The final call lasted 30 seconds. Just enough time to say hello and ask if everyone was okay. But for Gaza’s tiny Christian population, the phone call from Pope Francis was a ray of hope that shone through the horrors of war.

Members of Gaza's tiny Christian community said they were "heartbroken" on Monday at the death of Pope Francis, who campaigned for peace for the devastated enclave and spoke to them on the phone every evening throughout the war.

Pope Francis called to check in on a Christian congregation in Gaza sheltering at their church almost every night since the Gaza war began. "Today we feel like we are orphans," a spokesperson says.

Widely known as the "Asian Francis", Fr Tagle accompanied Pope Francis on his 11-day tour of South East Asia last year. He also constantly tries to make Catholicism relevant to younger Filipinos with a strong presence on social media platforms like Facebook, YouTube and X.

Pope Francis, 88, died weeks after he was discharged from the hospital following a lengthy battle with double pneumonia and other health issues.

The pontiff’s death initiated a well-structured series of rituals designed to mourn the loss of the 1.3 billion-member church’s leader and to ensure stability with the selection of a new pope.