Locked in by high walls and steel railings, Cebu’s world renowned dancing inmates are as hopeful as the millions of Filipino Catholics to meet Pope Francis when he arrives in the Philippines.
Hundreds of men and women detainees charged with different kinds of crimes regularly practice an interpretative dance of Jamie Rivera’s ‘We are All God’s Children’ among a few other religious songs.
Vince Rosales, the inmates’ choreographer, said they are going to perform their dance number before January 15, the pope’s arrival in Manila to convince Pope Francis to visit Cebu, the seat of Christianity in Asia.
Rosales said the inmates are inspired by the acts of kindness of Pope Francis and wanted him to visit them at the prison.
“They are inspired by the pope. They want to change their ways,” Rosales said in an interview with Cebu Daiy News at the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center (CPDRC) in barangay Kalunasan, Cebu City.
Pope Francis is scheduled to visit the Philippines from January 15 to 19. On January 17 he will fly to Leyte, Cebu’s neighboring province.
The Cebu City government had been making preparations in case the Pope will drop by the city.