Pope’s message seen to draw faithful

CEBU CITY, Philippines—Pope Francis will give a special video message to the 51st International Eucharistic Congress (IEC) during the closing Mass here on Sunday (today) which is expected to draw tens of thousands of Catholic faithful.

The Mass closing the weeklong Catholic congress that drew 15,000 delegates from 71 countries will be led by the Pope’s appointed representative, Cardinal Charles Maung Bo of Rangoon, Burma (Yangon, Myanmar).

Although the congress has struggled with rains since it started, forecast of good weather today has buoyed hopes that more people would attend the closing Mass.

Just the same, Cebu Archbishop Jose S. Palma urged Cebuanos to prepare to come to the Mass in slippers because the South Road Properties (SRP), where the Mass is going to be held, is not concreted and  the rains might make the place muddy.

“We are not afraid of the mud,” declared Palma.

The specially prepared video message of Pope Francis is highly anticipated since it would be the first time he would address the Visayas again since his visit last year to Tacloban City where he met with survivors of the 2013 Supertyphoon “Yolanda.”

During his message, the Pope is expected to announce the venue for the next IEC.

The SRP is the same site in the reclamation area here where the thanksgiving Mass for the Vatican canonization of the 17th century Visayan boy-martyr Pedro Calungsod was held.

The holding of the closing Mass at the same spot where the thanksgiving Mass on the canonization of Calungsod was held has special meaning for the delegates who attended the congress, a spiritual festival centered on Catholic devotion to the Holy Eucharist—which refers both to the liturgical celebration and the Communion Host representing the body and blood of Christ that Catholics consume for spiritual nourishment.