Pope Francis, right, accompanied by Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, left, archbishop of Manila, waves to Filipinos as he arrives in Manila, Philippines Thursday, Jan. 15, 2015. AP
MANILA, Philippines–“The Holy Spirit will have to work to touch all the hearts of these people that we see.”
A “very impressed” Pope Francis uttered these words to Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle on board the popemobile as tens of thousands of ecstatic Filipinos took to the streets to catch a glimpse of him Thursday night.
Francis, the third Pope to visit the Philippines since 1970, arrived around 5:30 p.m. to a rousing welcome led by President Aquino at Villamor Air Base in Pasay City.
Tagle, who was with Francis during the brief drive under heavy security from Villamor Air Base to the Apostolic Nunciature in Manila, pegged the crowd at “two to three million,” said Vatican spokesman Fr. Federico Lombardi, who described the turnout as “very impressive.”
“In the end, I was lost,” he said, referring to the different crowd estimates.
Chair Francis Tolentino of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority put the crowds at between 800,000 to 1 million.
Lombardi said Francis’ “first encounter with the Filipino people” left a “very strong first impression” on the Pontiff. He said it also gave Francis “an idea of what will be the importance of [his] presence to the Filipino people” for the rest of his trip.
“From the very beginning of his pontificate, this journey to the Philippines was a necessity,” Lombardi said in a press conference.
“It was necessary to come to this very important nation that is the center of the Catholic Church in this continent. To come here is to come to the center of Catholic Church in Asia, and from here you can see the presence of the Church in this fundamental continent.”
Francis’ first official activity Friday is the welcome ceremony in Malacañang where he is scheduled to meet briefly with the President.
Personal encounter
Lombardi said the meeting would be more of a “personal occasion of encounter,” noting that “profound” discussions on issues were often left in other venues.
“The Pope prefers to have a more personal encounter. This is very characteristic of Pope Francis. He likes to encounter concrete people and know them,” Lombardi said.
“He is more attentive to the personality of the interlocutor,” he added.
Despite a hectic schedule in Sri Lanka, the first leg of his apostolic visit to Asia and a much tougher one ahead in the Philippines, Francis is “in good health,” Lombardi said, noting that the Pope usually drew “energy from the people around him.”
Francis will deliver a message before an audience of 450 people, including senior government officials and members of the diplomatic corps, at Malacañang’s Rizal Hall.
From Malacañang, the Pope will proceed to Manila Cathedral for a concelebrated Mass. The last item in the day’s agenda is a meeting with Filipino families at SM Mall of Asia Arena in the afternoon.
Originally posted at 10:52 pm | Thursday, January 15, 2014
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