ASIA/PHILIPPINES - Cardinal Tagle calls some of the city’s poorest to help him open the Holy Door in Manila

Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) – “The Holy Year call to show mercy means each of us must open our eyes and our ears to see the poor and listen to their needs. But this is not enough: we must do something to change our lives and help them change theirs”: said Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, Archbishop of Manila, in Rome to take part in the 19th plenary assembly of the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples. Referring to life in the Philippines, where most of the country’s wealth is in the hands of a few rich families, Cardinal Tagle said: “To show mercy means to review our life style regarding sharing and an equal distribution of goods”.
It is in this spirit, he said, that the ceremony of the opening of the Holy Door in Manila on 9 December will have a special dimension and a special presence: the Cardinal will be assisted by some of the city’s poorest people to push open the door to demonstrate the call of the Holy Year to give “preferential” attention to the poor and the outcast. The archdiocese of Manila informed Fides that to mark the Holy Year it intends to start a special Fund for the benefit of the poor, the sick and the elderly in need who cannot afford healthcare. Moreover Caritas Manila intends to boost the already existing education programme for children of needy families, as well as housing and humanitarian aid projects for the victims of several recent natural disasters which afflicted the nation. (PA) (Agenzia Fides 3/12/2015)

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