Pope to hold special mass for 500 years of PHL Christianity

POPE Francis will be holding a special mass in the Vatican this month for the celebration of the 500 years of Christianity in the Philippines.

According to an article in CBCP News online, the pontiff will preside over the historic Eucharistic celebration at St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican at 10 am on March 14, 2021.

Filipinos are invited to watch the event, which will be broadcast and livestreamed online.

Among those who will attend the mass are Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, and Cardinal Angelo De Donatis, the pope’s vicar of Rome.

The last time Pope Francis held an event dedicated for Filipinos was in 2019, when he presided over a traditional Simbang Gabi (Night Mass).

The local celebration of the quincentennial of Christianity in the Philippines will officially start on April 4, 2021.

Each diocese is expected to mark the event with special activities, which focus on the theme: “Missio ad Gentes [Mission to the World].”

AP/ALESSANDRA TARANTINO POPE Francis, white figure standing alone at center, delivers an Urbi et orbi prayer from the empty St. Peter’s Square, at the Vatican, March 27, 2020.