Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle urged Catholics, especially young people, to prioritize personal relationships over technology in sharing their faith, saying evangelization requires human witnesses who have encountered Jesus.
“Gadgets will not come to faith,” Tagle, dean of the College of Cardinals, said in his homily during a Mass marking the 75th anniversary of the Diocese of Legazpi on Oct. 28 at the Legazpi Cathedral.
“Only flesh and blood persons can be missionaries,” said Tagle, pro-prefect of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Evangelization, emphasizing that technology and social media can support but never replace personal testimony.
“What you have seen, what you have heard, what you have touched personally and communally of Jesus, that’s what you share,” he said.
Tagle said every baptized Catholic has a role in the Church’s mission, urging the faithful to use their gifts to serve others and strengthen their communities.
“The second reading tells us that each one has been given a gift by the Holy Spirit,” he said, warning that jealousy and competition can prevent people from using their talents for the common good.
He cited singing, reading and cooking as ordinary gifts that can become instruments of evangelization, particularly when used to serve orphans, older people and persons deprived of liberty.
Tagle traced the diocese’s missionary roots to Franciscan evangelization in Albay in 1587, saying its history reflects the contributions of generations of clergy, religious and laypeople.
Parents, teachers, catechists, farmers and fishermen all helped pass on the faith, he said, urging Catholics to continue that mission through their words and actions.
He expressed hope that the period following the jubilee would bring an “eruption” of the Holy Spirit’s gifts, inspiring more Catholics to serve the Church and people in need.
During the liturgy, the cardinal also led the pontifical coronation of the image of Nuestra Señora de Salvación, the fourth pontifically crowned Marian image in the Bicol region.
Bishop Joel Baylon, the sixth bishop of Legazpi, said about 6,000 faithful gathered for the anniversary, which the diocese sought to make more meaningful through a series of pastoral priorities leading to its jubilee year.
The diocese designated 2022 as the Year of Communion, followed by Formation in 2023, Participation in 2024, Stewardship in 2025 and Mission in 2026.
Baylon called on Catholics to renew their commitment to building a Church that listens, serves and walks alongside its people, especially children, the poor, disadvantaged communities and those pushed to society’s margins.
He also urged the diocese to build communities rooted in prayer and Scripture and committed to sharing the Gospel.
“Let synodality not remain just a theme, but become a way of life where discernment, dialogue and shared mission guide each and every decision that we make as a people of God,” Baylon said.
