Saying nothing is impossible with God, Catholic prelates called for a prayer for “healing” and an end to the coronavirus pandemic. 

The call was contained in a joint pastoral message on Covid-19 issued by the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines Commission on Seminaries and the Commission on Catechesis and Catholic Education.

"We invite all to a collective prayer action to lift the lockdowns and help heal the nation. God always listens and nothing is impossible with Him,” CBCP News quoted the pastoral message.

The bishops particularly asked the faithful in Catholic schools and seminaries, parishes and communities to pray “ten Hail Mary’s daily.”

The nationwide prayer campaign will start August 15, the Solemnity of the Assumption until September 15, the feast of Our Lady of Sorrows.

The bishops said the Marian prayer is to be recited at 12 noon “wherever you may be.”

Catholic prelates also called on Catholic colleges and universities to make sure that scientific studies about Covid-19 are widely shared in the general public “using reason, science and Catholic social teachings.” 

Although admitting medicine is not the expertise in seminaries, “let us drink from the well of Catholic social teachings how to face this worldwide pandemic.”

“These will give our countrymen an access to the truth that will free them from baseless fears and unnecessary anxieties,” the bishops said.

The church leaders also appealed to parents and teachers to attend to the special needs of their children during these “extraordinary times.”

In their pastoral message, the bishops also called for circles of study and discernment within faith communities. 

"Once you understand the issues better, find creative ways to be active in bringing a solution in the light of the Gospel. This is our Christian social responsibility," they said.

Catholic prelates also appealed to the media to balance their coverage of the COVID-19 crisis as well as to government officials to be more open to the new scientific insights and global experiences around COVID-19.

To the Inter Agency Task Force, their appeal is for a more participatory approach that is open to the wisdom and experience of various professionals, scientists and physicians as well as genuine and constructive representatives of business, civil society, and local government units.

They also appealed for the upgrade of the capacity of hospitals and rationalize the use of limited hospital spaces.

They said they made the following appeals as shepherds so that "we may respond to this pandemic with the eyes of faith, with the heart of charity and with the armor of truth."

The bishops also lamented what they called as the long shadows of death that have fallen upon the country.

It cited the summary execution of the defenseless poor, the violence against women and children at home and in public life, the reckless tampering of our nation’s ecological balance, the puzzling unabated increase of illegal drugs, the unsolved plunder of public funds, among others as a reason for this.

"This is a regime of death and darkness seems to be enjoying its fine hour," said the bishops.

Amid all these, Catholic prelates asked the faithful to "refuse to get discouraged and rise up to hope in the Lord."

The statement released on Wednesday was signed by Lingayen Dagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas of ECS and Nueva Ecija Bishop Roberto Mallari of ECCE.