Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, pro-prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelization, will be among the speakers taking part at “Celebrate Asia in Manila”, a conference to mark the 50th anniversary of the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences (FABC).
An initiative of the Pontifical Mission Societies – Philippines and the Manila archdiocese’s Office for the Promotion of the New Evangelization, the event will be held at the Manila Cathedral on Monday, Sept. 26.
Organizers said the half-day conference aims “to highlight and deepen the reflections and realizations” of the recent diocesan and national synodal consultations in the country.
“It also aspires to expand the experience of Synodality by joining the ‘Church in Asia’ in building awareness, interest and sense of participation as it celebrates the 50th Anniversary of the FABC,” they said.
Aside from Tagle, Bishop Pablo Virgilio David of Kalookan and president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) will also deliver a talk.
The conference will end with a Mass to be presided over by Cardinal Jose Advincula, the archbishop of Manila.
The FABC was established in 1970, when Asian bishops came together for the first time in Manila for Pope Paul VI’s visit to the Philippines.
Activities to mark the federation’s 50th anniversary were originally scheduled in 2020 but the Covid-19 pandemic hampered all the plans.
To commemorate the milestone, the Asian bishops will gather in a general conference in Thailand’s capital of Bangkok this coming October 12-30.
David will lead the Philippine delegation along with other members of the bishops’ Permanent Council and heads of some CBCP commissions.
Pope Francis has earlier designated Tagle as his special envoy to the largest gathering of Asian bishops. The cardinal will officiate the assembly’s closing Mass at the Assumption Cathedral on Oct. 30.
