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Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle of Manila The people of the church are called to unite people and not to create division in society.
Speaking at the end of the Philippine Conference on the New Evangelization (PCNE), Tagle said that God wanted "the unity of his people".
"This is not the role of the shepherd to disperse. The role of the shepherd, according to the spirit and the heart of God, is to gather and it is the root of the word Church, not division, "said Tagle.
According to him, the Church and its leaders should be earthly reflection of the unity of God and called to a type of leadership that would bring people together.
"All of us who have been called to follow Jesus and to whom we have given positions, calls and responsibilities In reflecting on the various interviews and testimonies during the five-day meeting, the Cardinal also warned against instrumentalizing the Gospel for his own interests and " non-evangelical purposes. "
He emphasized that Jesus refuses any attempt to instrumentalize the Good News for worldly purposes.
"They say it's the Gospel, it turns out to be an ambition.They say it's help, it turns out to be the mileage of the media.They say that it is compassion, it turns out to be a career, "said Tagle.
The miracle of feeding the multitude is the PCNE's icon for The Year of the Clergy and Consecrated Persons who, like the laity, share the common priesthood.
The gathering ended with a Mass presided over by Archbishop Gabrielle Caccia, Apostolic Nuncio to the Philippines
In his message, the Archbishop urged the faithful to "move" with compassion and "always think of a person,"
"When you see that their needs are so many, do not think that you go do this work but say what you can do and give what you have and what you are to Jesus. He will perform miracles, "said Caccia
. The liturgical service ended with the distribution of at least 6,000 pieces of fish-shaped bread
. Jason Laguerta said the fish reminds everyone of what was written in the Gospel, where the evangelists pointed out the generosity of the boy who shared five loaves and two fish, which Jesus Christ multiplied and fed for generations. thousands of believers
. "The fish-shaped bread, which was distributed to the congregation, [was] a symbol of Jesus' generosity and power to multiply the meager resources they had," he said.
In the history of the Church, at the time of the persecution of Christians, believers used a fish symbol, called ichtys, to identify other believers. The image has been used as a symbol of Christianity.
The priest said that one of the reasons they had chosen the theme was to emphasize the mission of the Church "to feed the hungry world with the love of Jesus and to emphasize the 39; basic identity of every Christian to be bread, broken and shared for all. "
It is also in solidarity with the poor because bread and fish are the price of the poor, said Laguerta.
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