500 YOC Concludes with 2nd National Mission Congress

The culminating activity of the 5th Centennial of the coming of Christianity to our country begins today April 17, Sunday. This congress is an 8-day online activity which can be viewed both at the Davao Catholic Herald and DXGN 89.9 Spirit FM-Davao Facebook pages and with a simultaneous broadcast at the DXGN 89.9 Spirit FM radio station.

Although this will happen online and is for everyone, there had been registration forms for attendees to fill so that the organizers could record the statistics.

The Congress theme is “Gifted to Give” (Mt 10:8), emphasizing that, after being gifted with the Christian Faith for the last 500 years, the Philippine Church is now called to share the Faith with Asia and the rest of the world.

This is a transition of the Philippine church from being a purely Mission-receiving church to being now also a Mission-sending church.

The event has two parts: International Missiology Symposium on the 17th to the 19th and National Mission Forum on the 20th up to the 24th from 6:00 to 8:00 in the evening.

The speakers for the International Missiology Symposium are the following:

Day 1

Fr. Stephen Bennett Bevans, SVD
– Past president of the American Society of Missiology
– From Baltimore, Maryland
– Licentiate in Sacred Theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome
– Spent 9 years in the Philippines
Topic: New Directions of Missio Ad Gentes in the Changing Mission Frontiers of our Time

Day 2

Speaker 1: Fr. John Young
– President of Fr. Saturnino Urios in Butuan
– Masters in Pastoral Ministry and Philosophical Studies in Ateneo de Manila
– Licentiate and Doctorate in Missiology at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome
Topic: Missionary Discipleship in the Local Church

Speaker 2: Rev. Fr. Danny Huang, SJ
– Moderator of the Renewal Program for Missionaries of the Faculty of Missiology of the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome
– Licentiate and Doctorate in Sacred Theology from the Catholic University in Washington, DC
– Rector of San Jose Seminary from 2000-2004
Topic: Rethinking Missio Ad Gentes in the Context of the Church in Asia Today

You may visit the CBCP Episcopal Commission on Mission Facebook page for more details about the local speakers for the second part of the congress.

As we have been saved, we do also have the mission to save others; thus, invite friends and family to join the 2nd National Mission Congress today. (Christine Mae A. Camus | CBCP Episcopal Commision on Mission)