By Leslie Ann Aquino
Rev. Fr. James Mallon, the Episcopal Vicar for the Archdiocese of Halifax-Yarmouth of Canada, will be among the personalities that will grace the Fifth Philippine Conference on New Evangelization (PCNE5) that will be held here in the country from July 18 to 22.
(PCNE / MANILA BULLETIN)
The Archdiocese of Manila said Mallon will deliver the keynote message on the theme “Renewed Servant-Leaders for the New Evangelization” during the second day of PCNE 5, July 19.
This, as the second day of the conference will focus on the ordained ministers and consecrated persons as disciples of God and their mission to join Christ as they strive to have their hearts formed.
The theme for this year’s PCNE is “Moved with Compassion: Feed the Multitude,” which is aimed to celebrate the Year of the Clergy and Consecrated Persons as declared by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP).
It will be a celebration of the ministerial priesthood and the consecrated life as a community of the baptized faithful, as missionary disciples and servant leaders like Christ, and a roadmap to foster the spirit of communion and synergy among the laity and consecrated.
Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle, D.D. will preside the opening Mass on the first day (July 18), and will lead the plenary session about the spiritual life of priests through an encounter with Christ, with the theme “Sharing in the One Priesthood of Christ.”
The third day of PCNE 5, aptly themed “Ministerial Priesthood at the Service of Baptismal Priesthood”, tackles the primary tasks of the clergy and consecrated persons in bringing all their creativity, imagination and enthusiasm for the Gospel to the ministry.
Aside from the plenary sessions, there will be 13 tracks of concurrent sessions on parish/BECs, schools, workplace/government, family, youth, the digital and social media, catechesis, a church in mission, new ministry, young adult, and new trends in the church.
PCNE was introduced by Cardinal Tagle in 2013 as a local response to the call of a new evangelization. It was first held from October 16 to 18, 2013 with the theme “God makes all things new (Rev 21:5)”.
PCNE I focused on rekindling the ardor of evangelization and renewal of faith experience in the local and Asian context.
The University of Santo Tomas in Manila will serve as one of the venues of PCNE.