2014-11-21 15:37:00

Philippine Church officials say papal visit not fundraising event


Philippine Church officials expect Pope Francis' Jan. 15-19 pastoral visit to bring healing to victims of disasters. ‎They also emphasized that the visit will not be a fundraising event for the church. Members of the ‎media relations committee for the papal visit told reporters on Thursday that the Vatican sought a cap ‎on spending for Pope Francis' visit. They said the pope had requested that money saved go toward ‎rebuilding after disasters such as Typhoon Haiyan, one of the most powerful tropical cyclones to hit the ‎Philippines. The pontiff's visit includes a stop in Tacloban and nearby Palo, cities in the central ‎Philippines where the November 2013 typhoon took the most lives of the 7,300 dead and missing. Msgr. ‎Marvin Mejia, secretary-general of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines, said bishops ‎were chipping in toward the costs of the visit out of their own pockets.  He said they had not yet tallied ‎how much has been given. He also said the only special seating at the pope's outdoor Mass in Manila ‎would go to the poor and people with disabilities in groups of five from all dioceses across the country; ‎everyone else would get in on a first-come, first-served basis. The conference and the Archdiocese of ‎Manila have been reminding the faithful that no tickets are being sold to any papal events, and they ‎have warned against scammers.‎ (Source: CNS)








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