Vatican official to join Asian Bishops Conference in Manila

The country’s Catholic hierarchy is hosting this year’s Asian Bishops Conference, which will see the participation of over 100 prelates from all over the region led by a ranking official of the Vatican, the Archdiocese of Manila announced yesterday.

In a statement, the archdiocese said the annual meeting, which is jointly organized by the Pontifical Council for Promotion of Christian Unity (PCPCU), Federation of Asian Bishops Conferences and the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) will span five days, starting tomorrow, at the Pope Pius XII Catholic Center in Manila.

The assembly will be led by PCPCU president Cardinal Walter Kasper, a known theologian and author who is expected to arrive in the country at 7:00 tonight on a Lufthansa Airlines flight from Vatican City.

This year’s meeting will focus on the "search for Christian unity, and where we stand today," organizers said.

It is the second of two meetings set by PCPCU in Asia. The first seminar was held in South Korea in July last year.

Apart from Kasper, other Church officials who will speak in the assembly are: Msgr. Juan Usma of the PCPCU, former CBCP president Archbishop Fernado Capalla, Imus Bishop Luis Tagle, Caloocan Bishop Deogracia Iniguez and Fr. Thomas Michel.

Manila Archbishop Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales and Cebu Archbishop Ricardo Cardinal Vidal, who are the most senior members of the Philippine Catholic hierarchy, are also expected to participate in the conference.

The Asian Bishops Conference was organized following the last plenary of the PCPCU, where the member conferences agreed to support people working in the field of ecumenism at the local level and to develop a pastoral response to new challenges — including the growth of new religious movements such as the Pentecostal, Evangelical, and charismatic communities.

Kasper will open the seminar with the a talk titled "Catholic principles of Ecumenism: Implications for churches in Asia." — Edu Punay