‘5 special days:’ Pope’s sched out

MANILA, Philippines—The Archdiocese of Manila on Friday officially announced the itinerary of Pope Francis when he visits the country in January.

The Holy Father will be in the Philippines on January 15-19, 2015 following his apostolic visit to Sri Lanka.

“Today our official joy begins… Pope Francis is bringing the joy of the Gospel personally, to us, on the five special days in January that we have officially announced,” Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) president and Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas said in a statement.

“When Pope Francis comes, he will show us the face of God. When the Pope sees us Filipinos, may he see the living God in us,” Villegas added.

According to the itinerary provided by Church officials, the Pope’s plane will touch down at 5:45 p.m. on Jan. 15 at the Villamor Airbase in Pasay City where official welcome rites will be held.

At 9 a.m. the following day, a welcome ceremony will be held at Malacañang Palace where the Pope will pay a courtesy call on President Aquino.

At 10:15 a.m., the Pope will have a meeting with the authorities and the diplomatic corps at the Rizal Ceremonial Hall of Malacañang.

At 11:15 a.m. the Pope will deliver the homily during a Mass with the bishops, priests, men and women of the religious community at the Manila Cathedral in Intramuros, Manila.

The Pope will have a meeting with the families at the SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City at 5:30 p.m.

On Jan. 17, the Pope will go to Tacloban where he will hold a Mass at the Tacloban International Airport at 10 a.m.

After the Mass, he will be joining some of the survivors of supertyphoon Yolanda for lunch at 12:45 p.m. at the Archbishop’s Reside in Palo. This will be followed by the blessing of the Pope Francis Center for the Poor at 3 p.m.

The Pope will also meet with priests, women and men of the religious community, seminarians and families of the survivors at the Cathedral of Palo at 3:30 p.m. before he departs for Manila.

On Jan. 18, the Holy Father will have a brief meeting with religious leaders at the University of Santo Tomas at 9:45 a.m. This wil be followed by his meeting with the youth at the UST sports field at 10:30 a.m. then a a holy Mass at 3:30 p.m. at the Rizal Park in Manila.

Pope Francis will leave for Rome at 10 a.m. of Jan. 19 after a departure ceremony at the Presidential Pavilion of Villamor Airbase in Pasay City.

“I invite you all, my fellow Filipinos, to extend a hearty and warm welcome to our Pope. But most importantly let us open our hearts to the message he will bring and, even now, extend the love, mercy, compassion and kindness that he practices to one another, that he may find in our country a blessed, kind, and grateful people. Let us all work and act together to make his visit a moment of grace for us and our country,” said Villegas.

Citing the pastoral letter the CBCP issued in July, Villegas said that while there will be a great interest and curiousity about the papal visit, the arrival of Pope Francis “carries a message of pastoral love, mercy and compassion.”

“It is through the understanding and living out of his message that the grace of joy will flow,” he said.