The Vatican, Italy (The Adobo Chronicles) – Filipino Church leaders preparing for Pope Francis’ visit to the Philippines in January have announced that the head of the Roman Catholic Church will speak in English during his speeches and meetings with the Filipino people. This, despite the fact that the Argentinian pontiff is not as comfortable with English as he is in Latin and Spanish.

Today, however, The Vatican once again surprised many who are closely watching the Pope’s pronouncements and activities. It was revealed that Francis has instead chosen to speak in Tagalog while visiting the Philippines. He is currently taking Tagalog lessons from a private coach in Rome.

Tagalog (Pilipino) is the national language of the Philippines. It draws on many Spanish words (The Philippines was under Spanish rule for many centuries before the U.S. brought Hollywood into the country).

Pope Francis said that so far, learning Tagalog has been a breeze, saying that in fact, he didn’t have to re-learn many words and phrases which have the same meaning in both Tagalog and Spanish, like ‘Padre’ (father), ‘relihiyon’ (religion), ‘krus’ (cross), and ‘Espirito Santo’ (Holy Spirit).

Perhaps the only phrase the Pope will not get quite right is ‘noche buena’ which douesn’t mean ‘a good night’ in Tagalog. Rather it means ‘midnight feast.’ As in food.