Imagining Francis and Nora

I can’t help but make meaning out of their deaths. I will have to be honest. I am a Noranian, and I am a Francis fan. Why do they have to die almost at the same time and under the same circumstances? I have learned to love them because they were themselves, honest and simple.

Francis died on Easter Monday, April 21, 2025, at 88, while Nora, the legendary Superstar, died on April 16 at 71. They went one after the other, just five days apart, in the days after the Holy Week, the Passion of the Cross, the Calvary, and the death of Jesus, the Superstar.

As an avid Noranian, I am a quiet but proud part of her legions of fans who believe she was indeed one great singer turned Filipino artist whose outstanding contributions helped make the Philippine movie industry a standout in Asia and the world with meaningful performances by a small petite Bicolana who learned to chain-smoke her way through many great films of the times like   “Tatlong Taong Walang Diyos” (1976), “Minsa’y Isang Gamu-Gamo” (1976), “Himala” (1982), “Bona” (1980), “Bulaklak sa City Jail” (1984), and “Andrea, Paano Ba ang Maging Isang Ina?” (1990) that redefined acting standards in the country.

I almost learned to swear when Malacanang deleted her name, but cheered gratefully when, finally, she was awarded National Artist for Film and Broadcast Arts in 2022. Here, the fanbase, from various social classes, was ecstatic with the long-overdue Superstar of Philippine Cinema and a cultural icon. Nora Aunor (full name: Nora Cabaltera Villamayor) is regarded as the most multi-awarded Filipino Superstar and National Artist for the Performing Arts.  Just as one was being interned with state honors as the Libingan ng mga Bayani (Heroes’ Cemetery), another was being prepared for another state and religious event.

I am also a big fan of Pope Francis, the 266th pope who served the papacy for 12 years. Who would not be touched by his short but memorable visit to Leyte 14 months after Super Typhoon Yolanda hit it in 2013? It was also remarkable for those who saw his willingness to be with them, who came to comfort and assist the disaster survivors in Tacloban and the surrounding areas, among the poorest, leaving mass graves and collapsed homes.

It’s impossible not to notice a shared bond: Nora and Pope Francis had profound connections with the masses in their respective eras, and their stories were filled with love, kindness, compassion, generosity, and simplicity.  Nora, hailing from the disaster-prone Bicol, was always ready to lend a helping hand to disaster victims and survivors and her native Iriga City and the Rinconada communities where the native IP Dumagats reside.  Pope Francis, a native of Argentina, ascended to the head of the Catholic Church and the sovereign of the Vatican City State from 2013 until his passing in 2025. Both were idols to many, ardent followers of many more who even believed they could be saints.

Amidst the political turbulence in the world, many were taken aback when, during a meeting in 2014, Pope Francis addressed a mixed audience, urging Marxists and Christians to unite in the fight against corruption and the upholding of the rule of law. His words resonated deeply, inspiring hope and a sense of unity.

Political observers who followed the Pope’s journey in the papacy would not forget Francis’s tireless efforts to forge dialogues between socialists/Marxists, communists, and Christians aimed at formulating a common social ethic that can be proposed as a new narrative for Europe in search of its identity, “with an integral ecology between the Social Doctrine of the Church and Marxist social critique at its core.” 

For many progressive Christians, that initiative was followed with an optimistic famous line attributed to him, “Do not stop dreaming,” at a meeting with conservatives and the radicals at the Paul VI Hall before the General Audience, with 15 members—7 from the left and 8 Catholics from different European countries. He faced criticisms, even being name-tagged as a communist himself, and an angry but quiet backlash as a result from many of his peers. It was the first open statement from the highest Church official to discuss unity between Communists and Christians. He shared with them his pain with the world today, which is “divided by wars and polarizations,” and, on the other hand, his hope to look to the future for a “better world.

On the other hand, Nora also had her political engagements, albeit at a different level.  Who could forget Ate Guy’s brief foray into politics, gunning for and later withdrawing from running as a party list representative, or her association with traditional politicians and the Marcoses? Someone may have convinced her that running for a government post was the best way to serve the poor. But Nora was an artist who best portrayed the lives of the ordinary people, the masa, and the oppressed through her films and the arts. She could never be a politician, content with pretending to be the best; she lived onscreen with a commitment to excellence.

Francis and Nora. In my imagination, I want to see them together onscreen, in the streets, or maybe now in heaven, doing their best with the people they love—the ordinary folks.  Maybe in a film the angels shall produce, with Nora as the actor and Francis as the director. That would be a blockbuster!