THE CFC Church Relations Office tapped missionaries from the various departments of the Global Mission Center to serve in the 67th National Mission Directors Assembly. The CFC fulltime missionaries assisted in running the program, sat as scribes in the small group discussions, acted as animators, and took charge of documentation and consolidation of the reports.
The Assembly, convened by the Pontifical Mission Societies (PMS) under the CBCP Episcopal Commission on Missions (ECM), was held from August 28 to 31, 2023 at the Pope Pius Center in Manila.
Seventy-two Mission Directors and their representatives coming from the different Ecclesiastical territories around the country were present at the Assembly. His Excellency, Most Rev. Charles John Brown, D.D., Apostolic Nuncio to the Philippines, welcomed the delegates and celebrated the opening Mass.
Archbishop Brown, together with CBCP ECM Chairman Bishop Socrates Mesiona, MSP, D.D., and Msgr Esteban ‘Bong’ Lo, National Director of the PMS, led the launch of the book Gifted to Give, a compilation of the Proceedings of the Second National Mission Congress held in Cebu in April 2022.
Theologian and pastoral worker Dr. Estela D. Padilla, the only woman from the Philippines to join the 16th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, delivered the keynote address on Synodality, Praedicate Evangelium, & Mission to set the tone for the assembly. Bishop Mesiona, on the other hand, relayed pertinent information and updates on the ECM.
During the Assembly, the Mission Directors presented action plans for mission animation and cooperation. The consolidated action plans were presented to the plenary and to Bishop Mesiona and Msgr. Lo for review. The implementation of the said plans should address how it is to be a Mission Director in the renewed normal, and to deepen understanding and appreciation of synodality, Praedicate Evangelium, and mission. (Alma M. Alvarez)