ASIA/PHILIPPINES - Archbishop Valles: "Faith is firm in difficult times"; Bishop David, new President of the Bishops' Conference
Thursday, 8 July 2021
bishops pandemic coronavirus
PHILIPPINES
2021-07-08
2021-06-24
Manila (Agenzia Fides) - "My memory tells me that we have all walked together, we have walked with the Lord and with Our Lady for the past 500 years. My memory tells me that we have truly been blessed with gifts so that we can now give hope for our future": it is with these words that Archbishop Romulo G. Valles, Archbishop of Davao and outgoing President of the Philippine Bishops' Conference, says goodbye to the bishops gathered in the 122nd plenary assembly in progress in Manila. The Archbishop greeted the new president of the Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), who is Mgr. Pablo Virgilio David, Bishop of Kalookan, 62, currently vice-president of the Conference, where he also headed the Bishops' Commission on the biblical apostolate. A personality known for his social commitment and the defense of the poor and the last, David received the "Bukas Palad Prize" in 2019, conferred by the Jesuit-run University "Ateneo de Manila", "for his service to the poor and for his courage in speaking out against the evil of injustice and violence". In the concluding message of his mandate, sent to Fides, Archbishop Valles, remarked: "The years 2020 and 2021 will be strongly impressed in our memory as times of darkness, misery and suffering, of times of terrible disease and death. We were concerned to know that some bishops had been affected by Covid-19, and deeply saddened that some priests and religious had lost their lives. It is a great suffering for all, but especially for the poorest and most vulnerable. But we tell ourselves and our people that our memory is not just one of death and suffering. In faith, we prayed. In faith, we have not forgotten that we belong to the family of the Church. In faith, we have strived to do good deeds, especially for the most suffering among us. In faith we have realized how much God is present in our midst".