"It's true, if you would say that, and I respect those sentiments," Pope Francis continued. "But Jesus is there nailed to the Cross, and from there, he does not let us down. There, he experienced all calamities that we experience. Jesus is Lord, the Lord from the Cross, he is there for you!"
"And I walk with you all with my silent heart."
Pope Francis celebrated Mass for hundreds of thousands of people on a windy, rainy morning at the airport near Tacloban, a provincial capital located on the central eastern Philippines island of Leyte. The area suffered severely from the December 2013 Typhoon Haiyan, known locally as Typhoon Yolanda. The powerful storm killed over 6,000 people and left tens of thousands homeless nationwide.
The Pope set aside his prepared homily. He told the crowd that Christians have in Jesus a Lord who is "capable of crying with us, capable of walking with us, in the most difficult moments of life."
"We have the security of knowing that we are not going to weaken in our faith, because Jesus has been there before us… In his passion, he assumed all our pain," he added.
"So many of you have lost everything… I don't know what to say to you. But the Lord does know what to say to you. Some of you have lost part of your families. All I can do is keep silent."