Pastoral Letter in preparation for Pope Francis visit

Dearly beloved in Christ: The Lord and ruler is coming; kingship is his, and government and power!
For us Filipinos, the words of the Entrance Antiphon of today's Mass are doubly evocative. Indeed, Christ has come on Christmas Day and today he shows himself to the nations as represented by those wise men from the east. But for us, these words also allude to the visit of our beloved Holy Father, Pope Francis. He comes not a celebrity - although he is one, having just been named Man of the Year by Time Magazine. Neither does he come as a mere spiritual leader - although he is that too, as head of the largest religious denomination in the world. Much more than these, for us he comes as the Vicar of Christ or as St. Catherine of Sienna would say: "Il dolce Christo in Terra", the Sweet Christ on earth

Arise, shine out, Jerusalem for your light has come, the glory of the Lord is rising on you, though night still covers the earth and darkness the peoples. The words of the Prophet Isaias, which we heard in the First Reading of today's mass, should help us even more to realize the importance of this occasion. For several days, we shall Peter among us. He who stands in the shoes of the fisherman stands in the shoes of Christ. To hear him, to be with him to pray with him, and to attend or con-celebrate Mass with him would be tantamount to be with Christ as he walked among us.

Tight security for the Papal Visit.

Thousands of policemen will be deployed in Metro Manila to ensure a trouble-free five-day visit to the Philippines by Pope Francis starting on Jan. 15, 2015.

World's .5-million people coming to meet Pope.

Close to half a million people will gather in Manila from January 12 to 18 to take part in the World Youth Day (WYD) Celebration and to meet Pope Francis who will grace the affair. President Aquino was informed by Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle, archbishop of Manila, that about half of the delegates or 250,000 will come from all over the world and provinces. Tagle told the President that the arrival of this huge number of people will pose tremendous accommodation, transportation and food problems. To solve these problems, Cardinal Tagle proposed that the Government officials be enjoined to play host to one or two delegates each "as a gesture of hospitality." Responding positively to the Archbishop's proposal, the President issued a memorandum to all government officials and employees in Metro Manila requesting them to adopt and provide a "home empowerment" to at least two World Youth Day delegates (either Filipinos or foreigners) each. The participating officials and employees shall provide the following for the delegates: 1. rooms of at least two square meters in size, food (breakfast, lunch, dinner, merienda) and pack food if the meals cannot be taken home and transport to and from the WYD pick-up points or transportation allowance if the government official or employee does not have vehicles.
Filipino participants shall be adopted for a minimum of eight days (January 12 to 19, 2015) and foreign delegates for a minimum of 11 days (January 10-20, 2015).
The President also encouraged all interested government officials and employees to send their children 15 years old and above to the WYD.

Banning of vans eyed for Papal Visit.

A Metro Manila Council proposal banning "container vans" from the period of January 1 to 31, 2015 in time for the Papal Visit was laid down yesterday for consultation with various government agencies and interest groups.