CBCP to conduct plenary assembly for first time in Mindanao

The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) will hold its highest-level meeting for the first time in Mindanao from July 6 to 8.

Composed of 83 active bishops, five priest administrators, and 39 honorary members, the CBCP is set to meet at the Chali Conference Center in Cagayan de Oro for their 128th plenary assembly, according to CBCP News.

CBCP president Bishop Pablo David will commence the closed-door meeting with a message.

According to CBCP Secretary General Monsignor Bernardo Pantin, the plenary will discuss the proposed activities for the Jubilee 2025 celebrations in the Philippines.

The CBCP will also elect the chairperson of the Commission on Catholic Education, the Sub-commission on Retired, Sick, and Elderly Priests, the Sub-commission for Permanent Deacons, and the Office for the Postulation of the Causes of Saints, Patin said.

“Let us pray for the bishops as they gather, discuss and pray about the future of the Church in the Philippines,” Pantin said.

With the theme “Synod spirituality: Embracing ecology in the light of Laudato Sí and Laudate Deum,” the bishops will have a retreat at the Transfiguration Abbey run by the Benedictine Monks in Malaybalay, Bukidnon before the plenary, the CBCP News said.

Archbishop Paul Gallagher, the Vatican’s Secretary for Relations with States, is one of the speakers in the retreat, which will be held from July 2 to 4.

Gallagher is set to meet with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. as the Church official will be in the Philippines for five days.

He is also set to meet with Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo  " to discuss areas of cooperation between the Holy See and the Philippines, such as higher education, migration governance, interfaith dialogue, and climate change."

One of the functions of the plenary assembly is to issue doctrinal declarations approved unanimously by the CBCP members, to decide matters on policy and to determine, approve and issue instructions, declarations, and documents expressing the official stand of the Bishop of the Philippines. — Mariel Celine Serquina/RSJ, GMA Integrated News