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It’s official: Pope not attending IEC in Cebu next year
Now it's official: Pope Francis will not make a return visit to the Philippines in January 2016 for the International Eucharistic Congress in Cebu, the head of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines said Monday.
CBCP president and Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas said the Pope will send a representative to the event instead.
“He is not coming. That’s sure already,” an article on the CBCP news site quoted Villegas as saying.
But he said they understand the Pope’s decision not to return to the Philippines so soon, as he also needs to visit other countries.
“Let us give other countries the chance to see him. Because if we insist, it’s as if we’re being selfish because it will lessen his opportunities to visit other countries,” he said.
Pope Francis visited the Philippines last January. The bulk of his activities were in Metro Manila and Leyte.
Leyte had been devastated by super typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan), which left more than 6,300 dead when it tore through the Visayas in November 2013.
On the other hand, Villegas said the Pope's sending of an envoy is a significant gesture.
“The sending of a papal envoy [is like saying] ‘I’m there with you,'” he said.
IEC, scheduled Jan. 24 to 31 next year, is expected to draw 15,000 pilgrims from all over the world.
The Philippines hosted the 33rd IEC in Manila in 1937. —Joel Locsin/KBK, GMA News
CBCP president and Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas said the Pope will send a representative to the event instead.
“He is not coming. That’s sure already,” an article on the CBCP news site quoted Villegas as saying.
But he said they understand the Pope’s decision not to return to the Philippines so soon, as he also needs to visit other countries.
“Let us give other countries the chance to see him. Because if we insist, it’s as if we’re being selfish because it will lessen his opportunities to visit other countries,” he said.
Pope Francis visited the Philippines last January. The bulk of his activities were in Metro Manila and Leyte.
Leyte had been devastated by super typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan), which left more than 6,300 dead when it tore through the Visayas in November 2013.
On the other hand, Villegas said the Pope's sending of an envoy is a significant gesture.
“The sending of a papal envoy [is like saying] ‘I’m there with you,'” he said.
IEC, scheduled Jan. 24 to 31 next year, is expected to draw 15,000 pilgrims from all over the world.
The Philippines hosted the 33rd IEC in Manila in 1937. —Joel Locsin/KBK, GMA News
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