Editor block with wpautop

featured-pages-block.php

<?php
/**
 * Block Name: Featured Pages
 *
 * This is the template that displays the featured pages block.
 */

// Create id attribute for specific styling.
$id = 'featured-pages-' . $block['id'];

// Create align class ("alignwide") from block setting ("wide").
$align_class = $block['align'] ? 'align' . $block['align'] : '';
$class_list  = sprintf( '%1$s %2$s', $align_class, $block['className'] );

printf( '<div id="%1$s" class="wp-block-candid-featured-pages %2$s">', esc_attr( $id ), esc_attr( $class_list ) );
printf( '<%1$s>%2$s</%1$s>',
	wp_kses( get_field( 'heading_tag' ), [
		'h1'   => [],
		'h2'   => [],
		'h3'   => [],
		'h4'   => [],
		'h5'   => [],
		'h6'   => [],
		'p'    => [],
		'span' => [],
		'div'  => [],
	] ),
	wp_kses_post( get_field( 'section_heading' ) )
);

$field                = acf_get_local_field( 'featured_posts' );
$featured_posts       = get_field( 'featured_posts' );
$query_args           = [
	'post_type' => $field['post_type'], // Defined inside the ACF field.
	'post__in'  => $featured_posts,
	'orderby'   => 'post__in',
];
$featured_posts_query = new WP_Query( $query_args );
?>
<?php
if ( $featured_posts_query->have_posts() ) :
	while ( $featured_posts_query->have_posts() ) :
		$featured_posts_query->the_post();

		ob_start();
		?>
		<section class="featured-page" id="page-<?php the_ID(); ?>">'
			<figure>
				<?php
				if ( has_post_thumbnail() ) :
					the_post_thumbnail( 'featured-pages' );
				else :
					// Use a blank gif placeholder to fill space.
					?>
					<img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" style="width: 225px; height: 225px;" alt="">
				<?php endif; ?>
				<figcaption>
					<h3>
						<a href="<?php the_permalink(); ?>">
							<?php the_title(); ?>
						</a>
					</h3>
					<?php the_excerpt(); ?>
				</figcaption>
			</figure>
			<a href="<?php the_permalink(); ?>" class="read-more"><span class="screen-reader-text">Get more info about <?php the_title(); ?></span>&#8250;</a>
		</section>
		<?php
		$markup = ob_get_clean();
		$markup = str_replace( [ "\n", "\t" ], '', $markup );

		echo wp_kses_post( $markup );
		?>
	<?php endwhile; ?>
	<?php $featured_posts_query->reset_postdata(); ?>
<?php else : ?>
	<div class="notice">No Posts Found</div>
<?php endif; ?>
</div>