Latin Masses, English responses set for Papal visit on Jan. 15-19

The Masses of Pope Francis during his visit to the Philippines on January 15-19, 2015, will be in Latin but the responses will be in English, Pasig Bishop Mylo Hubert Vergara, chairman of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) Commission on Social Communications, said yesterday.

The Holy Father is scheduled to celebrate Mass at the Manila Cathedral, Quirino Grandstand in Luneta, and in Tacloban City.

The speeches of the Pope will be in English. ” We are blessed because we understand English but of course he is a Pope of surprises...He might make off-the-cuff comments in Italian and

Spanish,” he said.

Pope Francis will visit at least 11 venues in Leyte and Metro Manila during his five-day apostolic trip.

The Pope is expected to arrive from Sri Lanka at the Villamor Air Base in Pasay City at around 5 p.m. on Thursday, January 15. President Benigno Aquino will greet the Pope when he arrives at the airport, his protocol officer Marciano Paynor said — a break from usual protocol, as the President usually only welcomes world leaders in Malacañang.

From the airport, the Pope will proceed in a motorcade to the Apostolic Nunciature, his official residence, on Taft Avenue, Manila.

President Aquino will officially welcome him in Malacañang on Friday, January 16, after which the Pope will meet with the members of the diplomatic corps.

The Pontiff will then go in a motorcade to the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception (Manila Cathedral) in Intramuros for a Mass with bishops, priests, and the religious. Pope Francis will then meet with families at the

Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay.

To Tacloban, Palo On Saturday, January 17, the Pontiff will visit areas devastated by super-typhoon Yolanda in Leyte particularly Tacloban City and its adjacent town of Palo. He will offer mass upon his arrival at the Tacloban Airport.

He will dine with some of the poor and survivors of recent natural calamities at the residence of the Archbishop of Palo. Victims of the 2013 7.2-magnitude earthquake in Bohol will be among those who will dine with the Pope.

He will bless the Pope Francis Center for the Poor and visit the Cathedral of Our Lord’s Transfiguration in Palo where he will also meet with priests and the religious before going back to Manila on the same day.

On Sunday, January 18, the Pope will meet with religious leaders and with young people at the Pontifical University of Santo Tomas in Manila. In the afternoon, he will go on a motorcade for the concluding mass at the Quirino Grandstand in Rizal Park.

On Monday, January 19, a motorcade from the Apostolic Nunciature will bring Pope Francis to the Villamor Air Base for his flight back to Rome, Italy.

A hearty welcome Archbishop Socrates B. Villegas, president of the CBCP, issued a statement in which he said Pope Francis is bringing the “joy of the Gospel personally, to us, on the five special days in

January” that he will be in the Philippines.

“I invite you all, my fellow Filipinos, to extend a hearty and warm welcome to our Pope. But most importantly let us open our hearts to

the message he will bring and, even now, extend the love, mercy, compassion, and kindness that he practices to one another, that he may find in our country a blessed, kind, and grateful people.”

Papal Nuncio Archbishop Guiseppe Pinto said he hopes the Filipino faithful will experience “an intense spiritual preparation for this encounter with grace and mercy.”

Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle said the papal visit “will surely bring much blessing to the Filipinos, especially to the poor, the survivors of recent natural and human-caused calamities, and the victims of injustices.”

He added: “The Pope’s visit also calls us to personal and social responsibility. As disciples of Jesus Christ driven by the Holy Spirit, we will be challenged to reach out with love to the neglected and abandoned, to help heal the wounds inflicted on children, women, and families, to respect who differ from us, to form the youth in responsible freedom, to value life and creation, and to imbue our culture and society with mercy and compassion.”

Palo Archbishop John Du said: “The news confirming the Holy Father’s coming in January fills us with gratitude to God who has given us this very special favor. The decision of Pope Francis to come to the Philippines, and especially to visit the Archdiocese of Palo to show solidarity with the victims of the Yolanda catastrophe, was very unexpected, but is also very much welcome.”

Website down Meanwhile, the official website on Pope Francis’ visit to the Philippines crashed Friday following the release of the pontiff ’s official itinerary. The CBCP said the www. papalvisit.ph was down for at least three hours after “high traffic” caused the server to crash.

Immediately after the 7 p.m. press conference announcing the papal visit’s itinerary, the site slowed down and eventually crashed at around 8 p.m. due to an unexpected number of Internet users visiting it. The website was finally restored at 10:30 p.m.

Msgr. Pedro Quitorio of the papal visit media and information committee said they will set up measures to prevent it from crashing again.

The website serves as the official source of statements, press releases, homilies, and speeches related to Pope’s visit.

Security preparations A Malacañang official said Friday that much of the preparations of the government for the coming visit of Pope Francis in the country is about security.

“We cant go any further than saying that we will secure the Pope definitely,” Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa said. “We are also concerned with the safety of Filipinos,” he said, noting how some people tend to behave, especially during religious events such as the Feast of the Black Nazarene every January.

“We are a bit worried if we will also behave the same way when the Pope comes. Just to compare -- imagine the Black Nazarene is an image and here it’s a living image of God, so that’s our concern. It’s not only the pope’s safety but also the safety of our countrymen,” he said. He said some devotees of the Nazarene, who try i to get close to the miraculous image, tend to be unruly during the annual procession.

Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte echoed the appeal of Ochoa for patience from those who may be affected by some of the security preparations for the Pope’s visit.

Facelift for Grandstand The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) is giving the Quirino Grandstand a facelift before year-end.

The department wants to finish the renovation hopefully by December 30, said Undersecretary Romeo Momo, who is in charge of regional operations. The project is under DPWH’s South Manila Engineering District.

Pope Francis will celebrate Mass at the Grandstand at 3:30 p.m..on Sunday, January18. Around 2,100 priests will occupy the grandstand’s north and south wings. “We will set up 500 chairs at the grandstand,” Macud said. These are detachable seats that can be removed after the Mass.

At the right side of the Quirino Grandstand, DPWH will build a platform for the media covering the papal visit. Beside it will be a platformfor the choir whichwill sing during the Mass.

There will be two holding areas in the rooms below the stage, one for President Aquino and the other for the Pope. (With reports from JC Bello Ruiz and Raymund F. Antonio)