Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Tagle. (File photo by EDWIN BACASMAS / Philippine Daily Inquirer)
Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle has declared May 20 to 31 as days of prayer, fasting and action “for the truth and common good.”
Tagle sent a letter to all of Manila’s parishes where he lamented that the country needed a “renewed outpouring of the Holy Spirit,” according to CBCP News, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines’ news service.
During this period, Tagle urged parishes, convents and schools to organize “feasts of truth and love,” which include charities as well as forums on the Constitution, Charter change, and federalism.
Tagle also ordered the ringing of church bells at 3:00 p.m. to commemorate Jesus Christ’s death and the praying of the Chaplet of the Divine Mercy in parish churches, chapels, convents, schools, homes, and offices.
“We accompany our prayer with fasting,” Tagle said. “Through fasting we redirect our focus from ourselves and our groups to the community.”
But the Manila archbishop said that those who cannot engage in fasting due to sickness and age may practice their faith through charity and service.
‘Crisis of truth’
This as Tagle believes that the country was on the brink of a “crisis of truth.”
The Manila archbishop pointed out the “growing legal debacle” in the country, saying that prominent legal experts had been giving “conflicting interpretations” of basic questions of law.
“Dear Brother Priests and Communities of Consecrated Persons, As we celebrate the Solemnity of the Ascension, we cannot deny that we are facing a crisis of truth. It is almost impossible for us ordinary citizens to know which news is true and which is fake,” Tagle said.
“The crisis of truth has sown seeds of suspicion, mistrust and fragmentation. Partisan politics has turned into political ‘tribalization’. The common good is one of the first casualties,” he lamented. /muf