Pope to say Masses in Latin during PH visit

MANILA – Pope Francis will celebrate Masses in Latin during his papal visit to the Philippines from January 15 to 19 next year.Pasig Bishop Mylo Hubert Vergara, chairman of the CBCP Commission on Social Communications, said that all the responses, however, will be in English. The Masses will be in Latin but the responses will be in English,” Vergara said during a press conference on Friday.The bishop also said that the Argentinian Pope will also be delivering his speeches to the Filipinos in English. But the pope is the pope of surprises. He might make off the cut comments in Italian and Spanish,” said Vergara.The Pope is scheduled to celebrate at least three Masses in his four-day visit to the Philippines— two in Manila and one in Tacloban City.Papal nuncio Archbishop Guiseppe Pinto is hoping that the Filipino faithful will experience an intense spiritual preparation for this encounter with grace and mercy.” 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,” Pinto said. The expectation of the Filipino people calls to him, and he will come,” he said.Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle said that the papal visit will surely bring much blessing” to the Filipinos, especially to the poor, the survivors of recent natural and human-caused calamities, and the victims of injustices. The Pope’s visit also calls us to personal and social responsibility. As disciples of Jesus Christ driven by the Holy Spirit, 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 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 said. (CBCPNews)