On March 16, 2021, the Philippines will mark its 500th year of Catholicism. With these
postulates of the New Evangelization, we respond to the call of the Spirit for
a New Evangelization by
focusing on the Nine Pastoral Priorities of the Church in the Philippines as the key themes over a nine-year period in preparation for this big milestone in Philippine Church.
Year 2013: Integral Faith
Formation. What a blessing it is that this first pastoral priority coincides with this Year of Faith as declared by
the Holy Father! Our pastoral concern goes out to the great many whose faith hardly plays
a significant role in daily private and public life. We reach out during this year to
those who have drifted away from the Christian faith. We note with sadness the erosion
of the faith and our need for true conversion. The Sacred Scriptures and Tradition, Vatican II and the Catechism of the Catholic Church and the Catechism for Filipino Catholics
will be fundamental references of the New Evangelization. This is the year of San Pedro
Calungsod, who with San Lorenzo Ruiz, provides an exemplary model for the mission
of the Church in the Philippines. Integral Faith Formation will ocus on the ―12
articles of Faith‖ found in the Apostles Creed. Faith Formation has one objective: a more intimate relationship between Jesus and his followers. Blessed John Paul uses the three
phrases: evangelization with ―new methods, new expressions, and new fervor.‖ In the
end, the Church follows the wayof holiness through conversion and discipleship.
Year 2014: Laity.
This year especially celebrates both the sacrament of Baptism by which all the faithful become God‘s sons and daughters and
the sacrament of Confirmation by which they become witnesses of Christ to
others. Yet the gifts of the Holy Spirit through these sacraments often remain dormant.
This year is to be devoted to the renewal of the laity, to their ―empowerment‖ or more
accurately to activating their charisms from the Spirit, so that they may indeed take up
their role as co-responsible agents of evangelization and lead in the task of social
transformation. In this regard, of paramount global importance is the ecological challenge of
climate change.
Year 2015: The Poor.
This year is dedicated to committing ourselves more firmly to our vision of becoming truly a Church of the Poor. The new
evangelization is also a powerful call from the Lord to follow in His footsteps to be
evangelically poor. How far have we journeyed to our vision of Church? How shall we assist the
materially poor to face the challenges of hunger and poverty, of globalization and
climate change? And together with them eradicate the evil of corruption and the economic
and political imbalances of our society? At the same time we realize that the
materially poor in our midst have the God-given power to tell the story of the poor Christ who by
His poverty liberates and enriches us. The whole Church, rich and poor,
powerful and powerless, have to be in solidarity in the work of restoring integrity and truth,
justice and peace – love – in our benighted land.
Year 2016: The
Eucharist and of the Family. This is a year of great blessing for us.The Holy Father has chosen Cebu as the host of the
Fifty-first International Eucharistic Congress. We will focus our pastoral action on making the
Eucharist better appreciated and its missionary implication better lived by the Catholic
faithful. We shall especially emphasize on forming the Filipino Family as a Eucharistic
community of parents and children, true to its name as a domestic church, rooted in
the Eucharist. An evangelized family is an evangelizing family. Even as it is
increasingly besieged by secularist values, the Family, as PCP-II has said, is ―the focal point of
evangelization.‖ We shall intensify our efforts to strengthen marriage and the family and to
protect them from ideas and values that destroy them.
Year 2017: The
Parish as a Communion of Communities. This is a year when we more deeply discern not only the structures of governance
of our dioceses and parishes but also of the quality of faith life in the parish, the
fellowship, belongingness, and participation experienced by its members. In a special way
we shall probe into our efforts of making the parish a communion of communities, a
communion of Basic Ecclesial Communities and of covenanted faith-communities and
ecclesial movements. We shall discern and implement measures on how communities of
consecrated life may be more integrated into the life and mission of the parish. In
brief, our focus will be the building of a parish that is truly a faith community immersed in the
lives of its people.
Year 2018: Clergy
and Religious. In our culture, clergy and religious are the key to the New Evangelization. Yet they are not immune to the twin
errors of a dichotomy of faith and inadequate discipleship of Christ. This is a year
dedicated to the integral renewal of the values, mind-sets, behavior, and life-styles of the
clergy and religious. The aim is to become servant-leaders in the manner of the Good Shepherd,
live the spirit of the evangelical counsels and be authentic prophets of the Good
News of Jesus and of the Kingdom. It will be a year, too, of revisiting ways of
seminary and religious formation, of on-going formation, and of the collaboration of the laity
in these crucial approaches to
integral growth and development in view of mission and
ministry.
Year 2019: Youth.
It is often said that the youth are the future of the Church. The youth are in fact the present of the Church. They are its most
numerous members. They inspire us by their active participation in society and in the
Church. The involvement of hundreds of thousands of young people in the various
activities of evangelization and social transformation is a call to greater participation in
the Church. ―New methods, new expressions and new fervor‖ of evangelization are imperative. We shall invite the youth to discern deeply their vocation in the world and in the
Church, especially the Lord‘s invitation to them to the priestly and religious life. How
we, as Church, respond to the aspirations of the youth will shape the third millennium.
Year 2020: Ecumenism
and Inter-Religious Dialogue. Different faiths and religions are a formidable challenge to a nation that strives to be a
community, a human family, a unity in diversity. This year will be devoted to exploring
new ways of being community through ecumenical and inter-religious relationships and
action. Caritas in veritate, open, honest, respectful – loving – dialogue of life, prayer and
action is the only way towards community. At stake are the great values of peace and
harmony, particularly in areas of armed conflict, solidarity in the struggle
for social change, unity in healing social ills, integrity and social justice in our land.
Year 2021: Missio ad
gentes. We are indeed proud that so many of the Filipino faithful (laity, priests, and religious) are missionaries in all the
continents of the world. It is the duty of faith in Christ to tell his story to others,
especially to those who have not sufficiently heard of him. Even as we are deeply inspired
by the stories of Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) witnessing to their faith in ―ad
gentes‖ regions as well as in highly secularized countries, we need to explore new ways
of assisting them as
evangelizers. We have been challenged by Blessed John Paul
to become the ―foremost missionaries‖ in Asia. This year will be devoted to how we are fulfilling that
vocation, how a mission-consciousness in all the faithful can be
formed, how each one can be animated into becoming a missionary even at home, and more
concretely how parishes and dioceses are supporting our own Philippine-Mission
Society.
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