Augustinians still hopeful of Cebu visit by Pope

Pope Francis. AP FILE PHOTO

CEBU CITY, Philippines – Although the only answer they got from the Vatican to their request was the word “noted,” the Augustinian keepers of the Sto. Niño Basilica in Cebu are hopeful Pope Francis would drop by the Queen City of the South when he visits the Philippines in January.

And to strengthen their cause, the Augustinian fathers are enjoining Cebuanos to pray that Francis include Cebu on the itinerary of his January 15-19 Philippine visit.

“Vatican officials neither approved nor rejected our invitation for Pope Francis to visit Cebu in January 2015. But if the Holy Father really has no intention to come to Cebu, then his emissaries should have denied our request right away,” said Fr. Jonas Mejares of the Order of St. Augustine (O.S.A.), the current rector of the Basilica del Sto. Niño whose coral stone belfry collapsed during the earthquake of Oct. 15, 2013.

The Vatican’s letter to the Augustinians has yet to be released to media subject to the approval of the congregation’s prior general. In the letter, according to Mejares, all the Vatican said was that their request for a papal visit had been “noted.”

Nonetheless, Mejares urged Cebuanos to keep their fingers crossed and to never stop praying so that the Holy Father would come to Cebu City where the image of the Sto. Niño was introduced in 1521 as a baptismal gift of Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan to Cebu’s Queen Juana.

The Pope’s complete itinerary is to be announced later this year. So far, only Manila and Leyte are mentioned.

“The Pope is so unpredictable. When he decides, no one can stop him. I hope the Sto. Niño will advise him to come to Cebu City. Four to six hours will be enough,” Mejares told a press conference Monday morning.

Pope Francis’ visit to the Philippines falls on the week of the Jan. 18 feast of the Sto. Niño.

“The occasion could not have been more timely. Swak na swak sana,” Mejares said.

The Augustinian fathers, who have been the caretakers of the centuries-old basilica and image of the child Jesus in Cebu City, sent two invitations to the Pope.

In December 2013, they sent a letter to the Vatican, inviting Pope Francis to attend the grand celebrations in April 2015.

Aside from the annual fiesta celebration in January, the Augustinian community will mark three milestones: the 450th anniversary of the discovery of the image of the Sto. Niño and of the Augustinian’s presence in the country and the 50th anniversary of the church’s title as a minor basilica.

Last September, the Augustinians sent another letter, requesting the Holy Father to stop by Cebu City during his visit to the Philippines.

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