For Papal Visit Archbishop to traders: No selling of souvenirs

PALO, LEYTE, Philippines – Pope Francis's visit to Leyte should be a way for all to be closer to God and not an opportunity for making money, Palo Archbishop John Du yesterday said as he appealed to merchandisers and vendors not to take advantage of the religious event.

Du issued this statement after learning that T-shirts, umbrellas and other souvenir items are now being sold and displayed in the different stores and stalls in Tacloban City and other towns in Leyte.

"I am appealing to the people (or oportunistas) not to use the Papal visit for business or raising of funds; instead prepare your hearts and minds by praying for his (pope) coming," the bishop told reporters during the weekly press briefing yesterday at the Archbishop's Palace in this town.

Pope Francis will stay in Palo for only six hours after the Mass at the DZR airport in Tacloban on January 17, a visit to the mass grave outside the Palo Cathedral, and a luncheon with the 30 victims of the Bohol earthquake and typhoon Yolanda in Eastern Visayas. He will fly back to Manila later in the afternoon, said the archbishop.

In an earlier statement, CBCP President Archbishop Socrates Villegas of the Lingayen-Dagupan Archdiocese, called on the faithful to stop patronizing the shirts on-sale, which are supposed to honor the visit of Pope Francis from January 15 to 20.

"We urge our Catholic faithful not to patronize items with misleading posts and statements," said Villegas, referring to the texts on the shirts that say, "No race, no religion," which only led to public to wayward perception on confusion on the Pope's teachings.

Meanwhile, Du urged the leadership of the police to allow ordinary people to enter the Mass area at the airport for as long as they have no intention to create trouble.

"Ive been asking the PNP to allow walk-in ordinary people into the Mass site even if they have no IDs, for as long as there is still space for them, because we wanted to make sure that the Church is for the poor, and that the Pope is here to inspire the calamity survivors," said the archbishop.