Pope to say masses in Latin, deliver speeches in English

MANILA, Philippines - Pope Francis will deliver in Latin his three masses during his five-day visit to the country in January 2015, according to the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP).

“The masses will be in Latin but the responses will be in English,” Pasig Bishop Mylo Hubert Vergara announced Friday night.

Vergara also said the pontiff will deliver his speeches in English, “but the pope is the pope of surprises, he might make off the cut comments in Italian and Spanish.”

Pope Francis will celebrate masses at the Manila Cathedral on Jan. 16, near the Tacloban International Airport in Leyte on Jan. 17 and at the Rizal Park in Manila on Jan. 18.

The official residence of the pope during his stay in the country is the Apostolic Nunciature located along Taft Avenue in Manila.

Papal Nuncio Archbishop Guiseppe Pinto is hoping that the Filipino faithful will experience “an intense spiritual preparation” for this encounter with the pope.

“He will go to the geographical and existential peripheries. We will listen to him as if he were speaking to each one of us. Every tear, every sorrow and every hope he will make his own,” he added.

Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle said the papal visit would bring “much blessing” to the Filipinos, especially to the poor, the survivors of Super Typhoon Yolanda and other calamities, and the victims of injustices.

“The pope’s visit also calls us to personal and social responsibility…We will be challenged to reach out with love to the neglected and abandoned, to help heal the wounds inflicted on children, women and families, to respect those who differ from us, to form the youth in responsible freedom, to value life and creation and to imbue our culture and society with mercy and compassion,” Tagle added.

Palo Archbishop John Du also called on Filipinos to contribute “good will and efforts in ensuring that the apostolic visit of the pontiff may not be marred by any untoward incident and that it may truly be a time of grace for our country and for everyone.”

The website of the papal Friday evening just after church officials released the pope’s official itinerary.

The www.papalvisit.ph was down for at least three hours after high traffic caused the server to crash. The website was finally restored at 10:30 p.m., the CBCPNews said.

The website serves as the official source of statements, press releases, homilies, speeches related to the pope’s pastoral visit.

Monsignor Pedro Quitorio, who is part of the media and information committee for the papal visit, said the CBCP would set up measures to prevent the website from crashing again as more online visitors are expected as the papal visit approaches.