Philippine Catholic leaders plan official invitation for Pope Francis to visit in 2021 

MANILA, Philippines — Leaders of the Philippines’ Catholic Church will iron out the details of the official invitation for Pope Francis to come back to the country this 2021. 

According to a report in state-run Philippine News Agency, the bishops will finalize plans on inviting the pope at the 118th Plenary Assembly of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines this weekend.

The invitation will be for the country’s celebration of 500 years of Christianity in the Philippines. 

CBCP's Secretary General Fr. Marvin Mejia said putting the event on his calendar for 2021 is an important thing. “What is important is we have an invitation," he said. 

The event is scheduled to take place in Cebu, where Magellan originally brought the image of the Santo Niño — making the introduction of Christianity to the Philippines — in the year 1521. 

Cebu was not one of the places the pope visited when he was here in 2015, only making appearances in Manila and Tacloban, an area devastated by Super Typhoon Haiyan in 2013. 

Mejia said, however, that he is unsure if the Pontiff would accept the invitation this time. 

Tension has heightened between the Catholic Church and the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte over the past two years. 

It was Pope Francis' 2015 visit that Duterte made headlines for cursing the pontiff for triggering gridlock across Metro Manila for his visit. 

The incident prompted then CBCP President and Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas to issue a statement condemning the president’s words. 

READ: A look at the Church's 'tirades' vs Duterte

At the beginning of January 2017, the president began to step up his attacks on the Church due to its criticism of his drug war policies and his human rights record.

Sorsogon Bishop and critic Arturo Bastes was quoted in a media report saying the verbal attacks on the church was one reason why he was not sure if the pope would accept the invitation this time. 

Cebu also hosted the 2016 International Eucharistic Congress, where an estimated 1.5 million Filipino Catholics and people from around the world attended masses and other events of the congress.

Bastes told PNA that despite the fact that the pope has visited before and the tensions with the president, he still hopes that there is “some possibility” that the pontiff would come upon the invitation of the CBCP. — Ryan Macasero