A national organization of church people working in minor basilicas, shrines, and pilgrimage sites will hold its general assembly in Antipolo City in September.
A report on CBCP News said the gathering of the Association of Catholic Shrines and Pilgrimages of the Philippines will be held at the Our Lady of Antipolo Retreat House from September 26 to 28.
Now on its 27th year, the assembly will be hosted by the Diocese of Antipolo, home to the first international shrine in the Philippines — the Shrine of Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage.
The gathering will carry the theme “Developing a Systematic Approach to the Role of Shrines as ‘Dynamic Sources of Continuing Evangelization’ (Prædicate Evangelium, art 6, par. 2)”
“The reflections of our speakers will hopefully update us on our role in the Church evangelizing mission today,” said ACSP president Father Roderick Castro, rector of the National Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Makati City.
Among those who are expected to speak during the occasion are Father Reynante Tolentino, rector of Antipolo’s International Shrine and ACSP vice president for NCR and Southern Luzon, and Kendrick Ivan B. Panganiban, author of the book “The Role of Shrines in view of the New Evangelization: Pope Francis’ Theology on Shrines and Pilgrimages applied in the Philippine Context.”
Organizers said the assembly is open to delegations from canonically approved shrines in the country or organized pilgrimage promoters.
Founded in 1991, the ACSP was officially adopted as a ministry of the Episcopal Commission on Migrants and Itinerant People of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines.
