Bishop Broderick Pabillo, Apostolic Administrator of the Archdiocese of Manila, called on Filipinos to participate in the Day of Prayer, Fasting and Act of Charity on May 14.
“To make our act of charity concrete, I invite everyone to extend material help to at least one person within your reach,” read a pastoral statement issued by the prelate.
He said the amount that one gives does not matter, what is important is to make others feel “the care we have for each other.”
Pope Francis has earlier called on believers of all religions around the world to pray together on May 14 to ask God to rid the world of the coronavirus pandemic.
The pontiff also encouraged international cooperation to respond to the crisis, and emphasized the importance that scientific efforts to find a vaccine be put together.
The proposal for the worldwide day of prayer came originally from the High Committee for Human Fraternity, which was established in September 2019 as a concrete response to the Document on Human Fraternity for World Peace and Living Together signed by Pope Francis and Sheikh Ahmed el-Tayeb, Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, during the pope’s visit to the United Arab Emirates in February 2019.
As the pope endorsed that call, he explained that “since prayer is a universal value, I accepted its proposal [for this day of prayer].”
“Remember, May 14, all believers together, believers of the different traditions, to pray, to fast, and to do works of charity.”
Bishop Pabillo of Manila said the activity is in line with the Philippine Catholic Church’s observance of the “Year of Ecumenism and Inter-religious Dialogue.”
“Being in the Year of Ecumenism and Inter-religious Dialogue, this is a very concrete sign of common activity of all religions since prayer, fasting, and acts of love are common to all, and we are all affected by this pandemic,” said the bishop.
“May this sign of unity among us draw us all to the one source of all goodness,” he added.
