Atin Ito First Filipino Community Newspaper in Ontario
MANILA – The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) would hold its 128th plenary assembly in Cagayan de Oro City early next month.
Over 80 bishops are expected to attend the assembly at the Chali Conference Center on July 6 to 8, CBCP secretary general Msgr. Bernardo Pantin said in a statement Friday.
This is the first time the CBCP will hold its plenary assembly in Mindanao, with the election of chairpersons for the Commission on Catholic Education, Sub-commission on Retired, Sick and Elderly Priests, Sub-commission for Permanent Deacons, and Office for the Postulation of the Causes of Saints topping the high-level meeting’s agenda.
There will also be discussions on the proposed activities for the Jubilee 2025 celebrations in the Philippines.
“Let us pray for the bishops as they gather, discuss and pray about the future of the Church in the Philippines,” Pantin said.
The bi-annual event will begin with a closed-door meeting to be headed by CBCP president Bishop Pablo Virgilio David, composed of 83 active bishops, five priest administrators and 39 honorary members who are retired bishops.
Prior to the assembly, the attendees will have a retreat with a theme “Synod spirituality: Embracing ecology in the light of Laudato Sí and Laudate Drum” at the Abbey of the Transfiguration run by the Benedictine Monks in Malaybalay, Bukidnon on July 2 to 4.
Archbishop Paul Gallagher, Vatican’s Secretary for Relations with States, and theologians Fr. Reynaldo Raluto and Fr. Daniel Franklin Pilario are among the speakers at the retreat.
Raluto is the chair of the Diocese of Malaybalay’s Integral Ecology Ministry, while Pilario currently serves as president of Adamson University in Manila.
The plenary assembly convenes twice every year, in January and July. When they are not in session, the Permanent Council acts on behalf of the episcopal conference. — Ferdinand Patinio (PNA)
*****
Credit belongs to: www.pna.gov.ph
