The Vatican is looking forward to seeing the contributions of the
Philippine Church in the new evangelization meet this October, at the
Philippine Conference on New Evangelization (PCNE).
Manila
Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle made this claim amid preparations
for the activity at the University of Santo Tomas on Oct. 16 to 18.
"The eyes of the Vatican are on us," Tagle said, according to the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines news site.
He also hinted a Vatican official may attend the conference to "personally" experience the activities at the PCNE.
Also, Tagle said delegates from Taiwan, Vietnam, Brunei, and Myanmar will attend the event.
Tagle,
who will lead the opening mass and perspective setting to be held on
the first day, said the Asian gathering seeks to counter "secularist
influences" and also to respond to the call of resigned Pope Benedict
XVI to rediscover and deepen one’s Catholic faith.
“It is this
broken world which remains God’s world that also opens for us
opportunities for evangelization. And the challenge was not just to
focus on the negative or the shadows found in the world but also to the
opportunities for mission,” he said.
He voiced hopes the PCNE will help in the rediscovery and rejuvenation of the delegates' faith.
The
CBCP said the three-day conference is considered the “grand climax” of
the Year of Faith celebration in the Archdiocese of Manila.
It
will include talks, parallel sessions, workshops, and activities that
"tackle modern-day approaches to deepen one’s faith and spirituality."
Parallel sessions dubbed “Streams of Encounter with God” will also be held on the first day.
On the second day, theologian Fr. Catalino Arevalo will give a talk on “Popular Devotions and the New Evangelization.”
The
third day features a talk on the “Missionary Dimension of
Evangelization” by Tagle and the last set of parallel sectoral
workshops.
Apostolic Nuncio to the Philippines Archbishop
Giuseppe Pinto will celebrate the closing Mass, while a message from
Pope Francis is to be shown at the closing.