Pope’s visit set: Jan. 15-19

By: Tina G. Santos - 10 years ago

Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle, left, Archbishop of Manila, and Apostolic Nuncio to the Philippines Archbishop Giuseppe Pinto prepare to take seats Tuesday, July 29, 2014, in Manila, prior to the start of a simultaneous announcement with the Vatican on the five-day Apostolic visit of Pope Francis to the Philippines in mid-January next year. AP PHOTO/BULLIT MARQUEZ

MANILA, Philippines–Pope Francis will visit the Philippines in January next year, an event that Church officials hope will usher in a “typhoon”—not the destructive variety but a “spiritual” and uplifting one.

Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle on Tuesday announced that Pope Francis would be in the country from Jan. 15 to Jan. 19, 2015.

“Accepting the invitation of the civil authority and the bishops, His Holiness Pope Francis will make an apostolic visit to Sri Lanka from Jan. 12 to 15 and to the Philippines from Jan. 15 to 19, 2015. The program of the visit will be made public by the Holy See later in the year,” Tagle said at a press briefing.

“My wish is that the Pope’s visit will be a spiritual typhoon,” said Papal Nuncio to the Philippines Archbishop Guiseppe Pinto, who officially released the news.

The Vatican has confirmed the dates for Pope Francis’ second trip to Asia.

Visit to Sri Lanka

Francis had already announced his intention to visit Sri Lanka and later meet with victims of Super Typhoon Yolanda, which killed some 6,300 people, left another 1,060 missing and devastated parts of the Visayas last year.

The Vatican press office said on Tuesday that Francis would visit Sri Lanka on Jan. 12-15, and spend the remainder of the trip in the Philippines. The full program will be released later.

Francis will become the first Pope in nearly two decades to visit the Far East when he travels to South Korea on Aug. 14-18. He has said he wanted to visit Asia since Pope Benedict XVI never got there.

Papal visit committees

Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma, who was also at the press briefing, said President Aquino was calling all concerned government agencies and the Filipino people to work closely with the papal visit committees in ensuring the success of the papal visit.

“Filipinos will most certainly accord the Pope the warmth of their hospitality and manifest the fervor of their faith as they welcome the first Pontiff from South America,” Coloma said.

Tagle neither confirmed nor denied reports that the Pope would visit the University of Santo Tomas (UST) on España Boulevard in Manila for a youth rally.

“But UST always figured in previous [papal] visits to the Philippines. We’re coming from that historical datum. Whether or not that will happen, we hope for confirmation at the end of the year,” Tagle told reporters.

If Pope Francis visits UST, it will be the fourth time for a Pope to visit the university, which was founded by Dominicans in 1611 and declared a “Pontifical University” by the Holy See in 1902 even ahead of European institutions.

The UST was visited by Pope Paul VI in 1970 and by Pope John Paul II in 1981 and 1995.

On Jan. 28, 2011, Pope Benedict XVI sent his representative to Manila and delivered a special message through satellite video to congratulate the UST on its 400th anniversary.

“And we are all aware that he has expressed his desire to visit the victims of Typhoon Yolanda,” Tagle said, referring to Pope Francis.

Central theme

The central theme of the papal visit is mercy and compassion, according to the cardinal.

“That has been the recurring theme of teaching, homilies, actions of the Holy Father. We could prepare best for the coming of the Pope by having our own spiritual renewal. Through spiritual renewal, returning to the word of God, frequenting the Eucharist, returning to God through the sacrament of reconciliation and confession … these are some of the ways we can prepare spiritually for the papal visit,” Tagle said.

“We can also engage in special actions of mercy, corporal acts of mercy, like visiting those in prison, giving spiritual counseling,” he added.

“Accordingly, it is not the logistics, security and infrastructure that best prepare us for the papal visit. Let us be like Pope Francis in his humility and his compassion. Let us make his apostolic journey of mercy to be ours even before he arrives,” Tagle said in a previous interview.

Prepare spiritually

In the pastoral letter issued earlier, the Church hierarchy advised the faithful to prepare spiritually for the coming of the Pope by becoming a “people rich in mercy.”

“Usually, our first reaction to the news of a papal visit is understandably one of euphoria and thanksgiving. The excitement of seeing Pope Francis in the Philippines is rising as the year 2015 gets nearer,” Tagle said.

“However, we must prepare the nation to receive the Holy Father by setting our minds and hearts in communion with our dear Pope Francis, the messenger of peace, love and the apostle of the poor,” he added.–With a report from AP