Palma renews his call: Help drug surrenderers

PROCESSION. Thousands join the procession bringing the Holy Eucharist from the Capitol grounds to the Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral, which is part of the celebration of the Solemnity of Christ the King, marking the end of the church’s liturgical year or the Year of Jubilee of Mercy. (CDN PHOTO/LITO TECSON)

Thousands join, celebrate Solemnity of Christ the King

The faithful are encouraged to help drug surrenderers to get back to their normal lives in society.

Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma made this call to the thousands of faithful, who attended yesterday’s Mass celebrating the Solemnity of Christ the King at the Capitol grounds.

No masses from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. were celebrated in Metro Cebu churches yesterday except for the 4 p.m. Mass at the Capitol celebrated by Palma.

Yesterday’s Mass also marked the end of the church’s liturgical year which was called the Year of the Jubilee of Mercy.

Fuente Police Station Deputy Chief Senior Insp. Demorcindo Mandaue said he estimated the crowd at around 6,000 devotees, who joined the Mass and the procession bringing the Holy Eucharist from the Capitol grounds to the Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral, which is a distance of around three kilometers.

Palma renewed his call to the faithful to reach out to the surrenderers during yesterday’s homily.

“(The Christ the King Crusade) reminds us the sacredness of Christ’s arrival on Earth to bring more blessings especially to the sacredness of one’s life,” he said in his 18-minute homily.

He said that “even in the humblest and smallest ways,” everyone should show that they care for the lives of these drug surrenderers.

“We will also show them that we are part of them in their journey and in their lives,” Palma said.

“We should place value and give respect to our own lives as well as those around us. Life is sacred,” he added in Cebuano.
Palma also made this call to the faithful last Nov. 13 when he led the celebration closing the Jubilee Door at the Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral.

Same stand

When asked later in an interview, about his stand on the “secretive” way the former president Ferdinand Marcos was buried at the Libingan ng mga Bayani (LNMB) last November 18, Palma said his stand was the same with that of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP).

The CBCP, however, did not yet issue a statement regarding the burial last Friday but the Catholic Bishops group issued a statement on November 9 or nine days before the burial happened.

The CBCP’s statement was directed at the Supreme Court ruling allowing the late dictator to be buried at the LNMB.
The Catholic Bishops group condemned the ruling of SC and added that it is “a step towards the culture of impunity.”

New logo

When the procession arrived at the Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral in Cebu City at past 7 p.m., Palma also unveiled the new logo of the Archdiocese of Cebu in front of thousands of devotees.

The new logo of the Cebu Archdiocese now included a sun, illustrated similarly to that of the Philippine National flag’s 8-rayed sun, which is absent in the old one.

The dove symbolizing peace on the older version was removed, and replaced by four squares of different colors grouped together, with each square’s edge connected to the other.

Palma said the success of the 51st International Eucharistic Congress (IEC) hosted by Cebu last January 2016 was “one of the reasons” of the rebranding.

Palma said that international Catholic communities who witnessed and took part in the 2016 IEC praised Cebu’s efforts for spearheading the event.

“(Thus), Cebu earned an identity in the international scene. This new logo will not only symbolize the blessings we have after IEC but also on everyone’s unity for IEC. And we also like to thank our Lord for this blessings,” he added in Cebuano.

Devotee from Liloan

One of the faithful, who attended, listened and joined the procession, was Mila, a 57-year-old mother, from Barangay Cotcot, Liloan town in northern Cebu.

Mila, who requested that her full name not be given, said that she was never bothered or worried about how tired she was as she joined the procession ending at the Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral, which was at least three kilometers from the Capitol where it started.

Mila, a former factory worker, said she woke up early to prepare for her trip to Cebu City, which was at least 20 kilometers from Liloan town, to participate in the Solemnity of Christ the King celebration or also called the Feast of the Christ the King.

“But if there’s one thing I really prayed for is that my two adult children will all do fine overseas. And I can’t wait to meet them again this Christmas,” said Mila in Cebuano.