After the historic visit of Pope Francis the Bishops of the Philippines gathered in Manila for the Plenary Assembly of the Bishops' Conference. The meeting will last until January 22 which will discuss the main issues such as the new evangelization and the "Year of the poor", proclaimed by the local Church for 2015.
Speaking to Fides Fr. Melvin Castro, Secretary of the Commission on Family and
Life of the Catholic Bishops' Conference said, they would look at these urgent needs
in a different light after the Pope’s visit. “Among the Bishops, among the clergy
and the faithful, there is a great enthusiasm for what Pope Francis donated to our
Church he said. The Pope received spiritual energy from the crowd of faithful who
welcomed him, and our Church in the Philippines received great consolation and strong
enthusiasm to live and profess its faith, thanks to Pope Francis presence and words”,
continues Fr.Castro.
“The Pope – he remarks - showed us a model of Church which is attentive towards the
poor. This approach will have a strong impact in the long term in the Philippine Church.
The poor teach that man is worth for what he is, and not for what he has”.
Fr. Castro also notes the impetus given to the Filipino laity, that after the Pope’s
trips, “will bear fruit of a greater involvement in pastoral care, especially for
families and young people”. With regards to the family, Fr. Castro noted: “We are
happy that the Pope spoke out in defense of the family and stigmatized the ideology
that comes from Western culture, which exports divorce, abortion, homosexual marriage,
inviting us to promote and defend family with the traditional values of Philippine
culture”, concluded Fr. Castro.
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