Four Manila newspapers repeat the same word: “Welcome ”

(Vatican Radio) Sean Patrick Lovett who heads the English programme of Vatican Radio is currently in the  Philippines reporting on the Apostolic visit of Pope Francis to Asia which has taken him to  Sri Lanka over the past three days. Pope Francis arrived in the Philipppines on Thursday 15th January where he  will stay until Monday the 19th and as Sean Patrick Lovett tells us he seems to have already captured media attention:

Listen to Sean Patrick Lovett's report from Manila: 

Four Manila daily newspapers - four headlines - that repeat the same word: “Welcome."

The Manila Times uses the word to caption an almost page-size picture of the Pope and to punctuate a lead article that gushes with adjectives like “tumultuous” and “adoring”. All the front-page stories are Pope-dedicated and range from why Filipinos should not expect “political fireworks from Pope Francis” - to why nowadays it’s a case of “Vatican, not Vatican’t”... The editorial, entitled “Please, Holy Father, help save the Philippine Republic”, is emblematic of many of the expectations surrounding the visit. Namely, that Pope Francis is going to be something like a papal panacea for all the nation’s ills.

Here’s a sampling of what they would like him to solve: poverty, injustice, bribery and corruption, abuse, criminality, inequity, violence, migration, housing, unemployment, the environment, animal rights, mining violations, gender issues, the plight of the disabled... and not only in the Philippines – but the world. 

Just in case you think I’m joking, The Philippine Star runs a front-page story entitled “Dear Francis…” and lists several of these appeals for papal intervention which include those of  two separate politicians who want him to support a new bill legalizing divorce. Just for the record, the same Manila tabloid qualifies its “welcome” headline as being one “with open arms” and actually urges people to come out to greet him, promising it will be the “experience of a lifetime”.

Particularly interesting is an article on page 2 reporting on how Muslim groups here have expressed their support for Pope Francis’ visit and are hoping his words and presence may contribute to ensuring peace and development in Mindanao. Mindanao is the largest southernmost island in the Philippines. It has a strong Muslim presence (about 20%) and has long been the theatre of a communist insurgency and home to separatist movements.

Manila’s Business Mirror quantifies its “welcome” claiming that “6 million Filipinos will personally greet Pope Francis”. At this stage, six million does seem to be the generally accepted estimate for the number of people, overall, who will have seen the Pope, somehow, during his five-day visit here. Inevitably, the article is especially intrigued by the vibrant sale of papal paraphernalia such as coffee mugs, t-shirts, button pins, and even posters of the hit show “Pope Francis, Musical” (in which the Pope is portrayed singing a little One Direction…or so I’m told).

The Philippine Daily Inquirer offers a little of all the above, providing the local Tagalog version of “welcome” in the linguistic mix of “Mabuhay, Papa Francis” and accompanying a head-to-toe portrait of the Pope. Front-page articles are by Filipino journalists travelling on the papal plane and mostly describing their on-board experience of being “touched by papal charism”. On page 4 we are informed that, despite readying 1 million raincoats in Palo where the Pope will visit typhoon survivors on Saturday, prayers have indeed been answered and it appears unlikely that tropical storm “Amang” will make landfall after all. Rain, however, is predicted – and umbrellas have been banned…for security reasons.