Manila (Fides Service) - The archdiocese of Manila will hold a General Plenary Assembly 21-22 October to mark the closing of the special Year of the Eucharist (universal) and Marian Year (local) opened in October 2004. Clergy, religious and lay Catholics will gather with Archbishop. Gaudencio Rosales to assess the situation of the life of the community and identify commitments and priorities for the future.
“This great Assembly - the local Church informed us - will be a concrete expression of communion and an opportunity for the people of God to thank the Almighty, adore him and confirm their desire to serve him and all mankind”.
All over the Philippines the Year of the Eucharist has also been a Marian Year lived intensely with special prayers and initiatives in particular in the archdiocese of Manila where people attended prayer vigils, hours of Adoration, Rosary prayers for the good of the nation, meetings and conventions on themes of Eucharistic spirituality.
This ‘Marian Year of the Eucharist’ combined two main pillars of the Catholic faith, devotion to Jesus truly present in the Eucharist and to his Mother Mary, in harmony with the thought of the dearly beloved late Pope John Paul II who gave the Church this final precious gift of the year of the Eucharist October 2004-2005. The local Marian year was called by the Philippines Bishops to mark the 150th anniversary of the proclamation of the Dogma of the Immaculate Conception, December 8 1854 by Pope Pius IX.
(PA) (Agenzia Fides 7/10/2005 righe 26 parole 265)