Preparations on-going for Papal Visit to the Philippines in 2015

Pope Francis will be visiting the Philippines from January 15 to 19, 2015.

In an announcement last November 12, it was officially announced that the primate of the Roman Catholic church is scheduled to visit the Southeast Asian country next month. He will be coming after a visit to Sri Lanka.

Manila Archbishop Luis Tagle reports that the main purpose of the visit is to meet the survivors of Typhoon Haiyan in the island of Leyte. He says that the Pope carries the message of solidarity and compassion to the people hit by the recent calamities, the theme of his visit.

This marks the 20th anniversary of the World Youth Day in 1995 held in the country attended by Pope John Paul II and the third time that the head of the Roman Catholic church have visited the predominantly Catholic country.

President Aquino has designated the Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr. as the point person of the government for the visit. He has further called on the all government agencies and the Filipino people to ensure the success of the event.

In light of the visit, President Aquino declared January 15, 16 and 19 as special-non-working in the National Capital Region where Manila is located.

According to the Catholic Bishop’s Conference of the Philippines, Pope Francis will be arriving to Manila on January 15 and will start attending the schedule the day after with a welcoming ceremony in Malacañang, the presidential palace, a meeting with the diplomatic corps. He will then proceed to Tacloban, Leyte on Janaury 17 to meet and have lunch with Yolanda survivors. A mass is scheduled to be held in Tacloban as well. The trip will end with a visit at the pontifical University of Santo Tomas in Manila to meet the youth and a concluding mass at Rizal Park in Manila.

Asked on why the length of stay of Pope Francis in Tacloban, the ‘main’ purpose of his visit to the Philippines, only spans 8 hours, the Manila Cardinal Tagle explains that it is the ‘quality of the time spent’ that is more important. “Symbolism matters a lot in the papal visit; it is the time that he spends with the people that should be looked at, his personal encounters with the people.” Referring to the other areas hit by calamites, Cardinal Tagle says that the Holy Father would need to stay more than half a year to cover all the areas affected.

In a video in the official website of the Papal visit, the Filipino people is reminded to cooperate for the success of the event and show that the Filipino people are “disciplined, respectful, happy, helpful, and shows concern to each other.” It is without doubt that Filipinos are looking forward to the visit.

The Philippines has 80 million Christian Catholics of its 100 million population, recording to be the 3rd country in the world with the largest number of Catholics after Brazil and Mexico. In Asia, the Philippines and East Timor are the only predominantly Catholic countries with more than 80 percent of the population registered as Catholic.