CBCP Body Lauds Cebu Archdiocese for Successful National Youth Day

A youth coordinating body of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) on Saturday commended the Archdiocese of Cebu for the successful National Youth Day 2019 here.

CBCP Episcopal Commission on Youth chairman, Bishop Leopoldo C. Jaucian, SVD, said he saw how the Cebuanos warmly and generously took care of the 12,000-strong delegates, who joined the event in Cebu, which kicked off on April 24 and will end on April 28.

Jaucian thanked the archdiocesan curia for the evident success of the activities conducted in nine festival sites consisting 52 parishes in Metro Cebu.

“I would like to thank Archbishop (Jose) Palma, the auxiliary bishops, the priests and the laity for their help in the successful conduct of the National Youth Day,” he said in a separate interview on the sidelines of the press briefing at the Archbishop’s Residence here.

“So we felt the warmth of the Cebuanos and the love. And we also experienced the religiosity from the beginning especially in the procession,” the bishop added, citing his experience last Wednesday dancing with the miraculous image of the Señor Sto. Niño in a traditional Sinulog dance after the opening mass at the Basilica Minore del Sto. Niño de Cebu pilgrim center.

Archbishop Palma, for his part, thanked the organizing team, the volunteers, the police and the military who helped secure the nine festival sites and the Cebu City Sports Center (CCSC) on the opening day of the event.

“We know that the climax point of the National Youth Day would be coming to a wonderful conclusion,” he said, thanking those who are involved in preparation and execution of the programs.

Palma also confirmed that Papal Nuncio to the Philippines, Archbishop Gabriele Giordano Caccia, will preside the early Sunday morning mass for the National Youth Day delegates at the CCSC.

CBCP President Archbishop Romulo Valles is also confirmed to concelebrate with the Papal Nuncio, along with Palma and close to 20 more bishops, and hundreds of members of clergy coming from different dioceses in the country.

On Saturday night, Caccia and Valles are set to join Palma and other bishops in a dialogue with the pilgrims dubbed as “YSpeak: Dialogue with Tatays” at the CCSC, after the recitation of the Divine Mercy Chaplet and Eucharistic adoration, simultaneous with confessions and spiritual direction.

Meanwhile, Rev. Fr. Mark Barneso, over-all steering team leader, said nine delegates of the youth confab here became victims of fire that hit a sitio in Barangay Tejero this city last Friday afternoon.

Barneso said the nine pilgrims (seven from Asturias, Cebu and two from the Diocese of Talibon) were not around when the fire razed the house of their foster parents. Their personal belongings were included when the fire engulfed the house of their foster parents.

Rev. Fr. Joselito Gutierrez, over-all festival site coordinator, said a group was quick in helping the nine pilgrims secure new clothes.

Monsignor Ruben Labajo, head of the team ministry of the Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral offered to house the nine pilgrims at the rectory’s guest rooms, Gutierrez said.

The Archdiocese of Cebu’s relief and rehabilitation unit will help the foster family, he said.

Aside from the fire incident, five pilgrims were rushed to the hospital due to food poisoning. Frankel Margallo, youth coordinator the event, told the Cebu media during the press briefing that four of the pilgrims were already out of the hospital, while one still under close medical attention.

Barneso, however, said all of the delegates who have registered for the National Youth Day 2019 are insured.

Gutierrez also reported that while the National Youth Day is now on its final stages, more pilgrims are catching up with the daily activities in nine festival sites. These pilgrims came from Cordillera and could not make it on time here due to changes in their flight schedule, which was brought about by the 6.4 earthquake that hit Luzon.

Police Regional Office (PRO)-Region 7 (Central Visayas) Regional Director, Brigadier General Debold Sinas, said the same security measures will be implemented during the Sunday closing ceremony at the CCSC.

Security during the early morning mass would be much stricter due to the presence of the Papal Nuncio, the representative of Pope Francis in the country. (PNA)