A Grateful Church: A Jubilee Journey of Gratitude

As part of the Jubilee Celebration of the 3 dioceses and Archdiocese in the Metropolitan Province of Davao, the four Bishops decided to embark a Jubilee Journey of Gratitude. This 2024, being a Year of Prayer for the entire Church, in the DADITAMA Sub-region this year is all the more very significant; it is because the four local churches celebrate their own jubilees namely;

75th Year – Archdiocese of Davao
45th Year – Diocese of Digos
44th Year – Diocese of Tagum
40th Year – Diocese of Mati.

Looking back with gratitude for the wonderful synodal journey, the four (4) Bishops of the Metropolitan Province of Davao namely; Most Rev. Romulo G. Valles, DD, Most Rev. Guillermo V. Afable, DD, Most Rev. Medil S. Aseo, DD and Most Rev. Abel C. Apigo, DD decided to undergo the Jubilee Journey of Gratitude. The Auxiliary of Davao, Most Rev. George B. Rimando, DD fully supports the idea.

The visit is intended to fully express their sincerest gratitude to the early missionaries who toiled hard in order for the seed of Catholic Christian faith to grow in this part of Mindanao. They decided to visit the PME Fathers (Foreign Mission of Quebec), now SME, and the Maryknoll Missionaries (MM) who came to the Philippines and who are still alive in their respective retirement homes.

Unable to join the Jubilee Journey of Gratitude because of the hectic schedule of the Diamond Jubilee celebration of the Archdiocese of Davao, Archbishop Valles officially sent the three Bishops namely; Bp. Afable, Bp. Aseo, and Bp. Apigo to convey to the missionaries how deeply indebted we are to the “zeal for the mission” that the PME Fathers and Maryknoll Missionaries possessed.

DADITAMA Church, we would not reach this far in our synodal journey of proclaiming the Gospel without those missionaries who have gone ahead of us. Visiting them is an expression of how GRATEFUL WE ARE TO THEM. Our Jubilee indeed is a moment of REMEMBERING THE PAST WITH GRATITUDE! ALL FOR THE GREATER GLORY OF GOD!