Pope Francis will not be the only Argentinian celebrating Mass during his visit to the Philippines this coming January.

 

Argentinian missionary Fr. Luciano Felloni told Church-run Radyo Veritas he looks forward to seeing his compatriot, whose real name is Jorge Mario Bergoglio.

 

"I hope to see him personally dahil nakilala ko siya noong pari pa sya, gusto ko siya makita closer again this time, He is my kababayan, at nakilala kasi we used to live in one neighborhood for three years," he was quoted as saying in an article on the Veritas website.

 

Felloni is presently serving at the Holy Trinity Parish in the Novaliches diocese in Quezon City.

 

He added that he has confessed to then-Fr. Bergoglio many times.

 

"Tapos binigyan niya kami ng recollection all of that when he was still a priest,” he said.

 

A separate article on the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines news site quoted Feloni as saying he had met the Pope in Argentina when the Pope was Buenos Aires Archbishop.

 

On Jan. 16, the Pope is to lead a concelebrated Mass at the Manila Cathedral in Intramuros.

 

Each diocese may be represented by as many as 10 priests - five diocesan and five religious - at the Manila Cathedral Mass.

 

Pope Francis is due to visit the Philippines Jan. 15 to 19. He will have lunch with the poor and the survivors of super Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) during his stay. — Joel Locsin/RSJ, GMA News