October 22, 2013: Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle of Manila led a prayer service with
leaders of other faiths on Friday October 18, where he asked for forgiveness for the
“sins of the Church.”
At the end of the three-day Philippine Conference on
New Evangelization, the prelate said “we want to say how sorry we are for the sins,
the hurts that we have inflicted on Catholics and non-Christians." “We want to ask
forgiveness from the women who have been degraded, dehumanized," he said.
“We
ask forgiveness of children who did not experience caring. We want to ask forgiveness
of the youth that do not find in our communities always a home that will welcome them."
To those who have hurt the Church, he said, “We want to say we forgive you, we love
you, and we hope we can start to build a world of love, justice, truth, and peace,
not just for ourselves but for the next generations.”
Cardinal Tagle convened
the conference as a response to calls by Pope Francis and Pope Benedict XVI to make
evangelization “more relevant” in the face of the changing social, technological,
cultural, economic, civil and religious landscapes.
Conference delegates came
from throughout Asia, including Hong Kong, India, Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan, Thailand,
South Korea, Myanmar, Japan, Sri Lanka and Indonesia. A contingent from the United
States also attended. (Source: UCANews)