Statement of CBCP President
Abp. Socrates Villegas
On the Announcement of the Final Itinerary of the Papal Visit
Today our official joy begins. We have had this secret
joy in our hearts since the first news of a visit by the Holy Father Pope
Francis came out. But today we announce it to you and to the world. Pope
Francis is bringing the joy of the Gospel personally, to us, on the five
special days in January that we have officially announced.
The days leading up to January 15 will be busy if not
frenzied for people in the Church and in Government who are tasked with
preparing for the events. There will be great interest and curiosity about the
who, the what, the how, and the why of the
visit. There will be an appetite for the minutiae, the littlest and even the
most trivial things: what the Pope will eat, what he will drink, etc. But as,
we, the bishops said in our pastoral letter last July, the visit of Pope
Francis “carries a message of pastoral love, mercy and compassion” and
it is through the understanding and living out of this message that the grace
of joy will flow.
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. Let us all work and act together to make
his visit a moment of grace for us and our country.
When Pope Francis comes, he will show us the face of God. When
the Pope sees us Filipinos, may he see the living God in us.
November 14, 2014
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