Manila (AsiaNews) – Bishop Pablo Virgilio David, president of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), recommends parish priests share pastoral responsibilities with the laity.
The prelate said this at the "National Meeting of Parish Priests for the Synod", which is currently underway in Manila from 29 July to 1 August, with the participation of some 250 priests from dioceses across the country.
Priests, who are ordained ministers, have a specific role in pastoral missions. But the weight of this task becomes much lighter when they succeed in empowering the laity to participate meaningfully and effectively in the life and mission of the Church, Bishop David explained.
The meeting was organised by the CBCP’s Philippine Commission on the New Evangelization (PCNE); Sister Nathalie Becquart, undersecretary of the General Secretariat of the Synod in the Vatican was also present.
“I feel like many parish priests are actually in a state of fatigue, in a state of burnout,” the bishop of Kalookan noted, suggesting that the tendency to fulfill all responsibilities in a clericalist framework may explain this.
In his view, this “is so unnecessary. That’s why synodality brings in the wisdom of not monopolizing the mission. The mission is about the church,” he explained.
At the same venue, CBCP vice president Bishop Mylo Hubert Vergara, urged the prelates in Manila to “Try your best to smile when you encounter people around you and make them feel the joy of Christ.”
In his homily during the Eucharistic celebration opening the meeting, Card Jose Advincula, archbishop of Manila, said that the event was dedicated to priests so that they may “become witnesses to the synodality of our Church and to discern ways that will renew our priesthood and the life of our parishes.”
The cardinal urged priests and others “to foster genuine communion in our parish communities. We need to expand our tent and take off our sandals so we can be a welcoming Church. There can be no communion if we cling too much to our outdated conventions and unhealthy conveniences.”
According to him, communion asks us to welcome everyone, including sinners, the poor, and the marginalised, instead of driving them away for whatever reason. Indeed, “If we do not listen to the poor, are we even listening to God?” the cardinal asked.
For him, the clergy should promote participation in parish communities. Unfortunately, “We priests are frequently tempted to discount, or even suppress, the boldness of our parishioners, making them sheepishly dependent on us priests. But let us recognize and encourage their boldness as witnesses to our faith.”
