Pope Francis Visits the Philippines

The Pope has embarked on his Southeast Asia tour visiting Sri Lanka and now the Philippines from the 13th to 19th of January. On the last leg of his trip, the Philippines government has declared the 15th to 19th as a special non-working holiday to make way for the papal visit. The Pope’s Philippine itinerary included a welcome ceremony at the Malacañang Palace, a mass with the religious at the Manila Cathedral, a meeting with families at the Mall of Asia Arena, and a day trip to Tacloban. Unfortunately, due to an impending typhoon, the Pope was only able to break bread with several Yolanda volunteers and give a brief message at the Palo Church. On January 18th, the Pope met with leaders of different religions as well as held a meeting with the youth in the University of Sto. Tomas in Manila and celebrated a concluding mass at the Rizal Park. The Pope ends his trip in Manila with a send off at 9:45 am tomorrow, January 19th, at the Villamor Air Base.

A man of many languages

The Pope has been seen as a man of many languages as evidenced by his capabilities to speak in English apart from his long list of spoken languages. He has also noted that in the course of his travels, he has been able to pick up some words from the different countries and cities that he has passed along the way. The Pope is a man that digs deeper than the itineraries presented to him. Aside from unannounced stops at local orphanages or priestly ministries, he has always expressed a fondness for culture and tries his best to learn a little bit more about the country so that he may take away much more with him. From this point of view, one may argue that, indeed, it is important for the Pope to witness the day-to-day habits of people in order for him to fully understand their current situations. By learning a little bit of their culture and language, he is able to reach more people, appear closer to them and, touch the hearts of those who look up to him.

Pope Francis’ many languages

The Vatican has released a list of languages that the Pope can fluently speak. Apart from his native Spanish, Pope Francis can also speak Latin (the official language of the Holy See), Italian, Portuguese, French, German, Ukrainian, and even Piedmontese, a language belonging a northern Italian region. Although his English is not a primary language, he has been seen and heard speaking it especially in English speaking countries, as this is way of getting closer to a foreign audience.

Msgr. Mark Gerard Mile

Msgr. Mark Gerard Mile has traveled by the Pope’s side during his South East Asia tour and assisted the Pope by translating his native Spanish into English. Although the Pope can speak in English, he is neither as confident nor fluent so it was wise for him to have a translator who can best make sure the quality of his words are captured in his speeches. When it comes to the English language, the Pope prefers to read from a speech that has been translated for him ahead of time or if he is talking in Spanish, it has been noted that the Pope sometimes veers off his usual speech to jest with the crowds in English. In his most recent trip to the Philippines, it was noted that the Pope came with a ready-made speech in English for his address in Malacañang with the President. However, for his next few public engagements such as the Encounter With Families at the Mall of Asia Arena as well as his Holy Mass in Tacloban, his choice language was Spanish with Msgr. Mark Gerard Mile doing a side-by-side English translation.

“No Worries on Translation”

According to the officials of the Philippine government, there should not be any problems with the Pope’s grasp of English as he has noted that many officials and government workers do not use English as their first language. It was also mentioned that whenever government officials leave the country for official business, they take with them an interpreter from the Department of Foreign affairs who can best express their sentiments for them in English or the official language of the country being visited.