An annual conference on new evangelization opened Friday with a call for the faithful to continue their journey of faith and mission despite personal failures, discouragement or spiritual fatigue.
At the opening Mass of the 11th Philippine Conference on New Evangelization, Cardinal Jose Advincula of Manila said God’s unwavering love and enduring hope make it possible to move forward.
“God’s love is a forgiving love,” Advincula said in his homily at the UST Quadricentennial Pavilion in Manila. “And so, my dear brothers and sisters, let us not give up. Let us continue on our journey.”
The cardinal encouraged participants not to let sin, failure or spiritual confusion hinder efforts to evangelize and serve others. He reminded them that both God’s love and hope are graces “poured into our hearts.”
“We can hope, even against hope, because God’s hope persists,” he said.
The conference, launched in 2013 by Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle when he was archbishop of Manila, has become a major platform for renewing the Catholic Church’s evangelizing mission in the Philippines and beyond. It brings together clergy, religious and laypeople from across the country to revitalize efforts in spreading the Gospel in contemporary society.
In a separate message to participants, Advincula urged Filipino Catholics to remain steadfast in their mission of faith. He invoked the Visayan word “padáyon”, meaning “to move forward,” encouraging the Church to press on with hope and unity.
He also emphasized the importance of “synodal witnessing” — walking together in faith — as central to the mission of new evangelization.
“‘Padayon’ calls us to continue with hope and, in our journey as a Church, to persevere in our synodal witnessing of the faith,” Advincula said. “Each of us shares in this mission to witness to the faith we have received and proclaim it with love.”
Advincula said he hoped the conference would strengthen the Church’s “bonds of communion” and renew the faithful’s commitment to proclaim Christ as “our hope of glory.”
“May the light of Christian hope fill our hearts during this conference, and may we share it with the world,” he said.
