Davao marks Week of Prayer for Christian Unity

3rd day, January 20, 2020, Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, Held in First United Methodist Church, Bo. Obrero, Davao City. (Photo by Chen Angco)

How beautiful and inspiring to see Protestants and Roman Catholics come together in prayer and fellowship! Starting last January 18, 2020, Saturday, the Protestants and Roman Catholics in Davao City, gathered in prayer and fellowship in Iglesia Filipina Independiente Cathedral, along F. Torres St., Davao City for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, January 18 to 25, 2020.

This year’s theme is: “They showed us unusual kindness” (Acts 28:2). This is about the experience of St. Paul together with his companions in his missionary journey when they had shipwreck and were rescued by the indigenous peoples of Malta with “unusual kindness”. This experience of St. Paul and companions taken cared of by the “lumads” of Malta is so relevant to our contemporary situation where migrants and refugees should be considered brothers and sisters not foreigners and strangers and left to their own to survive.

Here in Davao City, the participants of this eight-day prayers with fellowship are: the Iglesia Filipina Independiente with Fr. Michell John Linao, Christ Our Savior Lutheran Church headed by Pastor Fidelcastro Quintana, First United Methodist Church with Rev. Maximino Maregmen, the Episcopalians with Rev. Paddy May Casada and the United Church of Christ in the Philippines headed by their Executive Pastor, Rev. Haniel Taganas.

For the Roman Catholics, the following were the participants: Fr. Florencio “Jun” Acedo, Jr., Director of Davao Archdiocese Indigenous Peoples’ Apostolate, Fr. Hermie Garcia, S.S.S., Parish Priest of the Our Lady of Assumption Parish and Episcopal Vicar for the Religious, Rev. Michael Ondras, Jr., a Deacon of the Archdiocese of Davao, Sr. Elaine Depungtorum, O.S.B., of the San Pedro Cathedral, the members of the Focolare Movement and the St. Francis of Assisi Parish-La Verna with Fr. Pedro “Pete” Lamata, Parish Priest and Director of the Archdiocesan Center for Ecumenical and Interreligious Dialogue.

Christians from all Protestant communities in Davao and Roman Catholics from all parishes in Davao are challenged “to come together, reason together, pray together and act together towards full christian unity.” (Fr. Pedro P. Lamata)