Church invites Duterte to World Apostolic Congress

The Catholic Church might often find itself at the receiving end of President Duterte’s verbal attacks, but the organizers of the World Apostolic Congress on Mercy (WACOM) 4 have invited him to attend their five-day event which could become an opportunity for government and the church to show they could work together to preserve life.

Fr. Prospero Tenorio, WACOM-Asia secretary general, said that they sent an invitation to Malacanang requesting President Duterte’s presence at the WACOM 4, an international religious event that will be held in the Philippines from Jan. 16 to 20.

“But up to now, there has been no response (to the invitation),” Fr. Tenorio said. There will be at least 3,610 local and foreign delegates attending the apostolic congress.

He is hoping that President Duterte would be able to attend even the opening of the congress on Jan. 16 where there would be a mass to be held at the Manila Cathedral.

“This would be an opportunity to show that the government and the church both value life. Our hope is to proclaim, celebrate and to serve the gospel of life,” he said.

Balanga, Bataan Bishop Ruperto Santos said that the theme of WACOM 4 “Communication in Mercy, Mission for Mercy” is connected with the Church teachings to uphold and value life.

“Mercy is connected with life… In general it is always to love life, to live life and to defend life. Always focus on life…. Life must be promoted, life must be preserved and life must be respected. So we could say that it will be a message of life because mercy is life,” Santos added.

In a society where there had been reports of extrajudicial killings ( EJK), they hope that WACOM 4 would serve as a “healing process for us… We believe that it will be fruitful and there would be a blessing for all of us in spite of what we have experienced and in spite of what we have seen,”Santos said.