Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama is appealing to the public to help persaude the Vatican to let Pope Francis visit Cebu as well.
“Let’s all bombard the Vatican through e-mail or whatever technology communication we have,” said Rama, who was in Manila yesterday. He spoke to reporters through an audio conference.
“We should be telling them that when the Pope is already here (in the country) Cebu is just very near. Why not include Cebu in the itinerary?” he added.
Last week, the Archdiocese of Manila announced the official itinerary of Pope Francis who will visit the country from January 15 to 19, 2015.
He will only be visiting Metro Manila and Leyte.
The Pope’s main interest is to spend time with victims of supertyphoon Yolanda in Leyte, so his itinerary includes Tacloban City and Palo.
Mayor Rama asked the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas (KBP), the media, bloggers, and other netizens to flood the Vatican with appeals to include Cebu in the Pope’s itinerary.
The visit coincides with the week of the Sinulog and the religious feast of the Sto. Nino of Cebu.
The mayor also encouraged the Provincial Government to join the appeal.
“I wish the province will also follow suit. We were also hit by an earthquake and northern Cebu was also a victim of Yolanda,” said Rama.
The Pope is expected to arrive at the Villamor Air Base in Pasay City at 5:45 pm on Jan. 15.
The next day, a welcome ceremony will be held at the Malacañang Palace where he will have a courtesy call on President Aquino.
He will also be delivering the homily in a mass at the Manila Cathedral in Intramuros.
On January 17, he will fly to Tacloban City where he will hold a mass at the Tacloban International Airport.
He will then be joined by survivors of supertyphoon Yolanda for a lunch at the Archbishop’s Residence in Palo, Leyte.
By January 18, he will briefly meet with religious leaders at the University of Santo Tomas.
He will leave at 10 a.m. on January 19.
Before the announcement, there were hopes that Pope Francis would drop by Cebu as well.
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