(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis left Manila on Monday morning, after a weeklong trip to Asia which took him to Sri Lanka and the Philippines. Hundreds of thousands of Filipinos lined the streets of Manila to catch a final glimpse of the Holy Father as he went to the airport.
Pope Francis drew over 6 million to his final Mass in Manila’s Luneta Park on Sunday, the largest crowd for a Papal event in history.
At a press conference after the Pope’s departure, the Archbishop of Manila, Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle said everyone in the Philippines was “overwhelmed right now with thanksgiving and gratitude to God” for the trip, and were “challenged” by Pope Francis to face problems such as inequality in the country.
Listen to excerpts from the Press Conference in Manila after the departure of Pope Francis:
“The priest, religious, the lay, all of us got the message clearly,” said Cardinal Tagle. “We will call on everyone to put this message into action.”
He added that the papal message on bridging the gap between the rich and poor is “not just for Christians but for all.”
Cardinal Tagle also said Pope Francis is challenging the culture to not blindly accept every novelty.
“I think the Holy Father is also inviting us to be discerning and to be critical,” he said.
“Not everything new is necessarily good. Here I think the Christian spirituality of discernment can be handy,” continued the Cardinal. “How do we immerse ourselves in the World of God, in prayer, in the teachings of the Church, and with that deep resource How do you address the changes in the world?”
Cardinal Tagle said when speaking privately with Pope Francis, the Holy Father said one solid foundation is popular religiosity.
“He said it is the simple faith that makes people survive the changes in society,” said Cardinal Tagle.
Bishop Mylo Vergara, the head of the Communications Committee of the Philippines Bishops Conference, said the trip was full of surprises.
“You have witnessed how he did not read the prepared homilies,” Bishop Vergara said, calling it the “homily of the heart”. He also mentioned the events on Saturday in Tacloban, as a Tropical Storm approached the area.
“I think it is also a first that he wore a raincoat,” he said.
It was also confirmed at the press conference that the Bishops have invited Pope Francis to return to the Philippines next year for the International Eucharistic Congress in Cebu.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis left Manila on Monday morning, after a weeklong trip to Asia which took him to Sri Lanka and the Philippines. Hundreds of thousands of Filipinos lined the streets of Manila to catch a final glimpse of the Holy Father as he went to the airport. Pope Francis drew over 6 million…
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(Vatican Radio) At the conclusion of Pope Francis’s three day visit to the Philippines, the head of the Holy See press office, Fr Federico Lombardi briefed journalists about the impact of this papal visit to Asia. He also spoke to our correspondent in Manila, Sean-Patrick Lovett, about highlights of the visit and about the expectations of the people who turned out in such huge numbers to take part in the papal events…..
Listen:
The first aspect that Fr Lombardi highlights is the huge numbers of people who came to see and listen to the Pope. There was, he says, “a great expectation and a great desire to be in his presence” which also indicates a great level of religious feeling among the people of the Philippines.
Secondly, he says, the Pope has announced the Gospel in a way which is very attentive to the sensitivities of the local people, with a strong emphasis on tears and weeping “which is something people here understand well”. But Pope Francis tells them that they must also go beyond emotion to a true conversion and then translate that conversion into action, just as he explained to the young people in Manila they must “feel, think, and do”.
Fr Lombardi also speaks of the scandalous inequality in the Philippines which, in the Pope’s view, is “something that must be approached with decision”. For Pope Francis, he says, the poor are the centre of the Gospel and he desires that the Church may convert to this vision in order to help society to change. The trip, he says, has been an incredible experience of the possibilities for change but also a challenge to the Church and its people…
Asked about the effect that the journey has had on the Pope, Fr Lombardi replies that Pope Francis is a person who is very attentive to dialogue and the need to receive as well as to give. He notes how Bergoglio understood from the moment of his election that he had to come to Asia which had not experienced a major papal visit for two decades. In his trip to three different Asian nations, Fr Lombardi says, the Pope has experienced “the great expectations” of the people and understood the need to focus on evangelisation. While there has been an immense attention of the people to the Pope’s words, Fr Lombardi concludes with the wish that the ruling classes have also taken his message to heart as well….
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) At the conclusion of Pope Francis’s three day visit to the Philippines, the head of the Holy See press office, Fr Federico Lombardi briefed journalists about the impact of this papal visit to Asia. He also spoke to our correspondent in Manila, Sean-Patrick Lovett, about highlights of the visit and about the expectations…
Read more
WATCHING FOR THE MESSIAH Today’s Gospel story of John and his disciples seeing and following Jesus sounds so simple and casual, it’s easy to miss the significant acts of faith that are made. John points to Jesus: “Look,” he says, “there is the Lamb of God.” John’s faith in Jesus is evident, so evident that…
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