Palace asks public for understanding over inconveniences from papal visit preps

Malacañang on Saturday asked the public for understanding over the inconveniences that may be caused by ongoing preparations for the visit of Pope Francis to the Philippines in January.

Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr. already pointed out most of the preparations involve security measures.

"We ask you to bear with us and we ask for your understanding because we know that everyone wants the Pope to be safe while he is here in Manila and in Tacloban," she said on government-run dzRB radio.

On Friday, organizers of the papal visit to the Philippines disclosed the pope's itinerary, which includes 11 venues in Manila and Tacloban City.

But Valte also asked for cooperation from those who want to get near the pope when he visits.

"Marami na ho talaga tayong excited (na mga kababayan), lalo ho doon sa mga nakakarinig na dahil magkakaroon nga po ng misa sa Maynila, kaya ‘yon po, hinihingi po natin ang inyong kooperasyon," she said.

Frenzied preparations

For his part, Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines president and Lingayen-Dagupan archbishop Socrates Villegas said the days leading to Jan. 15 will be "frenzied."

"The days leading up to January 15 will be busy if not frenzied for people in the Church and in Government who are tasked with preparing for the events.  There will be great interest and curiosity about the who, the what, the how,  and the why of the visit.  There will be an appetite for the minutiae, the littlest and even the most trivial things: what the Pope will eat, what he will drink, etc.," he said.

"But as, we, the bishops, said in our pastoral letter last July, the visit of Pope Francis 'carries a message of pastoral love, mercy and compassion' and it is through the understanding and living out of this message that the grace of joy will flow," he added.

Villegas urged fellow Filipinos to extend a hearty and warm welcome to Pope Francis.

"But most importantly let us open our hearts to the message he will bring and, even now, extend the love, mercy and compassion and kindness that he practices to one another, that he may find in our country a blessed, kind, and grateful people.  Let us all work and act together to make his visit a moment of grace for us and our country," he said. — Joel Locsin/JDS, GMA News