MANILA, Philippines—Ahead of the much-awaited visit of Pope Francis, Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle sat down with the Inquirer for a discussion on Saturday.
Speaking during the Inquirer Conversations at Colegio de San Juan de Letran, Tagle said the Pope wanted the Filipino people to focus on Jesus Christ and not on him during his visit.
The archbishop called for a balance between securing the Pope and allowing the Catholic faithful to get close to him. He said the Pope would be eating his own words if he were discouraged from going out for security reasons.
Tagle mentioned how the Pontiff was serious and insistent on visiting the country even before Supertyphoon “Yolanda” struck.
He also answered some questions about the Filipino culture of having a unique way of devotion, as seen in the Feast of the Black Nazarene, and the importance of popular religiosity to countries like the Philippines.
Pope Francis guides the Church on how to appeal to the youth and the people, according to Tagle.
He said Pope Francis encouraged the Church to stop being self-referential and to start going out.
Philippine Daily Inquirer publisher Raul Pangalangan, Inquirer.net editor in chief John Nery and Inquirer Libre editor Chito de la Vega lead the conversation.
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