Lower thirds:
00:02 Report by Kenya Winanti
00:21 JD Yap | Catholic
01:22 Mary John Mananzan | Roman Catholic Nun
01:59 Geraldine Batista Roman | Congress of the Philippines
02:42 JD Yap | Catholic

SCRIPT 
As a gay Catholic, JD Yap left the Church at 16 years old, believing God didn’t love him because of his sexuality. Now at 31, he has reconciled with his faith.
And, he hopes the Church will become more accepting of the LGBTQ community under a progressive leader.
SOT 1 – JD Yap
“Having Cardinal Tagle elected pope will definitely not move mountains, but will be a step forward in making the love and light of Christ be more experienced by more people, especially LGBTQ people and the marginalized and other sectors of society that have been traditionally cast out.”
Tagle is dubbed as the Asian Francis for sharing the late pope’s advocacy for social justice.
He holds a firm stance against abortion and euthanasia, but he has called for the Church to reconsider the harsh language it used in the past toward gay and divorced people.
Tagle said such treatment left many feeling “branded.”
Sister Mary John Mananzan used to work with Tagle when he was Archbishop of Manila.
She says if chosen, Cardinal Tagle would be a pope who embraces everyone.
“I'm sure that he will have a regard for the poor and the oppressed, and I'm sure he will have a broad understanding of the sexual preferences of people, and I'm sure he will be very inclusive.”
Geraldine Batista Roman, the country’s first transgender lawmaker, says the Church HAS become more inclusive in recent years, and that shift has helped her pass gender-based anti-discrimination bills in parliament. But she knows that those gains could also be temporary:
Geraldine Batista Roman SOT
“I'm worried if an ultra-conservative pope gets elected, we might revert back to orthodoxy and to ultra-conservative values. […] But of course, in the end, as we say, God's will be done. That is my prayer, too. But if I were to make a prayer right now, I'd pray to God, Lord, make it Cardinal Tagle.”
In a country where some 80 percent of its 115 million population are Catholic, the thought of a Filipino pope would be for many a dream come true, including for JD:
SOT 2 – JD Yap)
“It's kind of surreal to see that he has been thrust up onto the world stage and people are talking about him in this way.
He has been mentioned as a papal candidate since 2013.
But, whether he’ll become the next pope, only the next conclave will decide.