Pope Francis to preside over ‘Simbang Gabi’ for Filipinos, Dec. 15 at St. Peter’s Basilica

By CHRISTINA I. HERMOSO

Pope Francis will preside over the Misa de Aguinaldo holy mass, or “Simbang Gabi,” for the Filipino community in Rome, Italy, Sunday, December 15, at the Saint Peter’s Basilica, which coincides with the Third Sunday of Advent.

It will be the first time that a Pope will preside over a “Simbang Gabi” for Filipinos, which has been held a few times in the past at the basilica. The mass will be held at 4:30 p.m., 10:30 p.m. Sunday Manila time.

Around 150 priests will co-celebrate the mass with the Pope, including Cardinal Vicar Angelo de Donatis, the Vicar of Rome, and Rev. Fr. Leonir Chiarello, head of the Scalabrinians worldwide. (The Missionaries of St. Charles Borromeo or Scalabrinian Missionaries are a Roman Catholic religious institute of brothers and priests founded by Giovanni Battista Scalabrini, Bishop of Piacenza in Italy, in 1887.)

Philippine Ambassador to the Holy See Grace RelucioPrincesa and the country’s envoy to Italy Ambassador Domingo Nolasco are also attending the celebration.

“This is the fourth year that we celebrate it in the basilica but the first time that the Pope will be the one to preside,” Scalabrinian Fr. Ricky Gente of the Filipino Chaplaincy in Rome said in a Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) News post.

“We have thousands of Filipinos who requested entry but we are not allowed to go beyond the sitting capacity of the basilica,” Fr. Gente said. Only about 7,500 mass goers will be allowed entry to the basilica because of limited space, he said.

The remaining eight of the nine-day holy masses will be held at the fourth century Santa Pudenziana Basilica, the official church of the Filipino community in Rome that was designated by Saint John Paul II.

Known as “Simbang Gabi,” the Misa de Aguinaldo is an ageold tradition observed by many Filipinos around the world.

In the country, anticipated “Simbang Gabi” masses will be held starting Saturday night to accommodate devotees who cannot attend the dawn masses which begin tomorrow. Mass attendees hope to meet the challenge of completing the nineday holy masses in the belief that their petitions will be granted.