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Filipinos have been warned not to treat Pope Francis like a celebrity during his visit to their country early next year.
Bishop Pedro Arigo of Puerto Princesa said activities during the Pope’s visit from January 15 to 19 should be “simple and not extravagant”.
“Sometimes people treat occasions like this as if a celebrity is coming. I hope people will instead look at what message Pope Francis is trying to tell us,” Bishop Arigo said.
He told Radyo Veritas that Pope Francis was displeased with the extravagant receptions after the canonisations of Sts John Paul II and John XXIII earlier this year.
“We should make [the activities] simple because if we make it too extravagant that will be an insult to the poor,” Bishop Arigo said.
Earlier this year, graffiti depicting the Pope as superman appeared in Rome.
Francis rejected the hype surrounding his papacy, saying he is a “normal person” and calling comparisons between himself and Superman “offensive”.
Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle has said that Pope Francis wants his visit to the Philippines “to be pastoral and simple”.
“Central to the visit of the Pope is to show solidarity and compassion to victims of calamities,” the cardinal said.
He said that Pope Francis wants to have an “encounter” with those who suffered recent calamities, especially in the central Philippines where Super Typhoon Haiyan killed more than 10,000 people and left millions homeless last November.
The Philippine bishops’ conference in a pastoral statement last month said the underlying spirit of the papal visit to the country is “mercy and compassion”.
The bishops encouraged the faithful to prepare for the Pope’s visit by spending more time in prayer.
Pope Francis will be the third pontiff to visit the country after Pope John Paul II in 1995 and Pope Paul VI in 1970.
Before Pope Francis arrives in the Philippines, he will visit Sri Lanka from January 12-15.
He is scheduled to make a visit to Korea from August 14-18, next week.
Sources
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