DAVAO City, Jan. 6, 2015 —The 65th founding anniversary of the Archdiocese of Davao featured launching of the new Norms and Guidelines on the Gagmay’ng Kristohanong Katilingban (GKK) or Basic Ecclesial Communities (BEC).
Archbishop of Davao Romulo G. Valles led the ceremonial turn-over of the document containing the norms and guidelines to the parish priests and lay leaders of the 37 parishes of the archdiocese on Dec. 17, 2014 at the University of Southeastern Philippines Gym.
Archbishop of Davao Romulo G. Valles officially turned over the document containing the norms and guidelines to the parish priests and lay leaders of the 37 parishes of the archdiocese on Dec. 17, 2014 at the University of Southeastern Philippines Gym. (Photo: Brenda Milan)
“There are no words that can aptly describe the value of this new edition. The dynamics of the process behind it and the layers of participation involved in it, truly speak of our working together as the Body of Christ here in our local Church,” the archbishop said in his foreword.
The new norms and guidelines on the GKK is the product of the communal discernment and organized consultation at the GKK level, parish and vicariate level to the archdiocesan level among the bishops, priests and lay leaders of the archdiocese.
Valles said the norms and guidelines will answer questions on how priests and the laity should handle the affairs of the GKK.
He added that some of the provisions of the old GKK norms and guidelines provided guiding wisdom, but there are new realities in the GKK and in the Church that are addressed by the new norms and guidelines.
“No one person can claim credit for this work, because it is indeed the work of the Holy Spirit through a long and tedious process of discernment. To be honest, not every detail was planned ahead of time, but we allowed the Holy Spirit to lead us through the process,” the archbishop added.
The communal discernment led to the decision that the archdiocese will produce two booklets for the GKKs and another booklet in 2015 for the sacraments. (John Frances C. Fuentes/CBCPNews)
