Pope Francis may no longer return to the Philippines this coming January for the International Eucharistic Congress, a senior Catholic Church official said over the weekend.

 

Archbishop Pierro Marini, president of the pontifical committee for the 51st IEC, said this may be due to the Pope' tight schedule for 2016, GMA Cebu reported Monday.

 

"(T)he Eucharist(ic) Congress has the international status on this, which requires the presence of the Bishop of Rome," Marini said.

 

Pope Francis visited the Philippines last January, though his activities were mainly in Metro Menila and Leyte.

 

Marini also noted it has been the tradition of the Pope to attend the IEC.

 

Despite the possibility of Pope Francis not attending, Marini said they are satisfied with the preparations for next year's event.

 

"There is an enormous amount of work but there has been a lot done and I must say people are well on track," said Anne Griffin, general manager of the 50th IEC in Ireland.

 

For his part, Cebu Archbishop and former Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines president Jose Palma said much still needs to be done.

 

He said some people are finding it difficult to register for the event.

 

"That is one (thing) that we have to look into," he said.

 

Held every four years, IEC will be held in the Cebu Archdiocese Jan. 24 to 31, 2016. It is expected to draw 15,000 people worldwide, the CBCP said earlier.

 

Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle suggested three key actions to spiritually prepare the faithful for the congress:

 

— Joel Locsin/RSJ, GMA News