The crafting of the bishops’ pastoral statement on the coming elections is undergoing a process of ‘collective discernment’ and will be released in late February.
Bishop Pablo Virgilio David, Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Philippines president, said they are taking such a process to apply Pope Francis’ emphasis on synodality.
He said the steps involve focus group discussions among bishops, and “in building consensus among ourselves, the religious, and lay people”.
“The Church is not only comprised of the bishops. We have the bigger sector of the Church, which is the laity and other religious partners,” David said.
According to him, they are looking at issuing their statement by the end of February.
“The drafting of our pastoral statement is still in progress and our time frame is we will release it before the end of February,” he said.
David last week presided over the bishops’ online plenary assembly for the first time as head of the conference.
Among other issues tackled, the bishops released a pastoral statement on ecology, which calls for unity and action to address the climate emergency and planetary crisis.
The bishops also decided to revise the Oratio Imperata for the protection against COVID-19.
