MANILA, September 6, 2013—Echoing a recent invitation from the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) president, the Episcopal Commission on Youth (ECY) rallies all young Filipino youth to join the rest of the world on September 7 for a day of prayer and fasting for peace in Syria.
“Let us invite all the young people to be led by their pastors in their setting and come together to pray and do fasting for Peace to reign in Syria and to the whole world,” ECY executive secretary Fr. Conegundo Garganta said.
He praised CBCP president and Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma’s decision to fully support Pope Francis’ call to have a world-wide day of prayer and fasting for the intention of Syria, following a deadly chemical weapons attack which has left hundreds of children and babies dead.
“This appeal from Archbishop Palma to observe prayer and fasting on September 7 is a beautiful response to the call of our beloved Pope Francis,” Fr. Garganta, who is also the executive director of the National Secretariat for Youth Apostolate (NSYA) added.
His hope was for the “Church, [to] stand side by side to gather in prayer and fasting.”
Despite having a meeting on the National Filipino Catholic Youth Survey (NFCYS) 2013 on September 7, the NSYA staff will be setting aside a few moments for prayer for the intention of Syria.
A U.S. Senate committee has recently voted to allow U.S. president Barack Obama to launch a military attack against Syria for chemical warfare on its own citizens. [Nirva’ana Ella Delacruz]
