Pope Francis may visit Philippines in 2016—CBCP
By Philip C. Tubeza
The Philippines may just be on Pope Francis’ travel itinerary in 2016, the head of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) said on Thursday.
The Philippines may just be on Pope Francis’ travel itinerary in 2016, the head of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) said on Thursday.
The number of Catholic priests and believers in the world is on the rise, a Vatican report showed on Monday, with gains in Africa and Asia offsetting a slump in Europe and the Americas.
“One unique gift that Pope Francis will bring (to the papacy) is personal encounter, which is really important for the Church. The Church is, in the end, a communion, a relationship in faith. I think that aspect will become stronger,” Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle said.
The Philippines’ top Roman Catholic leader says Pope Francis’ acts of reaching out to the masses will strengthen a church endangered by secularism.
Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle and Cardinals Gaudencio Rosales and Ricardo Vidal arrived on Thursday from the Vatican where they witnessed the inauguration of Pope Francis.
News that a Jesuit, Jorge Bergoglio of Argentina, was chosen to be the next Pope quickly reminded me of another Jesuit and another Pope.
He may not have been elected Pope, but the people close to Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle have always felt he was destined for a greater mission.
In his first Mass as the head of the Roman Catholic Church, Pope Francis showed a striking liturgical difference with his predecessor by facing the people, not turning his back, as the now Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI did in his controversial attempt to fully restore the Latin Mass banished by the Second Vatican Council.
Shun those SUVs. The election of Pope Francis is a sign that Church people in the Philippines should shun “luxurious” and “scandalous” lifestyles, the executive secretary of the Association of Major Religious Superiors of the Philippines (AMRSP) said Thursday.
“Be open to surprises from the Holy Spirit.” The head of the country’s bishops gave this advice on Saturday to Filipinos after the Vatican announced that the conclave that will elect the next Supreme Pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church will begin on Tuesday.
Catholic bishops in Mindanao on Friday issued a statement addressed to President Benigno Aquino III and other government leaders asking them “to settle the Sabah crisis and save the people of Mindanao.”
Asia’s best hope for the papacy, Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle of the Philippines, is a young, electric orator who has been outspoken about the need for Catholic Church leaders to be more open and humble.
