His Holiness Pope Francis has extended his warmest wishes and conveyed his Apostolic Blessing to the Diocese of Dumaguete as the 1st diocesan pastoral assembly ended with a positive note Thursday.
The message from the Secretariat of the State of the Holy See, which was transmitted through the Apostolic Nunciature in the Philippines in a letter signed by its Charge d’ Affaires, a.i., Msgr. Chibuike Onyeaghala, was read by Fr. Carmelito Limbaga, Jr. during the concelebrated Mass presided by Dumaguete Bishop Julito Cortes at the St. Catherine of Alexandria Cathedral in Dumaguete City on Friday.
In that letter, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Secretary of State of the Holy See, said the Holy Father, Pope Francis, was pleased to know of the Diocesan Pastoral Assembly in Dumaguete and sends his cordial good wishes to the bishop, the clergy, consecrated men and women, and lay faithful taking part in this important event.
“His Holiness hopes that these days of reflection will be marked by deep prayer and serve to strengthen the bonds of communion among all the members of the Diocese of Dumaguete”.
The Pontiff also encourages the diocesan members who are now “renewed in friendship and in the love of Christ, to witness to the Gospel, ‘not only in words, but above all by a life transfigured by God’s presence’ (Evangelii Gaudium, 259)”.
Pope Francis ended his message by imparting his Apostolic Blessing as a “pledge of peace and joy in the Lord” as he commended all present to the intercession of the Mary, Mother of the Church.
Bishop Cortes has expressed his happiness over the Pope’s warm greetings and Apostolic Blessing to the diocesan pastoral assembly despite the short time to prepare for this assembly.
It was at the time when the prelate was in Siquijor, grieving for the passing away of his mother a few weeks back, that Bishop Cortes said he realized the need for a linkage with the Universal Church in this exercise.
“Although we are a diocese, we are part of the Universal Church and so it is important we have a connection with the Holy Father”, and the Apostolic Nunciature facilitated the word coming from the Holy Father, Bishop Cortes said.
With this, the Dumaguete prelate said that during the assembly, “we were not on our own…and having that letter from the Holy Father is a sign and a significant symbol of communion with the rest of the Universal Church”.
The three-day diocesan pastoral assembly attended by more than 90 priests led by Dumaguete Bishop Julito Cortes and a number of selected participants from the religious groups and laity aims to reinvigorate the local Church through amplifying or even revamping the diocese’s mission, vision and core values according to contemporaneous times.
A satisfied Bishop Cortes said following the successful assembly, the diocese will now move forward to finalizing the results and coming up with a general plan in the next two years as he expressed hope the reinvigorated vision, mission and core values of the diocese will be applicable for the next 15 to 20 years. Dumaguete bishop urges priests to take responsibility of church structures, responsibilities.
Meanwhile, Bishop Cortes is challenging the priests to look into the structures of the local Catholic Church as provided for by the Canon Law and take full charge of these different offices.
The bishop sounded his call during the recently concluded three-day diocesan pastoral assembly to revisit the local Catholic Church’s vision and mission in response to the call for evangelization and to revitalize the diocese in response to current times.
“The aim here really is to find our bearing as we face the challenges of the coming year, especially with our realities and what is going on in the Church and the world today”, said Bishop Cortes on Monday as he delivered his keynote during the opening of the diocesan pastoral assembly.
The assembly’s objective is to clarify the vision and mission of the church and as a diocese, anchoring on the 1st Synod of Dumaguete which was held in 1991, and “how we can make use of that same vision and update that with the present realities and challenges”, said Bishop Cortes.
Another objective, Cortes pointed out, is the challenge for the priests, especially those holding certain posts in the diocese, to make full use of their offices.
He cited as an example the office of the vicar general, episcopal vicars, vicars foraine and other such offices that are already there provided for by law, which he said he hopes that the priests taking responsibility for these offices will really make full use of such offices.
Also, the assembly aims to look into the different commissions which are the working committees of the diocese, review their tasks that actually provide services to the people in terms of “priestly, prophetic and kingly” roles, the prelate said.
“What we are doing now is to freshen up and revitalize all of these structures and what we do, and as as we go along we are guided of course by the mandate of the Holy Father, Pope Francis, who gave us a very clear mandate on how to and where he wants to bring us as a church of mercy and compassion”.
This of course is also alongside the agenda of the Philippine Church, especially that it has its “year agenda” up to the year 2021, Bishop Cortes said.
”We are now celebrating the Year of the Poor and we are entering into the Year of the family and the Eucharist next year,” he added.
Bishop Cortes further explained that a two year period through 2017 will be for the implementation of the results of this year’s diocesan pastoral assembly.
Although he explained that the diocese has started implementing some activities already in time for the 25th anniversary of the Synod of Dumaguete in 2016.
Bishop Cortes said he has given a guide for the two years “to do according to what we can and not what we cannot”.
Hopefully, the hard copy of the results of the assembly this year will be made available next year and will be fully implemented in 2017, Cortes added. (PNA/JFP)
