MANILA — Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle is set to leave the country this month to meet with officials of the Vatican to discuss details of the four-day Apostolic Visit of Pope Francis in the country in January 2015.
The head of the Archdiocese of Manila is scheduled to fly to Rome on September 21 together with some members of the key commission to meet with their counterparts at the Vatican.
“The local commissions have started the initial work. We will be going to Vatican to study what are the things to be done and not to be done in connection with the Holy Father’s visit early next year,” he said in an interview.
Tagle added, “In November the Vatican official in charge of the Papal trips will return here and we hope we will come up with the final program, maybe we can release the details by the end of November. As of now, there are no final details yet, they are still being studied.”
As for the popemobile, the Catholic prelate said they also have no idea yet.
He was asked if it will be a bulletproof vehicle, “We don’t know yet but even in the Vatican the Holy Father is not using a bulletproof vehicle so it will be cared as a practice in areas he visited.”
Pope Francis visited Korea in August, he used a vehicle with a roof and the sides and back of the car is open.
The pontiff is scheduled to visit the Philippines from January 15 to 19, 2015. He will be the third pope to visit the country, the other two were Pope Paul VI in 1970 and Pope John Paul II in 1981 and 1995.