Pope Francis celebrated the fourth annual “Sunday of the Word of God” on January 22 and conferred the ministries of lector and catechist on ten lay people, including two Filipinos.
The celebration took place in St. Peter’s Basilica, where the pope installed new catechists — four men and six women — from the Philippines, Italy, Congo, Mexico and the UK.
Among them were Mr. Leon Asuncion and Ms. Norma Ramos from the Catechetical Foundation of the Archdiocese of Manila or CFAM.
Asuncion, 55, is from St. John the Baptist Parish in San Juan City, where he had been serving as an Extraordinary Minister of the Holy Communion.
Blessed with four children, he and his wife, Juliefer, are also members of the Couples for Christ since 2008.
Asuncion’s involvement with CFAM started in 1992, when he served as a catechist until 2000.
He also served through the years as CFAM’s area coordinator, ministry assistant for research and development, and human resource development officer.
Since 2019, Asuncion has been serving as CFAM’s catechetical coordinator.
Ramos, meanwhile, is a catechist from St. John Bosco Parish in Manila’s Tondo district and volunteer servant of the The Lord’s Flock Catholic Charismatic Community.
At CFAM, she has been its head catechist since 2009.
The 57-year-old also anchors Radio Veritas’ “Katekesis Like Ko To” program.
The pope formally instituted the ministry of catechist in 2021 following his decision to open the ministries of lector and acolyte to women.
