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Celebration of Social Concerns Year Slated
06 May 2006-- The head of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) urged the lay faithful to join the celebration of the Year of Social Concerns.
On Thursday, May 11, the CBCP will hold a simple but meaningful celebration in order to highlight the said event. The celebration will be basically a catechetical activity, and will be highlighted with a concelebrated Mass at the Manila Cathedral to be presided by Manila Archbishop Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales with the members of CBCP Permanent Council in attendance.
The President of the CBCP, Archbishop Lagdameo, said the gathering, that will be attended mostly by representatives of Catholic groups, the network of CBCP Commissions and other Church organizations, will enable them to continue to discern, strengthen their common mission and pray for social transformation.
During its Plenary Assembly last January, the CBCP declared this year 2006 as a "Social Concerns Year" under the auspices of the Immaculate Heart of Mary and the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
The bishops said they are aware the renewal of the Philippine public life will require the transformation of cultural values and structures, and will require more intensive efforts on the part of the Church.
The reason of the declaration, according to Lagdameo, is to raise the Filipino's moral consciousness with respect to the social issues affecting the country, and to be aware of the responses being given by the Church.
"Our Holy Father exhort thus: 'The direct duty to work for a just ordering of society is proper to lay faithful... They cannot relinquish their participation in the many different economic, social legislative, administrative and cultural areas, which are intended to promote organically and institutionally the common good,'" he said.
After this national celebration, it is expected that the observance of the Social Concerns Year will trickle down to the dioceses where pastoral programs on social concerns are more concretely implemented. The Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church will be the main source of catechesis throughout the year.
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