Manila (AsiaNews) The mayor of Manila, Lito Atienza, urged all citizens to participate in the "world record kissing event" to be held on feast of St. Valentine, the patron of lovers.
Atienza invited all married and de facto couples to kiss each other in Manila Bay, hoping to break the world record established last year in Chile, where 4,447 couples kissed each other at the same time. Atienza wants to gather 5,000 couples for the event. The purpose is to draw tourists to the Philippines each year on St. Valentine's Day.
Msgr. Hernando Coronel, secretary general of the Philippine Bishops' Conference, told AsiaNews that this month is dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and said "love is the fundamental and innate vocation of every human being."
The Catholic Church in the Philippines urged all faithful to reflect on "the beauty of married life" on St. Valentine's Day. Msgr. Coronel called all faithful to remember that "marriage serves as the foundation for the wider family community, since the very institution of marriage and conjugal love are ordered toward the procreation and education of children." He concluded, saying "this is God's plan." (S.E.)
