Pope Francis to Visit PHL in 2015

Pope Francis is planning to visit the Philippines, including Sri Lanka, in January next year, Catholic News Service (CNS) said on Tuesday.

CNS said the Pope “announced he plans to visit the Philippines and Sri Lanka in January.” No other details came with the announcement.

Earlier this month, Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle said in a separate CNS report that plans are underway for Pope Francis’ visit to the Philippines.

He said one purpose of the papal visit “could be to come close to the people who suffered from the recent typhoon (in November) and the earthquake (in October).”

Tagle, in the same interview with CNS, said the Vatican has not yet announced the dates and the specific itinerary that the pope will observe.

Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) president and Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas said he finds no problem with making preparations for the Pope’s visit on short notice if the visit pushes through, said a report from GMA News Online.

If the visit will push through, Pope Francis, who came from a three-day visit to the Holy Land recently, will be the third pope to visit the Philippines, after Pope Paul VI (1970) and now St. John Paul II (1981 and 1995).