Church

A church official called on the faithful to pray that more Covid-19 vaccines will be accessible for Filipinos as soon as possible.

Military Bishop Oscar Florencio, vice chairman of the bishops’ Commission on Health Care, said that more people need to be inoculated to protect the country’s population.

“We pray that the next deliveries of vaccines will be speedy because it’s the lives of our people that are at stake here,” Florencio said.

Archbishop Jose Palma of Cebu has tested positive for Covid-19 on Thursday, making him the seventh Filipino prelate to contract the disease.

The archdiocese made the announcement on Friday following confirmation from swab and laboratory results.

Monsignor Joseph Tan, spokesman of the archdiocese, said that Palma is now under the medical care at the Perpetual Succour Hospital in Cebu.

“The archbishop remains in a stable condition. Let us all pray for his steady and speedy recovery,” Tan said.

Catholic dioceses across the country will designate “jubilee churches” for the 500th anniversary of the arrival of Christianity in the Philippines.

Archbishop Romulo Valles, president of the bishops’ conference, said dioceses will kick off the jubilee year by opening the pilgrim churches’ “holy door” on April 4.

“The jubilee year would open on Easter Sunday, remembering on this day the first recorded Eucharist celebrated in our land,” Valles said.

MANILA – The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP)-Episcopal Commission for Bioethics lauded the government for considering the less fortunate Filipinos to be prioritized in the national coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) vaccination program.

On the eve of the Black Nazarene feast, a Catholic bishop called on devotees to observe health protocols and reminded them that with acts of faith comes responsibility.

As Covid-19 pandemic continues, Auxiliary Bishop Nolly Buco of Antipolo urged the devotees to do their part as Christian believers.

He said people cannot claim their right to worship if they cannot observe their duties and obligations.

“We have to cooperate as believers because we want to be an instrument to maintain the health of each other,” Buco said.

Updates for anticipated Mass new schedule:

Starting this Saturday - January 9, 2021

5:30AM - Tagalog Mass

8:15AM - English Mass

9:30AM - Cebuano Mass

11:30AM - English Mass

4:15PM - Tagalog Mass

5:30PM - English Mass

Reminders:

> Wear face mask

> Bring digital ID

> Social distancing

> Not yet allowed the children 13 years old below and those vulnerable Senior Citizens inside the Church during Holy Mass.

* Weekly Regular Mass at 5:30AM and 5:30PM

VATICAN— Giving his traditional Christmas “Urbi et Orbi” blessing Friday, Pope Francis called for coronavirus vaccines to be made available to the world’s neediest people.

The pope made a special appeal to leaders to grant the poor access to vaccines against the virus which has claimed more than 1.7 million lives worldwide as of Dec. 25.

He said: “Today, in this time of darkness and uncertainty because of the pandemic, several lights of hope appear, such as the discoveries of vaccines.”

In his first public Mass in the Philippines, papal nuncio Archbishop Charles John Brown on Friday said that the Christian mission today means facing new challenges with openness to God.

Speaking at the St. Anthony of Padua in Manila’s Malate district, he stressed that each Christian has a role to play in God’s plan.

“It doesn’t matter what kind of vocation you have… God’s plan is working through you if you allow it to happen,” Brown said in his homily on the third day of the traditional “Misa de Gallo”.

MANILA - The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines has appointed Fr. Carlo Del Rosario as its new Assistant Secretary General.

A priest of the Archdiocese of Manila, he succeeds Msgr. Bernardino Pantin who is now the Conference’s Secretary General.

Del Rosario assumed the post on Dec. 15 and will serve until July 15 next year, subject to the disposition of the new Manila archbishop.

Born in 1982, he was ordained a priest in 2010 after his theological studies at the UST Central Seminary, where he also earned his licentiate in canon law.

On the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, a Catholic bishop called on the faithful not to be ashamed to share how God has changed their hearts and lives.

Bishop Broderick Pabillo, administrator of the Manila archdiocese, said that the mission of all Christians is to proclaim and live the Gospel in daily life.

“Let us not be ashamed to proclaim Christ in our words and in our service to others,” Pabillo said during Mass at the National Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Makati City on Saturday.