Archbishop Villegas: ‘Dance Sinulog for the Pope’

Adults and children wave their images of the Sto Niño while singing “Bato Balani sa Gugma” in honor of the Child Jesus during the first novena mass for the Sto. Niño in the pilgrim center of the basilica in Cebu City on Jan. 6, 2011. Will mass goers at Luneta show the same fervor next month? CDN FILE PHOTO

CEBU CITY, Philippines — When Pope Francis celebrates Sunday Mass at the Luneta Park on January  18, he’ll get a “distinct Filipino” welcome and a reminder of the biggest feast taking place in Cebu.

Archbishop Socrates Villegas of Lingayen-Dagupan asked people to bring their images of the Child Jesus to the open air Mass in Manila and learn to dance the “Sinulog”’ since the day is the religious feast of the Sto. Niño in the calendar of the Philippine church.

“If there are six million people in Luneta, I’m expecting six million images of the Sto. Niño as well,” Villegas said in a television interview.

“While the Pople is entering, he will be able to see everyone dancing the Sinulog and carrying their Sto. Niño images,” said Villegas, president of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP).

The Sinulog is an ancient prayer-dance offered by devotees of the Sto. Niño, a version of which is still seen today by candle vendors at the Basilica Minore del Sto. Niño  in Cebu City which houses the original 16th century icon given by Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan to  the wife of Rajah Humabon.

The deep-seated devotion to the Sto. Niño has inspired Cebu City’s annual festival and parade, which coincides with the religious feast held every third Sunday of January.

During religious processions in Cebu, thousands of Catholic faithful walk and carry in their arms the image of the Sto. Niño from their home altars or bring the icon to novena Masses at the basilica.

Today, stylized versions of the Sinulog dance, icons of the Sto. Niño are raised high in the air by dancers  or  enthusiastic devotees to the beat of drums accompanied by lively music in parades, dance competitions and “community dancing” during Cebu’s fiesta, which lasts nine days.

Consolation for Cebu

Villegas said the visual demonstration of Sto. Niño devotion would be a “distinct Filipino” welcome at the start of the Mass in Manila’s landmark park which will cap Pope Francis’ five-day visit to the Philippines.

The added touch would likely provide some consolation as well to Cebuanos who were disappointed that the itinerary of the Pope skipped Cebu, where Christianity first took root in the Philippines with the arrival of the Spaniards in 1521.

Fr. Jonas Mejares, rector of the Agustinian Basilica Minore del Sto. Niño, welcomed the suggestion of the CBCP to let Mass goers show their devotion to the Child Jesus.

“That’s great.  It’s a recognition of the Sto. Niño. It’s as if Pope Francis visited Cebu,” he told Cebu Daily News.

“But let us be reminded that the feast of the Sto. Niño is more than a papal visit.  We’re celebrating the feast of the Child Jesus, the God who became a human being to save us.”

With a little more than a month to go before Pope Francis’ first pastoral visit to the Philippines, preparations  for January 15 to 19 visit are getting more detailed.

He will spend one day, January 17, in Tacloban City and Palo in Leyte province, to meet with survivors of Super Typhoon “Yolanda,” and the rest of the trip in the capital city of Manila.

Italian driver

According to a TV report, the Pope will have an official delegation of 12 members, led by  Pietro Cardinal Paroline, the Vatican Secretary of State.

He will bring his own Italian driver to steer his  Popemobile while members of the Presidential Security Group will be the ones to drive him around when he uses a closed vehicle.

Villegas said the Pope’s Italian driver was familiar with the “body language” of Francis while the PSG had the expertise and familiarity with roads used in the route.

Villegas said that even though Pope Francis may be arriving in the evening, the Pope wants to use an open Popemobile in his motorcade from Villamor Airbase because “he says he wants to see as many people as possible.”

Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma last week said that while many were disappointed  that the Pope would not visit Cebu in January, they still hope he will  return the next year in January 2016 for the International Eucharistic Congress hosted in Cebu City.

“We are used to the culture that yes, we can make a request or proposal and express what we want but if a decision has been made then we say, okay. So as a Cebuano, I told them (the Vatican) that if the pope decides to go to Manila and Tacloban, then we will respect his decision,” he said.

“Will he come in 2016? To tell you honestly, I am hopeful  … who knows,  he may do a McArthur and return to the Philippines,” Palma said.

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