POPE FRANCIS IN CEBU IN 2016?

‘It’s up to the Holy Father to decide’ – Cardinal Tagle

Conference date moved to January to fit Pope’s schedule

Pope Francis has left the country leaving behind millions of “rejuvenated” Catholic faithful and a lingering question – is he coming to Cebu next year?

Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle yesterday said he hopes the Pope will attend the 51st International Eucharistic Congress (IEC) in Cebu City in January 2016.

“Will the Pope come again for that (IEC)? We hope,” the cardinal said in a press conference in Manila.

Tagle said he would bring up the invitation again when he sees Pope Francis in Rome next month for the consistory or meeting of the College of Cardinals.

“Kung pupunta siya, wow, salamat. Pero sa ngayon, gusto ng Santo Papa na bumalik muna sa Roma para makapaghinga. (If he will return, wow, thank you. But for now, the Holy Father wants to go back to Rome so he can rest).”

Invitations had earlier been sent by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines in 2013.

“Ngayon, dahil nga nagpunta na siya, tingnan natin (Now that he has visited the Philippines, let’s see],” Tagle said.

“It is the decision of the Holy Father. The event is there but the Holy Father will have to decide.”

VATICAN HINTS
So far, the Pope has not sent an official yes or no.

But Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma draws hope from hints from the Vatican that Pope Francis is interested to attend the conference in Cebu.

The original schedule of the IEC was even moved to January 2016 to suit the Pope’s schedule.

In an earlier interview, Palma said Archbishop Piero Marini, president of the Pontifical Committee on the IEC, had requested that the 51st IEC which was originally scheduled in Cebu City on May 23-29, 2016, be moved to another date since the Pope had a full calendar for May next year.

With that request in mind, the conference was set for Jan. 25 to 31, 2016.

Palma said that in one of their meetings in Rome in mid-2013, he personally invited the Holy Father to grace the IEC, which is expected to draw 15,000 delegates.

The international gathering of lay and religious members is held once every four years and promotes the importance of the Eucharist, commonly known as Holy Communion — a sacrament wherein Christ is believed present in the appearance of bread and wine –- as the center of the the life and mission of the Catholic Church. The conference theme is “Christ in You, Our Hope of Glory”.

“I told him to visit the Philippines during the IEC and the Holy Father told me: ‘Pray that I’m still alive by that time and that I still have enough strength (to travel)’” said Palma.

“I couldn’t help but laugh at his remark.”

But then supertyphoon Yolanda wrecked havoc across the Visayas region on Nov. 8, 2013.

The catastrophe, which caused more than 6,000 deaths, prompted Pope Francis to visit the Phippines earlier in January 2015 to reach out to calamity victims.

“Who knows? He can do a McArthur,” said Palma. He was refering to American general Douglas McArthur who declared “I shall return (to the Philippines).”

Palma said Pope Francis is set to visit another country in Asia during that time.

The invitation was sent to the Vatican in early 2013 immediately after Francis was elected the first Pope from the Americas. The inviation was sent by retired Cardinals Gaudencio Rosales of Manila and Ricardo Vidal of Cebu.

At the time, Cardinal Rosales told the Pope that that the CBCP was already arranging his “first” papal visit in connection with the eucharistic congress in 2016.

Francis reportedly told Rosales in Spanish: “Vamos a ver” (Let’s see).

DISAPPOINTED

Many Cebuanos were disappointed that Cebu was not part of the Pope’s itinerary ths month.

The Agustinians of the Sto. Niño de Cebu province, had also invited the Pope to come this year for their 450th anniversary of the congregation’s presence in the Philippines and the April 1565 finding of the Sto. Niño image in a burning hut by returning Spaniards, an event locally celebrated as “Kaplag”.

Archbishop Emeritus of Cebu Ricardo Cardinal Vidal, in a separate interview, said he too wanted Pope Francis to visit Cebu.

“I heard that he had planned to come to Cebu for the IEC. But this (Yolanda devastation) came in. Sayang. He would have seen the religiosity of our people,” he said.

The 83-year-old prelate said popes don’t normally attend the IEC.

“I know that popes do not attend the IEC. In all the IECs that I have attended from India, Europe, Poland to Rome, to America, there’s no attendance of a pope, only a representative,” he said.

“If I have the opportunity to talk to him personally, I would invite him for the IEC. The invitation has to be personal. It is not good to invite the Holy Father through a letter,” he said.

POPE OF SURPRISES
But with the Pope’s reputation for doing the unexpected and breaking out of routine, he’s known as the “Pope of Surprises”, said Msgr. Joseph Tan, media liaison officer of the Cebu Archdiocese.

“While it is true that popes do not normally come to the IEC, IEC 2016 in Cebu merits a special consideration,” said Tan.

He said Cebu represents “the only successful evangelization campaign” brought about when the Roman Pontiff divided the etire world between Spain and Portugal.

“History supports this claim and since the entire Philippine Church is preparing to commemorate the 5th centennary (1521 to 2021)of the birth of Christianity in our land, this is an occasion for such a visit,” Tan explained.

Cebu, he said, should be given a second look for a papal visit since this is where the Catholic faith took root in the Far East.

“At a time when Europe and many places in the world are losing faith, Cebu has something to offer by way of testimony. Hence, it goes without saying that if Christ in us is the hope of glory, then can not the Holy Father come simply for this?” Tan said.

The last time Cebu was visited by a pope was in 1981 when John Paul II, now a saint, presided over an open air Mass at the former Lahug airport, which has since become I.T. Park. He also spent the night at the Cebu Archbishop’s Residence./with Managing Editor Ares P. Gutierrez