Manila archbishop urges priests to promote unity rather than divisiveness

Manila Archbishop Jose Cardinal Advincula urged priests and churches to avoid rivalries in order to promote unity rather than division and advance the Church and its values. Manila Archbishop Jose Cardinal Advincula (Photo from Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Manila)
“Our people are all the more hurt and frustrated whenever they notice their priests competing for assignments and positions instead of supporting one another in their ministry,” Advincula said in a CBCP statement on June 15. He added that this means committing to thinking and acting in terms of the community and understanding that the whole is better than the parts. In addition, he shared and discussed the three "striking" responses of the lay participants: participation by co-responsibility, mission by preferential option for the poor, and communion for interministerial cooperation. Highlighting that synodality is not only a procedure or a program, but rather "a relationship between the laity and the clergy." *(Rhowen Del Rosario)*