Pope to meet 10 religious leaders at UST

In this picture made available by the Vatican newspaper L’ Osservatore Romano, Pope Francis is presented by a child with a drawing depicting a Pope’s portrait and a writing which reads Merry Christmas, during an audience with the Holy See’s employees in the Paul VI hall at the Vatican, Monday, Dec. 22, 2014.  AP

Aside from meeting the youth of the Philippines, Pope Francis will also meet with “old hands” and “regulars” in interfaith dialogue when he visits the Pontifical, Royal and Catholic University of Santo Tomas (UST) in Manila on Jan. 18.

Fr. Carlos Reyes, executive secretary of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines’ Commission on Interreligious Dialogue, said that before facing about 24,000 young people gathered at the UST Grandstand and Football Field, Pope Francis would spend some time talking to 10 religious leaders.

“They are leaders of different religions, as well as resource persons, in interfaith dialogue,” Reyes said in a press conference on Monday. “Many of them have been in inter-religious dialogue for many years, and have been our partners.”

The most significant attendee in the dialogue is Metropolitan Nektarios (Tsilis) of the Orthodox Metropolitanate of Hong Kong and Southeast Asia, the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople. Reyes explained that Pope Francis bonded with the patriarch of the Orthodox Church during his recent visit to Turkey.

Other religious represented in the dialogue are Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, Judaism, the Iglesia Filipina Independiente and the Philippine Evangelical Church. A UST dean and expert on interfaith dialogue, Lilian Sison, as well as former Chief Justice Reynato Puno, now chair of the Philippine Bible Society, will also join the talks.

“It will last about 10 to 15 minutes, so not that much, and anything goes. There is no set topic here. Probably pleasantries, among others,” Reyes said.

He explained that interfaith dialogue was important to the Catholic Church in its fulfillment of the goals of the Second Vatican Council which urged the church to be a universal one.

Giovanna Fontanilla, director of the UST Public Affairs Office, said that the dialogue would be held near the Arch of the Centuries, the only preserved structure from the old UST campus in Intramuros that has stood since the university’s foundation in 1611. Afterward, the Pope will meet with youth delegates from all over the Philippines at the UST Grandstand, where he is also expected to lead a liturgy.