Cebu-born Bob Canton, a California-based minister, encounters Pope Francis in Rome in April 2014. (Contributed Photo)
Hope and quiet speculation that Pope Francis would visit Cebu was reinforced by the account of a Filipino-American visiting Rome who said the Pope mentioned that he would visit Cebu in January 2016.
Bob Canton, who is attending a conference on spiritual healing in Vatican City, said he had a chance to converse with the Pope outside St. Peter’s Basilica last April 2.
“I told him that I am a Filipino-American residing in Stockton, California for over 30 years. He then informed me that he is coming to the Philippines, in Cebu, in January 2016,” said Canton in an e-mail to Cebu Daily News.
They conversed in Spanish during a “private audience”, he said.
“I also told him that I’m going to visit Cebu, where I was born and raised, sometime this year,” said Canton, who has scheduled “healing crusades” in Manila, Cebu City and Ozamis City in November 2014.
He quoted the Pope as saying, “I am sending my greetings and my love and blessings to the people of Cebu. I am also sending my fraternal greetings to the Archbishop of Cebu.”
The International Eucharistic Congress (IEC) will be held January 25-31 in Cebu, where 15,000 delegates, including lay Catholics, theologians and Vatican dignitaries will gather in the new Pavilion being built behind a seminary in Mabolo, Cebu City.
While many hope Pope Francis will attend, host organizers in the Cebu Archdiocese are cautious about raising hopes, saying the Vatican still has to make an official announcement about it.
Pope Benedict XVI announced the venue in Dublin in 2012, a choice that highlights the role of the Philippines as the only majority-Catholic nation in Asia.
Later on, it was Pope Francis who approved the date and theme of the conference :“Christ in you, our hope of glory.”
The congress aims to deepen Catholic devotion, invigorate missions and start the celebration of the 500th anniversary of the the evangelization of the Philippines (1521 – 2021), according to organizers.
The last time the Philippines hosted the IEC was in 1938. The congress was held last year in Dublin, Ireland.
In his website robertcantonministries.org, Canton described himself as one of 14 council members of the International Catholic Charismatic Renewal Services (ICCRS) representing the English-speaking North America, Central America and Caribbean countries.
He said the Vatican-based group has the approval of the Pontifical Council on Doctrine and Faith.
Canton said he immigrated to the United States in 1973 after graduating from college with an Accounting degree and has been living in Stockton, California with his family.
He is a servant leader for the Children of God Prayer Community in St. Luke’s parish in Stockton, where they hold a monthly Mass and a Healing Service.
In 1996, “Brother Bob” was elected national coordinator of the Alliance of Filipino Catholic Charistmatic Prayer Communities in North America.