WELCOME MESSAGE. Cebu Archbishop Jose D. Palma delivers his message to mark the official start of the National Youth Day 2019 at the Cebu City Sports Center on April 24, 2019. Some 15,000 delegates and volunteers attended the opening program. (Photo by John Rey Saavedra)
CEBU CITY – Cebu Archbishop Jose S. Palma on Wednesday welcomed some 15,000 delegates and participants to the National Youth Day 2019 in a millennial-themed message he delivered during the opening program at the Cebu City Sports Center here.
Palma, who rode a big bike in going up the giant stage mounted in the middle of the sports center, quoted Pope Francis in uttering techie terminologies as he inspired and encouraged the youth pilgrims to trust God’s love.
“Because of God’s love, we trust in the memory of God and His memory is not the hard disk that saves and archives all our data,” he said, quoting the Pope.
“God’s memory is a heart filled with tender compassion. One that finds joy in deleting from us every trace of evil. So, God deletes evils in our hearts. He deletes our sins,” he said.
Palma expressed his delight that in spite of the earthquake that struck Luzon on Monday and affected flight schedules at Clark International Airport, delegates from the northern regions of the country managed to arrive in Cebu safely to participate in the six-day event here.
The head of the Roman Catholic Church in Cebu reminded the participants that National Youth Day 2019 is part of a grand celebration in the country in 2021 -- the 5th Centenary of Christianity in the Philippines and Asia.
“In the next five days, we join our hearts and voices in thanking the Lord for the gift of faith barely 500 years ago when Christianity came to our country. We look forward to 2021,” Palma said. “National Youth Day 2021 is part of that joyful celebration.”
“Let us thank the Lord for the first mass in 1521. Let us thank the Lord for the first baptism on April 14, 1521. Let us thank the Lord for the gift of Sto. Niño to Queen Juana also in 1521,” he said.
“We have a reason to be happy and thank the Lord because He has gifted us with His wonderful blessings,” Palma said.
At the start of his message, the archbishop of Cebu announced that 20 bishops have arrived as the first batch of prelates who will interact with the youth participating in different animated activities in nine different festival sites across Metro Cebu.
Pope Francis will also send his representative, Papal Nuncio Archbishop Gabriele Giordano Caccia, Palma said.
Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) president Archbishop Romulo Valles is also arriving in the next few days, he added.
Earlier, Rev. Fr. Mark Barneso, steering team leader of the event, said that aside from 52 parishes that are hosting some 12,000-strong delegates from around the country, there are numerous religious congregations of nuns and seminaries that are also hosting delegates.
The San Carlos Seminary College in Barangay Mabolo has been converted into a mini-festival site, with hundreds of delegates it is housing. Its seminarians also volunteered as youth facilitators.
The Seminario Mayor de San Carlos for theologians as well as the Pope John XXIII Minor Seminary are likewise hosting pilgrims. (PNA)
