CBCP: Pope expected to pray over Yolanda mass grave

When he visits the Philippines in January, Pope Francis is expected to pray over the mass grave of those who died in the wake of super Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) in 2013.

 

The Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines said this will be the highlight of the Pope's visit to Leyte on Jan. 17, 2015.

 

It quoted Palo Archdiocese vicar-general Msgr. Bernie Pantin as saying that the Pope is expected to arrive about 9:30 a.m. at Tacloban Airport, and will be welcomed by Church and government officials in a simple ceremony.

 

He will proceed to the sacristy at the Tacloban Airport grounds especially for the papal Mass.

 

Pantin said some 160,000 people may be accommodated within the airport grounds, which will be secured by barricades.

 

"Each parish in the archdiocese will send 1,000 representatives, while those who cannot enter the grounds may still witness the Mass through big screens," the CBCP said, citing information from Pantin.

 

After the Mass, the Pope will go to the Archbishop’s Residence in Palo for lunch with 30 survivors of Yolanda and a magnitude-7.2 quake in Bohol Oct. 15 last year.

 

Of the 30, 15 are from Leyte, five from Borongan in Eastern Samar, five from Calbayog in Samar, and five from Tagbilaran in Bohol.

 

'Siesta'

 

The Pope will have a 30-minute “siesta,” after which he will bless the Pope Francis Center for the Poor in Palo and meet 50 persons with disabilities, orphans, and elderly.

 

Pope Francis Center, which was briefly used as an evacuation center for people affected by Typhoon Ruby (Hagupit), will have an orphanage, a home for the aged, and a dispensary.

 

It will be run and maintained by the Kkottoongnae Brothers and Sisters of Jesus, a Korean religious congregation “committed to witnessing God to the world and saving souls by practicing Jesus’ love.”

 

Pantin said the Korean religious will take care of the orphans, the elderly, the sick, and the dying. About 50 persons may be accommodated per facility, he said.

 

Palo cathedral

 

Following the lunch and encounter with the poor, the Pope will go to Palo Cathedral and meet with the priests, religious, and laity who survived Yolanda, then lead Vespers and give a short message.

 

He will then go out of the sacristy and go to the Palo Cathedral mass grave, for his private prayers, before heading for Tacloban Airport and returning to Manila. — Joel Locsin/RSJ, GMA News