By Christina Hermoso
With the imminent departure of Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle for Rome, Daet Bishop Rex Andrew Alarcon, chairman of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines – Episcopal Commission on Youth is praying and hoping for the continued observance and success of the Philippine Conference on New Evangelization (PCNE), which Tagle started in 2013.
Daet Bishop Rex Andrew Alarcon (photo from CBCP News / MANILA BULLETIN)
Alarcon said Tagle’s departure must serve as “a challenge for every diocese and parish around the country to push for the mission of the PCNE to promote new evangelization to spread the Good News,” the bishop said over church-run Radio Veritas.
Tagle is set to begin this February his new task as Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, a powerful church organization at the Vatican.
With the theme “Sino Ang Aking Kapwa?” the seventh PCNE will be held earlier this year instead of the third week of July to fit Tagle’s schedule.
“I am hoping that even if Cardinal Tagle leaves, the PCNE will continue. I am hoping for our dioceses and parishes to continue to push for new evangelization, find new strategies, new languages, and in this case, the spirit of dialogue. We must continue to listen to the others, particularly the non-Catholics, fellow Christians of different religions, indigenous peoples,” Alarcon said.
Delegates to this year’s PCNE, which was held last Jan. 28 to 29 at the Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City, gave Cardinal Tagle a fitting farewell tribute.