Pray for peace before polls - CBCP

MANILA, Philippines - The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) has circulated a pastoral exhortation requesting the faithful to pray for peace for a whole year, especially since the national election is scheduled for next year.

CBCP president and Jaro, Iloilo Archbishop Angel Lagdameo issued last Sunday, the Feast of the Divine Mercy, a pastoral exhortation titled “Year of the Two Hearts for Peace-building and Lay Participation in Social Change,” to be read in all the churches nationwide.

“As we conclude the year of St. Paul which the Holy Father inaugurated on June 29, 2008, we invite the Filipino faithful to start preparing spiritually for another crucial transition in the life of our nation – namely, the elections in May 2010,” Lagdameo said.

He declared the post Pauline year, from June 2009 to June 2010, as a “Year of Prayer and Work for Peace-building and Lay Participation in Social Change.”

Roman Catholics are asked to say a particular prayer every Sunday, after every communion, in Catholic Churches and chapels all over the country from June this year to June 2010.

Lagdameo said there had been calls for “moral regeneration” in the country during the past few months, and hoped the laity would express more interest in the restoration of morality.

“The participation of the laity in moral leadership pertaining to every specific discipline and institution in the Philippine society is most essential, if we want the Gospel and the social teachings of the Church to have a tangible and positive impact on our life as a nation.”