The Assumption Parish at 60

In the Solemnity of the Assumption of Mary last August 15, the Our Lady of the Assumption Parish in F. Torres St. also celebrated its 60th parochial fiesta and founding anniversary.

In the long years of the said parish that was established in 1959, Davao Archbishop Romulo Valles emphasized how it grew with the whole Archdiocese.

“This is the 60th year of the parish. Our Archdiocese is now 70 years old. So if we do some math, our archdiocese was very young when this parish started. Just 10 years old,” he said.

“So, this is one of the oldest and most senior parishes in Davao,” the Archbishop noted.

Valles also narrated that back when the parish was still in its early years, the priests of the Blessed Sacrament congregation nurtured it.

“Of the 60 years of this life as a parish, 40 of those were nurtured and shepherded by the Blessed Sacrament Fathers. Many of them are here,” he said.

As a message for the feast, Valles said its long years as a church celebrate the gift of faith of the Filipino community.

“Let us take this fiesta of our parish, and the solemnity of the universal church to thank the Lord for the gift of faith,” he said.

“In one of my meetings in Manila, I heard that the work of the church in Asia, the mission of the Church in Asia is done in the context that the church is a minority except in the Philippines,” he added.

This Filipino faith, the Archbishop said, is closely related to the faith with the Virgin Mary having several local titles in the Philippines.

“Our Filipino faith is closely related, nourished, developed, and accompanied by our devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary,” Valles said.

Meanwhile, Valles also recalled to pray for the four church leaders charged with sedition as requested in a letter of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines that Valles chairs.

“Also in the Philippines today, we have an appeal to pray for the four Bishops — an Archbishop and three Bishops, Abp. Socrates Villegas, Bp. Ambo David of Caloocan, Bp. Honesto Ongtioco of Cubao and Bp. Teodoro Bacani, retired Bishop of Novaliches. All four Bishops are charged with the crime of sedition, believe it or not. The whole process has started. They are supposed to submit their counter affidavits these days. So all we can do is really commend them into the hands of the Blessed Mother, the mother of us all and and the mother of priests,” Valles asked.