Manila: Pope Francis enjoyed a rapturous welcome in the Philippines yesterday as he began a five-day trip in the Catholic Church’s Asian heartland that is tipped to attract a world-record papal crowd.
Church bells tolled across the former Spanish colony as the charismatic pontiff flew into the capital of Manila after a successful visit to Sri Lanka. Francis smiled as he looked out the window of his plane upon touchdown, greeted by the sight of hundreds of children on the tarmac chanting: “Welcome Pope Francis”.
Francis has said his two-nation tour is aimed at adding momentum to the Church’s already impressive growth in Asia, with its support in the Philippines the benchmark for the rest of the region. Eighty percent of the former Spanish colony’s 100 million people practise a famously fervent brand of Catholicism, and the Pope is set to enjoy thunderously enthusiastic crowds throughout his stay.
“Every step he makes, every car ride he takes, every moment he stays with us is precious for us,” Archbishop Socrates Villegas, President of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, said as he called on all Filipinos to make an effort to see him.
Hundreds of thousands of people crowded the route the Pope passed as he made a 35-minute trip in a “Popemobile” from the airport to the Vatican’s embassy to rest overnight.
The Pope stood on the back of the vehicle, which had no walls, waving and smiling constantly to the crowd. “It’s a blessing to see the Pope. That’s why we’re here,” school teacher Jeannie Blesado, 35, said.
The high-point of his trip is expected to be an open-air mass on Sunday at a park in Manila, with organisers preparing for up to six million people despite a forecast of rain and security concerns. Organisers have said that, if the crowd is as big as expected, it will surpass the previous record for a papal gathering of five million during a mass by John Paul II at the same venue in 1995.
Francis, who is the fourth Pope to visit the Philippines, is also due to visit communities devastated by Super Typhoon Haiyan, which left 7,350 people dead or missing in 2013. Church officials have said one of the main reasons for Francis wanting to visit the Philippines was to make a “mercy and compassion” trip to meet survivors of the typhoon.
Tomorrow, he is scheduled to deliver a mass to tens of thousands of people in Tacloban, one of the worst-hit cities in the central Philippines, and have an intimate lunch with 30 typhoon survivors.
The main scheduled events today include a state welcome at the presidential palace, a mass at Manila Cathedral and a meeting at a shopping mall with thousands of families.
Authorities have expressed major concerns over the pope’s security in the Philippines, where attempts have been made to kill visiting pontiffs twice before. Nearly 50,000 soldiers and police are being deployed to protect Francis in what Philippine military chief General Gregorio Catapang described as a “security nightmare”. Potential stampedes from the giant crowds, as well as the threat of Islamic militants or lone-wolf assailants, are among the concerns.
Philippine President Benigno Aquino made a nationally televised address this week specifically to highlight the security threats for the Pope and call on all Filipinos to help protect him. Adding to the concerns, the pontiff has insisted he will not travel in a bullet-proof vehicle during his big events so he can be closer to the faithful.
Yesterday, barriers kept the crowds well away from the Pope as he travelled from the airport and his vehicle passed quickly along the route.
The Pope flew out of Sri Lanka yesterday morning, a day after one million people gathered to hear him give mass in what police said was the biggest public celebration ever for the capital of Colombo. His visit began on Tuesday. Archbishop Malcolm Ranjith said the Pope had brought “great joy” to the island as it struggled to recover from civil war.
AFP
MANILA: Almost 5,000 Filipinos left their homes every day between 2010 and 2013 to seek work overseas, government data shows, most hoping to provide an education for their children and to meet the most basic needs of their families.
That startling statistic helped make the Philippines one of the world’s largest labour suppliers, mainly to other countries in Asia and the Middle East, and the fourth-largest recipient of remittances worldwide.
However, the strain of decades of labour migration has come with a significant social cost in Asia’s largest Catholic community and likely will be addressed by Pope Francis. The Pope will meet ordinary Filipinos today, including a migrant worker’s family. About half of the country’s 100 million people have been affected by labour migration.
It is a timely meeting for Francis, who has made defence of vulnerable migrants and workers a central issue of his papacy.
“We acknowledge the economic benefits that it brings,” said George Campos, head of Couples for Christ, the largest Catholic family movement in the Philippines. “But it would not compensate (for) the loss of the parent from the children and the stability of the relationship within the family,” he said.
Between 10 million and 12 million Filipinos live and work overseas. With the average Philippine family comprising five members, that means at least half the population could depend on a relative working overseas sending money home to feed, clothe and educate their families.
Their remittances, which proved resilient during global economic crises, continue setting yearly records and account for about 9 percent of Philippine GDP.
However, the social costs of such large-scale labour migration include the alienation of parents from their children and the breakdown of families. Infidelity and marriage annulment cases have risen over the years — there is no divorce in the Philippines — although there are no official figures.
“From experience, the number one problem of couples is infidelity,” said Father Resty Ogsimer, executive secretary of the Catholic Church-based migrant welfare group ECMI. Cases of workers being duped into human trafficking and prostitution also appear to be on the rise.
There are more unexpected problems, authorities say, with families becoming accustomed to spending money they would not normally have and workers getting into debt to maintain new-found lifestyles. Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle said the Church must help children and spouses left behind to keep their families intact. “It is a pastoral concern,” Tagle said last week.
Reuters
