Second National Congress of the Clergy
Sunday, 24 January 2010 21:31 | 
Author: (Roy Lagarde) |
MANILA, Jan. 18, 2010—There will be no mass the whole next week in majority of the country’s Catholic Churches—because there are no priests to celebrate it.
A ranking church leader said thousands of priests are going to Manila to attend the 2nd National Congress of the Clergy from Jan. 25 to 29 and many dioceses can’t supply stand-in. The cancellation of regular masses also means that weddings and other liturgical rites such as baptisms and confession will also temporarily be suspended so that priests could attend the gathering.
But Manila Archbishop Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales said that in the absence of priests, lay ministers will take over in administering communion to the faithful and bless the dead in at least five-day period.
“There are dioceses where 100 percent of the priests will be here together with the bishop so no one will be left in the parishes. The lay ministers will be the ones to give communion and bless the dead,” he said.
Rosales said there only about 8,000 priests all over the country and around 6,000 clergymen are expected to attend the nationwide gathering in Manila.
More of a spiritual retreat in dynamics, the congress aims to bring the clergy to a deepening of their pastoral commitment through interior renewal, he added.
“The reason also (for the cancellation of Masses) is to let the people realize that priests have also their needs. We also need some solitude. We need to pray also,” the cardinal said.
Rosales added that even Masses in Metro Manila will also be adjusted for his priests to attend the congress.
A ranking church leader said thousands of priests are going to Manila to attend the 2nd National Congress of the Clergy from Jan. 25 to 29 and many dioceses can’t supply stand-in. The cancellation of regular masses also means that weddings and other liturgical rites such as baptisms and confession will also temporarily be suspended so that priests could attend the gathering.
But Manila Archbishop Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales said that in the absence of priests, lay ministers will take over in administering communion to the faithful and bless the dead in at least five-day period.
“There are dioceses where 100 percent of the priests will be here together with the bishop so no one will be left in the parishes. The lay ministers will be the ones to give communion and bless the dead,” he said.
Rosales said there only about 8,000 priests all over the country and around 6,000 clergymen are expected to attend the nationwide gathering in Manila.
More of a spiritual retreat in dynamics, the congress aims to bring the clergy to a deepening of their pastoral commitment through interior renewal, he added.
“The reason also (for the cancellation of Masses) is to let the people realize that priests have also their needs. We also need some solitude. We need to pray also,” the cardinal said.
Rosales added that even Masses in Metro Manila will also be adjusted for his priests to attend the congress.
Those in Metro Manila and nearby provinces will just hold early Masses,” he said.
“In Luzon, some of the priests will be shuttling; for example in Tagaytay they leave early in the morning and then they leave in the evening,” added Rosales.
The prelate said he is certain the faithful will understand the need of priests to come together and reflect for the good of the church.
“It’s time for parishioners to realize that we priests also need some quiet and I think that’ll be behind the reasoning,” he said.