MANILA, Philippines — Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle urged the Catholic faithful to remember their brothers and sisters in Mindanao who were affected by the magnitude 6.9 quake on Sunday.
In his homily for the first day of Simbang Gabi or Misa de Gallo at the Manila Cathedral, Tagle said he already sent messages to bishops in Cotabato, Davao and Davao del Sur.
Parishioners of the Diocese of Digos were the most affected, the Manila archbishop also said. He shared that he learned that one priest was wounded as the latter was visiting a far-flung place.
READ: Earthquake shocks southern Mindanao
He added: “But one bishop told me: ‘Chito, it’s Misa de Gallo tomorrow. And the nation showed that even amid a quake, there is faith.’”
“And this is the essence of the Misa de Gallo: Faith,” Tagle told the churchgoers in the mass streamed by TV Maria.
Davao del Sur Provincial National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council said that one person was confirmed dead while five more bodies are to be retrieved from the rubble of Southern Trade Shopping Center in Padada.
The NDRRMC also reported at least 31 persons injured in the Davao Region.
READ: More aftershocks expected after magnitude 6.9 Davao del Sur quake, Phivolcs says
Tagle said that there remains faith and belief that Jesus Christ, the Savior, will come.
“So let us join our brothers and sisters in this time, who may be attending the mass not in a beautiful church such as the Manila Cathedral, but are still professing their faith,” he added.
Tagle has recently been appointed by Pope Francis as the new prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples.
He will take over the post of Cardinal Fernando Filoni, who has become the Grand Master of the Order of the Holy Sepulcher.
The appointment of Tagle marks the return of an Asian cardinal to the helm of the important department for evangelization and episcopal nominations in mission lands after Indian Cardinal Ivan Dias who served from 2006 to 2011. — Kristine Joy Patag