CBCP to faithful: Date with God on Valentine’s Day

MANILA, Philippines — Filipino Catholics should go on a “date with God” as Ash Wednesday is on the same day as Valentine’s Day this year, according to the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP).

“It is a nice day to celebrate Valentine’s Day. Why? Because it is a day of prayer, it is a day of penance that we are trying to mix, it is a day of love,” CBCP assistant secretary general Fr. Bryand Restituto said over the weekend.

Ash Wednesday is the start of the Lenten season.

“It’s a day of penance, charity, abstinence (as we) start to remember, in preparation for the passion and death and resurrection of Christ, that the whole Lenten season is the celebration of love. That is why I said in a recent mass I celebrated that ‘I am sorry but the best date that we could have on that day, is a date with the Lord.’ That is how it should be,” he added.

Meanwhile, a Veritas Truth Survey (VTS) found that 51 percent of Filipino Catholic respondents fulfilled their spiritual obligation of going to confession at least once a year.

“As such, only about five out of 10 Filipinos after having reached the age of discretion have fulfilled his/her obligation to confess faithfully his or her grave sins at least once a year pursuant to Canon Law 989,” the survey stated.

The Jan. 1 to Feb. 9 survey also found that 17 percent of respondents answered “no” and 32 percent said “sometimes.”