MANILA, Oct. 31, 2012?The Archdiocese of Manila will launch the Year of Faith on November 3 at the San Fernando de Dilao Parish Church in Paco, Manila.
Cardinal-designate Archbishop Luis Antonio G. Tagle will preside the Mass at 9 a.m.
The launching also serves as a welcome for Tagle who will be back November 1 from the Synod of Bishops in Rome where he served as vice-president of its Commission on the Message, and where Pope Benedict XVI named him one of six to become cardinals in a consistory on November 24, 2012.
Shortly before he left for the Synod on October 4, Tagle has issued a Pastoral Letter on the Year of Faith which was read in all Masses in the archdiocese on October 6 and 7.
The Holy Father has declared a Year of Faith from October 11, 2012 until November 24, 2013, the Solemnity of Christ the King.
The opening of the Year of Faith also coincided with the commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council and the 20th anniversary of the release of the Catechism of the Catholic Church.
Manila’s launching of the Year of Faith will be festive as it features band music and a traditional dance called “Buling-buling”.
Buling-buling is a customary dance for the Santo Niño de Pandacan that signifies the faithful’s offering of love and gratitude to the Infant Jesus.
Catechists will parade along the streets displaying the 12 articles of faith and the logo of the Year of Faith.
In his Pastoral Letter, Tagle reminded the faithful that the Year of Faith is an invitation for Catholics “to study again the Second Vatican Council and the Catechism of the Catholic Church that is its fruit in order to rediscover the vitality of the faith we have inherited.”
“Aside from celebrating Vatican II and the Catechism of the Catholic Church, the Year of Faith invites us to look closely at the contemporary world, its beauty and wounds. The continuity of the Church through the ages allows various forms of renewal. The Church receives, celebrates and lives the faith in different historical settings with their unique demands and challenges,” he said.
The recently-concluded Synod of Bishops convoked by Pope Benedict XVI was meant to reflect on the New Evangelization, Tagle said.
He noted that “fifty years after Vatican II, the world has seen dramatic changes that pose new challenges, even threats, to faith and its transmission.”
“The Philippines, specifically the area covered by the Archdiocese of Manila, is not exempt. But we also believe that the contemporary world, especially the youth and the poor, expresses its search for God in ways that the Church must also discover,” the Manila archbishop said.
“Thus the Year of Faith invites us to listen to the deep cries and aspirations of the people and societies of our time so that we can proclaim Jesus Christ to them with new methods, new expressions and new fervor. It is a year of listening and mission as well,” he furthered.
The line-up of activities for the Year of the Faith will also be presented during the Mass. (CBCPNews)
