The head of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines urged dioceses in the country to pray for an end to the pandemic during Masses on Divine Mercy Sunday.
Archbishop Romulo Valles of Davao made the appeal on April 7 as the country continues to experience a surge in COVID-19 cases.
On Wednesday, the Philippines logged 6,414 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the country’s total to 819,164.
The relatively lower number of cases was due to the low number of samples received by laboratories last week, said the Department of Health.
Of the total cases, 19.4 percent or 158,701 are active or currently sick.
Archbishop Valles urged dioceses to include in the liturgy a “plea to the Lord, the Lord of the Divine Mercy, to put an end to this pandemic that brought us so much misery and sorrow.”
“Needless to say, such a plea and urgent prayer fits well into the liturgy of this day, which focuses on the Lord Jesus as the Lord of mercy and compassion,” said the prelate.
On Palm Sunday, Archbishop Valles also appealed to Church leaders to convey to the people the alarming rise of COVID-19 infections in the country.
