PREPARATIONS FOR PALO 2012 Diamond Jubilee launched today
PALO, Leyte – Preparations for the commemoration of Palo’s 75th year as a diocese in 2012 are to be launched today at the Palo Metropolitan Cathedral at 9:30 in the morning, in a Mass to be presided over by His Grace, the Most Rev. Jose S. Palma, D.D., assisted by the priests and faithful from parishes from all over the Archdiocese.
The event formally launches the period of preparation for the eventual celebration of the Diamond Jubilee year of Palo in 2012, seventy-five years since it was established as a diocese in 1937.
With the general theme “This is the will of God, your holiness” (1 Thessalonians 4:3), the whole preparatory period spans three years, which would be divided into three stages, each with their particular aims: the first year would be on remembering, looking back on the collective experience of the diocese since its creation; the second year (from 2010 to 2011) is aimed at proclaiming the blessings received during that time; the third (from 2011-2012) is aimed at the thanksgiving aspect of the Jubilee, for all of the blessings received, and the Jubilee year itself, from Nov. 28, 2012 to Nov. 28, 2013, would be aimed at the celebratory aspect.
As part of the preparations, the executive committee responsible for the Jubilee, chaired by Msgr. Bernardo Pantin, JCD, vicar general of the Archdiocese of Palo, has defined the goals to be hopefully achieved before the Jubilee itself, which are first the intensification of the on-going formation of the clergy and its future members, still under training in the seminary; second, the intensification of the pastoral program, especially of the Basic Ecclesial Communities (BEC) in the Archdiocese, and thirdly, the restructuring of the Archdiocesan Financial System.
During today’s Mass, the revised statutes of the Parish Pastoral council and those of the Parish Finance Council, fruit of much discussion and reflection, are to be solemnly promulgated as well.
The Diocese of Palo
On November 28, 1937, Pope Pius XI, by virtue of the apostolic letter “Si Qua In Orbe”, established the Diocese of Palo, separating the whole island and province of Leyte from the jurisdiction of the Diocese of Calbayog, and appointed the Most Rev. Manuel Morgia Mascariñas, D.D. as its first bishop.
Made into an archdiocese by Pope John Paul II on Nov. 15, 1982, it has since been zealously served by seven pastors, the present of which is Archbishop Palma. Today, the Archdiocese of Palo (a major town in Leyte) comprises the civil province of Leyte, excluding four municipalities in the north which belong to the Diocese of Naval, and six towns in the southwest which belong to the Diocese of Maasin. It has a land area of 4,620 square kilometers and a population of 1, 165,565 of which 95 percent are Catholics.
By Fr. Amadeo Alvero
Media Coordinator, Archdiocese of Palo
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