoat,” Fr. Sison said.

The Holy Father was advised to cancel the mass and deliver it in a tent, videoed and shown outside through giant monitors.

Pope Francis said no.

Clad in a yellow raincoat, he held mass despite howling winds and heavy rain. Seeing thousands of people braving the assault of the storm, he dismissed his prepared sermon to deliver an emotional one that made the Taclobanons listen in silence. Many were in tears.

“He understood what the people experienced, especially those who have not recovered yet from the previous calamity. The rains reminded them. Pope Francis was really experiencing the pain of the people and he did not pretend to give any answer. Instead, he directed the attention of the people to Jesus,” Fr. Sison said.

The Pope and the government

In his speech at the Malacanan Palace, the Pope reminded government officials that his visit is in solidarity with the Filipino people who have suffered through calamities. He called on politicians to “reject all forms of corruption” and “be outstanding for honesty, integrity and commitment to the common good” especially in helping the needy.

A year after Francis and two years after ‘Yolanda’, rehabilitation is nowhere near halfway.

In terms of housing alone, data from the National Housing Authority (NHA) in September 2015 revealed that with the earmarked P61.262 billion housing fund in six regions devastated by ‘Yolanda’, only P26.996 billion was released. Initially, 92,554 housing units were targeted but only 16,544 were completed.

A report from the Commission on Audit (COA) released in March 2015 stated that more than P48.8 million in local and foreign donations for victims of ‘Yolanda’ were left unused for rehabilitation projects.

With all these in mind, Fr. Sison admitted he has yet to see the effect of the Pope’s challenge to the government.

“We have seen so little done for the survivors of the typhoon in Tacloban in Samar. So much so that when the recent typhoon came, balik na naman sa dati. Kulang pa. The challenge really is to continue doing it. It’s not a one-time thing,” the priest said.

With the election season already in full swing, Fr. Sison reminded politicians of the Pope's messages.

“Sana itong mga [pulitiko], tumatakbo kasi gusto talaga nilang maglingkod. Hindi magpayaman, hindi para maging makapangyarihan. Sana ‘yung ginawang paglapit ng government officials kay Pope Francis ay hindi lang para makakuha ng blessing, kasi ‘yun ang mukhang laging gusto ng Pinoy, pero talagang to become more like him, to become more like Pope Francis and in doing so become more like Jesus,” according to Fr. Sison.

Francis and the ‘ambassadors of Christ’

With Pope Francis, there is no euphemism when it comes to castigating his bishops and priests.

In his 2014 Christmas message for members of the Curia, the central government of the Catholic Church, the Pope reminded cardinals, bishops and priests of the “diseases” hindering their ministry, like “spiritual Alzheimer,” feeling “immortal” or “essential,” and “rivalry and vainglory.”

When he stood in front of the hierarchy of the Philippine Catholic Church, the Pope echoed this same message.

“As ambassadors for Christ, we, bishops, priests and religious, ought to be the first to welcome his reconciling grace into our hearts. Saint Paul makes clear what this means. It means rejecting worldly perspectives and seeing all things anew in the light of Christ,” Pope Francis said in his homily in his mass at the Manila Cathedral.

As a priest, Fr. Sison admitted the challenge was always there especially for a Pope who does things first before putting it into words.

“Makikita mo sa mga sinasabi niya ginagawa niya talaga ‘to kaya ganung kalakas ‘yung words niya. Siya mismo nagawa na niya so actually mahihiya ka kasi ‘yung Pope ginagawa niya ‘yun eh tayo pa?”

Many have noted how Francis repeatedly teaches about the Sacrament of Reconciliation. He exemplified this in 2014 when he knelt and confessed to another priest, surprising the priests in the congregation and everyone else watching the televised event. This simple act, according to Fr. Sison, rippled among all clergymen.

For example, we have a priest here in the Diocese of Cubao. Dati naman siyang talagang close to the people but I think Pope Francis inspired him to go beyond. I remember Lent in 2015, he went around. Dala-dala niya ‘yung luhuran. He went around his parish, nagpakumpisal,” Fr. Sison said.

A reason to be in the clergy

Fr. Sison believes that this “Francis Effect” could mean many things. It could mean, non-practicing Catholics who, because of Pope Francis’s visit, came back to the Church. It could also mean a priest who sold his car to give the money to the poor, or a young man who after the visit said, “I’d like to be a priest.”

One of those touched by Pope Francis' message was 18-year old Jonathan Neil Tayco, a seminarian from Bulacan.

Jonathan has been an altar server in his parish in Malolos for five years. He said entering the seminary was not really his original goal. Although he passed the seminary’s entrance examination, Jonathan enrolled in a university thinking of becoming an engineer someday. But he was not happy.

“Pakiramdam ko kahit saang kurso hindi ako nababagay. Pero naalala ko nakapasa nga pala ako sa seminary at nang maisip ko ‘yun, masaya ako. Isang araw bigla akong kinausap ng aking ina at tinanong ako kung gusto ko raw bang subukan ang pagseseminaryo. Agad naman akong nag-isip at um-oo,” he said.

But Jonathan needed one more push.

He said he went to the University of Sto. Tomas (UST) to try and catch a glimpse of the Pope. Despite the rain, he stood along thousands waiting for the Holy Father to pass by. While this in itself had little effect on his decision, the Pope’s mass in Tacloban, which Jonathan watched on TV, was what really made a difference to him.

“Napa-iyak ako nang maghomiliya na siya. Sabi ko sa sarili ko noon ‘siguro it’s about time to decide to enter the seminary.’”

And he did. On July 26, 2015, Jonathan became a seminarian hoping to become a priest one day and follow the footsteps of the man who inspired him to become one.

“Bilang isang semenarista nakikita ko po siya bilang inspirasyon sa aming apostolate. Ang amin pong apostolate ay ang pagkalinga sa mga batang abandonado o ipina-aampon, sa mga matatandang wala nang mga pamilyang kumakalinga, at mga taong may sakit,” Jonathan said.

A model for believing

Even for someone who has different beliefs the "Francis Effect" held something true to him.

Leomer Apolonio is a manager in a business process outsourcing (BPO) company and a self—professed atheist. He may not come back to the Church anytime soon but admitted it’s hard not to be impressed with Pope Francis’ works.

“For a non-believer, I have strong grounds for humanity and how we should act towards other people. I’m inspired by people with intelligence and at the same time those who espouse humility and compassion. After all, the world belongs to us and we only have each other to support,” he said.

“I don’t believe in the existence of a supreme being, but I believe in the existence of love and concern for human welfare. I think Pope Francis is a good role model for that.”

The shepherd and his flock

Days after Pope Francis left, many Filipinos would swap tales of their encounter with the Pope. Be it a selfie when he passed by in one of his motorcades, a man who succeeded in trading a zucchetto, and a chef who prepared his meals. Everyone can’t seem to get over of the historic four-day visit.

Fr. Aris noticed the effect among his parishioners.

“We have a total of 18 masses on Sundays, nine here [in the Cathedral] and nine in chapels around. We’ve noticed that the masses are full. And once in a while we would ask and parang ‘yung pinakamalapit na pwedeng inspiration is the visit of Pope Francis,” he said.

“Lahat ng taong naka-usap ko na nagpunta sa event had their own encounter. Somehow kahit na malayo, kahit na split second lang, ‘yung connection na ‘yun that is something that they will carry for life.”

But certain issues continue to confront ordinary Filipinos -- issues that remain hot topics in the Catholic Church. One of them is the Reproductive Health Law, passed before the Pope’s visit despite great opposition from local bishops and is still being criticized in many a Church pulpit across the country.

Then there is the issue of same-sex marriage, unions without the Church’s blessing, and the call for the enactment of a divorce law.

In the Ordinary Synod of Bishops held last October 2015, the issue of the communion for the divorced and the remarried was widely debated and speculated. Since the Church teaches that marriage is indissoluble, communion for the divorced and remarried is not allowed.

With Pope Francis bringing the issue on the table, the collective question was will the Pope push to allow this?

Fr. Sison admitted that he does not know. However, he is certain that Pope Francis is very much concerned with the real needs of the people more than he does religious dogmas.

“I think what he will do is simply what he has been doing so far, to say that God loves you, that you are a part of the Church. To the divorced and the remarried, it’s the same message. You may have had a divorce, you may have remarried, but you are a child of God and you are a part of the Church,” Fr. Sison explained.

For a nation hungry for change, Fr. Sison hopes Filipinos would truly aspire for change as an effect of their encounter with the Pope. He said it’s easy to say you met the Pope, or you met Jesus, or you met God. But the proof, he said, that one has truly encountered God is that one’s life has truly changed for the better.