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© Roy Lagarde / CBCP Media
of World Trade Center during the opening
of the second congress on January
25, His Eminence Gaudencio Cardinal
Rosales noted the surge in number of
participants. The first congress, considered
historical and unprecedented
because of its 4,000 participants paled
in comparison with the second congress
at least in terms of attendance.
“…we have broken our own record
by filling this hall with more than 5,000
priests,” the cardinal exclaimed.
Former Ambassador to the Vatican
Henrietta de Villa, chair of the NCC II
Central Coordinating Committee said
they ran out of kits and other materials
since they only prepared 5,300 of these.
So those who came late had to make do
with what were given them, prepared
at the last minute.
But like a mother speaking fondly
of her children, De Villa was all praises
for the clergy.
“The priests are so very nice.
They understood, nobody complained
that one has none what the other got.
I guess that’s also a gift of the spirit,”
De Villa said.
An event waiting to happen
Cardinal Rosales said the convening
of a second congress for the clergy
was an event waiting to happen since
it has been thought of many times
as soon as the first congress in 2004
concluded.
The first congress was held at a
time when controversies hounded the
Church because of the accusations of
sexual misconduct among some of her
priests, particularly in America and
Europe.
It was different this time though,
as it was convened as a response to the
call of the Holy Father for the entire
Church to celebrate meaningfully the
year for priests which the Vatican has
promulgated to mark the 150th death
anniversary of the saintly cure of Ars,
St. John Mary Vianney.
According to the cardinal, two attempts
have been made since 2004 to
assemble the clergy once again since
many of the participants of the first
congress had asked for a follow up of
the first congress.
“There is spiritual hunger in the
priests and that passion among them
to meet brothers again and that desire
must be encouraged and sustained,” the
cardinal said during the opening of the
second national congress.
Another try was made when the
Holy Father went to Sydney, Australia
to preside the World Youth Day celebration.
The thought of having the pope very
near to the Philippines again inflamed
the desire to hold the congress of clergy.
But as divine providence would have it,
again the effort did not materialize.
Nonetheless, the grace of God indeed
strikes when the time is right. On
March 16, 2009, in a meeting with members
of the Pontifical Congregation for
Clergy, Pope Benedict XVI announced
a special year for priests beginning June
19, 2009 to June 19, 2010 to commemorate
the 150th death anniversary of St.
John Mary Vianney.
Year for Priests
In establishing a year dedicated to
the clergy, the Holy Father wanted to
lead the priests into a deeper reflection
of the greatness of their priestly
vocation. At the general audience on
June 24, 2009, the pope explained that
the celebration aimed to encourage the
priests in their striving for spiritual
perfection.
“The purpose of this Year for Priests,
…is therefore to encourage every priest
in this striving for spiritual perfection
on which, above all, the effectiveness
of their ministry depends, and first and
foremost to help priests—and with them
the entire People of God—to rediscover
and to reinforce their knowledge of
the extraordinary, indispensable gift
of Grace which the ordained minister
represents for those who have received
it, for the whole Church and for the
world which would be lost without the
Real Presence of Christ.”
The Vatican proclamation signaled
the right time for the CBCP Commission
on Clergy to put into action the congress
plan that has been long prepared, merely
waiting for the right time to be implemented.
The plan for a second clergy
congress was ratified during the CBCP
Plenary Assembly last July 2009.
A call to renewal and deeper commitment
Chosen preacher for the five-day
congress was Fr. Raniero Cantalamessa,
OFMCap, who electrified the clergy
with his charismatic preaching punctuated
with singing of songs Amazing
Grace (obviously his favorite hymn) and
Lord, Here I Am, and inviting participants
to resounding proclamations of
God is love, Christ is risen, etc.
During the congress, Cantalamessa
delivered five meditations which he
always began with a solemn invocation
to the Holy Spirit.
Iba Bishop Florentino Lavarias,
who currently sits as the chair of the
Commission on Clergy said, “Fr. Raniero
invited us to call upon the Spirit,
precisely because the congress is focused
on interior renewal and every
renewal is the work of the Spirit.”
Cantalamessa’s conferences delved
on the three important elements in the
life of the priests—the Eucharist, the
sacrament of reconciliation and the gift
of celibacy.
The Capuchin monk expounded
on the importance of the Eucharist in
the life of the priests, urging them to
be focused on the person they are representing,
who is Jesus.
He also led the clergy to realize
that relationship with Jesus is also a
relationship with the Holy Trinity which
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IMPACT • February 2010