Tagle calls for ‘community caring’

Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, former Manila archbishop, has called on the faithful not to eliminate “community caring” even as they practice “physical distancing” to slow the spread of the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

“I know we need physical distancing and that is needed and we are appealing to everyone to observe it where possible,” CBCPNews, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) official news service, quoted Tagle as saying during his homily for the Mass on the Feast of the Annunciation at the Pontificio Collegio Filippino in Rome on Wednesday.

“But the feast of today reminds us that physical distancing should not lead to forgetfulness of neighbor,” added Tagle, now the prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples in the Vatican. —TINA G. SANTOS