(PNA file photo)
MANILA – The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) urged the faithful to participate in the celebration of the first Mass in the country next month.
In a Pastoral Letter issued on Tuesday, CBCP president Archbishop Romulo Valles encouraged Catholics to join the event on April 4, Easter Sunday.
“We therefore enjoin all our faithful to actively participate in our simultaneous commemoration of the First Mass celebrated in our country on Easter Sunday, April 4, 2021. Let it also be the occasion for the opening of a jubilee door in every cathedral in the whole country, as well as in select Churches during the rest of Easter,” Valles added.
At the same time, he urged bishops to celebrate the sacrament of baptism on the second week of April.
“As regards the commemoration of the First Baptism, aside from the national celebration on April 14, 2021 in Cebu, we enjoin all the active bishops of the Philippines to also have their own commemorations by celebrating the Sacrament of Baptism, either on April 14 or on the Third Sunday of Easter, April 18, 2021,” the CBCP head said.
Valles also expressed hope that 2021 will be a year of looking back in history for the faithful to better understand who they are in the present "as communities of disciples".
"(It is also) and opportunity also to look forward in the next 500 years with the same missionary zeal that made it possible for us to receive the Christian faith,” he added.
The 1521 Easter Sunday mass in the country took place in Limasawa, Southern Leyte.
Earlier, Pope Francis acknowledged Filipinos for sharing their faith to the world, during the Mass which he headed to celebrate the occasion. (PNA)
