Pope tweets visit to Asia, asks for prayers

MANILA, Philippines - Pope Francis yesterday asked the Catholic faithful through the micro-blogging site Twitter to pray for the people of the Philippines and Sri Lanka.

Marked as a “favorite” by 23,000 people, the tweet had been retweeted 13,000 times as of yesterday afternoon.

Through his official Twitter account Pope Francis (@Pontifex), Francis tweeted: “Please pray with me for everyone in Sri Lanka and the Philippines as I begin my trip.”

The 78-year-old Francis sent out the message before the start of his journey to the two countries.

In Sri Lanka, one of his activities is to say mass and declare Blessed Joseph Vaz a saint at the Galie Face Green.

Francis will arrive in the Philippines after an almost nine-hour plane trip from Sri Lanka.

He will land at Villamor Air Base in Pasay City to begin his five-day visit that carries the theme “Mercy and Compassion.”

Francis’ primary agenda is to visit the survivors of calamities in the Visayas, particularly those affected by Typhoon Yolanda and the 7.2 magnitude earthquake that hit Bohol and Cebu.

Francis could cancel his courtesy visit to Malacañang, a meeting with the youth at the University of Santo Tomas and the mass at the Quirino Grandstand, but not his travel to Tacloban City and Palo, Leyte.

Smart, Twitter tie up for papal visit

Smart Communications Inc. has tied up with Twitter to give the 69 million subscribers of Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. unlimited free access to the popular social networking app during the papal visit from Jan. 15 to 19.

Smart is one of the wireless arms of PLDT.

Napoleon Nazareno, PLDT and Smart president and CEO, said all the prepaid and postpaid subscribers of Smart, Talk ’N Text and Sun Cellular could share their papal visit experience online via Twitter without worrying about mobile data charges.

“With this collaboration, Smart and Twitter aim to allow more Filipinos to get involved and immerse in this historic experience with Pope Francis, who our Catholic nation hold very dear to our heart,” he said.

Nazareno said the partnership would allow more Filipinos to follow the pope’s Twitter account (@Pontifex), send wishes and prayers to the pope using #DearPopeFrancis hashtag, and get real-time updates on the much anticipated apostolic and state visit of Pope Francis in the Philippines, he added.

“In the same way Pope Francis has embraced Twitter with his official account @Pontifex to reach out to more Catholics all over the world, Filipinos may use this very same platform on their mobile devices to see events unfold and join heartfelt conversations – whether they are physically present in the event or not,” he said.

“Nowhere is this service any more timely and suitable than during a momentous occasion in the world’s social media capital and Asia’s largest Catholic country. Through this, we shall create and leave behind a digital footprint of our nation’s papal visit experience.”

Arvinder Gujra, Twitter director business development for India and Southeast Asia, said Twitter is excited to partner with Smart to enable all Filipinos to get closer to the pope and connect with the local community for this historic occasion.

“Most importantly, join the Twitter flock and sign up now to follow the pope’s Twitter account @Pontifex during his visit, so that you can be one of the first to get the pope’s tweets via the Twitter app on your Smart mobile device,” he said.

Filipinos could express their hopes and prayers using Tweets with #DearPopeFrancis hashtag as well as getting real-time updates, photos and conversations in their Twitter timeline on Pope Francis’ first-ever visit to the Philippines, Guiral said.

More details of the pope’s visit, including #DearPopeFrancis Tweets, videos, stories and the pope’s itinerary, can be found at dearpopefrancis.ph.

Smart, Sun Cellular and Talk ’N Text subscribers nationwide may start their one-time registration for the free Twitter service by simply texting DEARPOPE to 9999 starting Jan. 15.

Once registered, subscribers may tweet their aspirations and messages to the beloved pope using #DearPopeFrancis. Subscribers may also post real-time updates, upload photos and even reach out to him through his official Twitter account @Pontifex on their mobile devices at no extra cost.

The pope is the 2nd most followed world leader on Twitter today with over 17 million followers across his nine accounts in different languages. His tweets are among the most popular on Twitter and are consistently retweeted several thousand times.

Twitter has over 284 million monthly active users worldwide, of whom 80 percent are on mobile.

Upon successful registration, subscribers may either use the Twitter mobile app or access m.twitter.com on their mobile browser for the whole duration of the papal visit.

Subscribers have to maintain at least P1 load balance every day or be subscribed to any plan, promo or bundle to enjoy the free service.

Moreover, mobile users who are registered to the ongoing Smart Free Internet promo may enjoy the Free Twitter service on top of their 30 MB allocation.

Security X-rays at nunciature

X-ray scanners have reportedly been installed outside the Apostolic Nunciature on Taft Avenue, Manila to secure Pope Francis, who will be staying at the Holy See embassy from Jan. 15-19.

Pasig Bishop Mylo Vergara, Papal Visit Committee information head, said the government is in charge of the security at the Apostolic Nunciature.

Government and Catholic Church officials, along with Vatican City police, conducted yesterday a dry run at the Manila Cathedral and other places that Francis will visit.

Among the places that the Vatican police visited were the Quirino Grandstand in Rizal Park in Manila.

Francis will celebrate an open air mass at the Quirino Grandstand on Jan. 18.

At the Manila Cathedral, he will preside over a mass with Catholic archbishops, bishops, priests and members of the religious.

Senior Superintendent Joel Colonel, Manila police deputy director for operations, said Francis will travel in an enclosed car from Malacañang to the Manila Cathedral.

“It will be bullet proof, bomb proof, shock proof. Definitely, it can withstand attacks,” he said.

The overnment will provide the car, Colonel said.

A popemobile will trail the enclosed car in case Francis decides to divert from the schedule.

The travel from Malacañang to the Manila Cathedral is estimated to last 30 minutes.

People going to Manila Cathedral would be more manageable since they have been pre-selected.

Only the associates and companions of people invited inside the cathedral will be be allowed to stay at the plaza in front. – With Lawrence Agcaoili