Monsignors Dennis Villarojo, Boy Alesna, Ting Ancajas, Fr. Jojo de Aquino, Fr. Jun Rebayla and Fr. Brian Brigoli are just some of the priests in Cebu who are busy these days not just because of their priestly duties.
They are among a number of priests and lay persons preparing for the 51st International Eucharistic Congress (IEC) which will be held in Cebu for seven days in late January 2016.
Msgr. Dennis is the overall head of the preparations to make this IEC–sometimes called the Olympics of theology because it happens only once every four years–an unforgettably astounding yet most solemn event.
Msgr. Boy’s job is to make sure the entire event will be fully funded, from the theological conferences to the parallel and evening events that will make Cebu a truly perfect IEC venue.
Msgr. Ting and Fr. Jun are taking the lead in an ambitious international photo and art competition, together with the accomplished painter Jun Impas.
Canon Philippines has been tapped to print the finalists of the photo competition set to be announced next month, with judging to be carried out by some 100 delegates who will come to Cebu in April next year to check Cebu’s IEC preparations.
The group is also tasked with pre-IEC events and Msgr. Ting has lined up a number of literary events as well as theater performances in the run up to 2016.
His work does not end there, though. For he is also charged with the special events committee that should come up with a number of activities during the IEC week itself which is expected to increase Cebu’s population by up to a million or more.
Fr. Jojo de Aquino is tasked with the IEC documentation work, from preparing the thick program book to carefully transcribing the proceedings and, after the IEC is over, to come up with the souvenir coffee table book. This is where he has asked me to help him, a daunting task for which I am of course happy to volunteer.
The last of the group, Fr. Brigoli, has the most difficult and physically demanding job of them all so much so that Archbishop Jose Palma had to move him to the quarters of the San Carlos Seminary College.
For Fr. Brian, the heritage-savvy priest of the archdiocese made famous by his participation in triathlons, has been tasked with overseeing the construction of the IEC Pavilion and of preparing the seminary grounds for the event.
I met with Msgr. Ting and Fr. Jun the other day at the University of San Carlos where they were threshing out details with officials of Canon Philippines on the photo contest along the 51st IEC theme, “Christ in you, our hope and glory,” in reference to the passage in Colossians 1:27.
An hour later, I was with Fr. Brian at a café in Ayala where he enthused over the plans to re-landscape the seminary grounds even as the pavilion, which will have a plenary hall that can seat the expected 15,000 participants to the theological conferences, will slowly rise.
Late last week, Fr. de Aquino met a cross-section of Cebu society to ask for their help in drumming up support for the upcoming IEC and ensure that even a year before the event, Cebuanos and Filipinos all over the country will be fully aware of the event and its implications on Christianity.
To know more about the 2016 IEC preparations and how you can help, kindly visit the official event website at https://iec2016.ph/.
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Michael Cullinane’s latest book, the 304-page “The Battle for Cebu: Andrew S. Rowan and the Siege of Sudlon, 1899-1900”, has just been released by USC Press. Cullinane is a professor of history and an associate director of the Center for Southeast Asian Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
He is no stranger to Cebu, having spent the better part of his pre-doctoral and early doctoral years doing research in Cebu.
While the signing ceremony for the book will not be held until he drops by in December this year, you can buy copies of the book initially at USC Press (Tel. 2300 100 loc. 290) and USC Museum (2531000 loc. 191).
The book, profuse not only with text but also maps and photographs related to the siege, costs P600. Copies can be purchased at Benchmark Books, formerly Cagnaan, later Pages, Bookstore at Banilad Town Center.
In Manila, copies will soon be available initially at Solidaridad Press in Padre Faura, Manila.
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