175 children to serenade pope goodbye tomorrow

MANILA, Philippines – About 175 former street children, along with their families, will be serenading Pope Francis when he boards his flight at the Villamor Air Base tomorrow as he ends his five-day visit to the country.

The 175 children were selected for “good behavior,” said Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Secretary Corazon Soliman.

“They are children of former street-dwelling families, who are now given educational grants and health grants. We also rent for them rooms or houses,” Soliman said.

“They have undergone prepping for their duty of singing for the pope. (They were told) why it is an honor to be (part of) the sendoff for Pope Francis. They were also taught who Pope Francis is and why he is special so that they will understand the value of his visit,” she added.

The children serenaders, who had been practicing since December, will be singing four Christian hymns: the 1995 World Youth Day theme song “Tell the World of His Love,” “Shine, Jesus, Shine,” “Only Selfless Love” and this year’s papal visit theme song “We Are All God’s Children.”

“The kids know the songs by heart because they have been practicing for so long. Their goal is to see the pope. It would give them hope,” Soliman said.

“We thought it would be good to let the pope have a personal encounter with children from the streets because it was what he wanted. We have discussed this with Bishop (Jesse Eugenio) Mercado,” she added.