5,500 Participants Attend the National Congress of the Catholic Clergy 2

The 2nd National Congress of the Clergy opened today at the World Trade Center (WTC) with over 5,200 priests in attendance, 400 of whom are walk-ins. Martial music from a brass band lent a festive air to the event, greeting the participants at the entrance of WTC which was decorated with multicolored banners.

Veneration of the relics of the patron saint of priests, St. John Mary Vianney—his stole and his breviary—preceded the Eucharistic celebration presided by His Excellency, Most Rev. Edward Joseph Adams, Apostolic Nuncio to the Philippines.
The congratulatory message from the Vatican, signed by the Secretary of State Tarcisio Cardinal Bertoni, was read by Chairman of the CBCP Episcopal Commission on the Clergy Florentino Lavarias, Bishop of Iba. The message exhorted the priest-participants to “embrace more fervently the three evangelical counsels of poverty, chastity and obedience” which have been set as the “surest road to the desired goal of Christian perfection” on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the death of St. John Mary Vianney.