Vatican: PH is hope of Church in Asia

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VATICAN CITY—When he arrives in the Philippines on Thursday next week, Pope Francis will be landing in a country viewed by the Vatican as “the hope of the Church” in Asia.

The Holy See is confident that the papal visit to Asia’s biggest Catholic nation, as well as to Sri Lanka, will take place without any major problem.

“Both are countries with a tradition of papal visits in the past,” said Fr. Federico Lombardi, SJ, director of the Holy See Press Office.

The two countries have hosted papal visits before.

Blessed Paul VI visited the Philippines in 1970. St. Pope John Paul II also visited the Philippines in 1981 and both Sri Lanka and the Philippines in 1995.

During his 1995 trip, John Paul II spoke at the World Youth Day meeting in Manila.

In a short talk with the Inquirer, Lombardi called the Philippines “the hope of Asia, the hope of the Church.”

Expert in papal visits

The Jesuit spokesperson said the Philippines should not find it hard hosting Francis’ visit—his second in Asia after South Korea last August—since it was “an expert in papal visits.”

During his press briefing, Lombardi said another purpose of the Pope’s visit was to provide comfort to survivors and families of the victims of Supertyphoon “Yolanda” (international name: Haiyan) in the Philippines.

Accompanying the Pope in his trip will be Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state; Cardinal Fernando Filoni, prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples and a former apostolic nuncio to the Philippines; and Cardinal Robert Sarah, president of the Pontifical Council Cor Unum, the Vatican charity agency that funded the setting up of the Pope Francis Center for the Poor in Tacloban City, which the Pope himself will inaugurate next week.

Typhoon victims

Lombardi said that along with the inauguration, the Pope will meet with 30 typhoon victims.

Lombardi added that the Pope would conduct interreligious dialogues in Colombo and Manila.

In Sri Lanka, Buddhism is the majority religion with more than 70 percent of the population being Buddhists, followed by Hinduism (12-13 percent) and Islam (10 percent). Christianity is a minority religion with 7 percent of the population.

Lombardi said a local Buddhist monk would also address the Pope during the meeting.

In Manila, an interreligious dialogue will be held at the University of Santo Tomas (UST) before the Pope gives his traditional address to the youth at the UST football field.

The Jesuit spokesperson said previous popes had visited UST before and were greeted by a “manifestation of enthusiasm.”

He called the Dominican-run university a “fundamentally important cultural institution.”

Lombardi said the Pope’s decision to return to Asia in less than six months should underscore the importance the papacy placed in “the great continent.”

He noted that Pope Benedict XVI was not able to make a trip to Asia so it was important for his successor to “recover a sense of the papal presence” in the continent.
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