Bullecer: More Catholics staying away from church

CEBU, Philippines - Only 16 percent of the 72 million Catholics in the Philippines, or a measly 11 million, regularly go to Church to attend the services, according to Rene Bullecer of the Council of the Laity of Cebu.

Bullecer made the claim during the Marian World Congress 2017 held at the Summit Circle Hotel in Cebu City yesterday, where he was also organizer and speaker.

The event was attended by over 300 attendees from different dioceses from different parts of the country. The congress called on people to remember and relay the message of Our Lady of Fatima with event organizers emphasizing the Lady of Fatima’s role in salvation and urged people to go back to church.

“Mao ni kagamay ang mosimba ra and it is a wakeup call that everybody especially the  Catholics must come to their senses, to wake up and pray and to surrender to God and trust everything to Him,” Bullecer said.

Bullecer sees the lack of priests as the main reason for the decreasing of number of Catholics who go to church adding that here in Cebu, every priest has to administer to 7,000 Catholics, compared to other religions where the ratio is one religious leader for every 500 people.

“Ing-ana kadaghan ang miyembro sa Church so dili g’yud kaya sa pari to provide all the Catholics the sacraments they need and as a result they become complacent,” Bullecer said.

He said that the only solution is to increase the number of priests being ordained, adding that in Cebu only 10 to 14 priests are being ordained every year.

“We should have 50 to 100 priests in one year nga ma-ordained to cater to more people. Kining 10 to 14 ma-ordained unya maminusan pa na sa mo-retire o mamatay. That’s why ang mga sacramento including the prayers of the rosary has been set aside,” he said.

One of the topics during the congress was the Our Lady of Fatima as hope and refuge. Discussions of the Fatima prophecies and their relevance to our current times were also conducted. A mass was also celebrated by Rev. Fr. Roige Quiga.

The attendees of the event came from the diocese from Mandaue City, Cebu City, Bohol, Negros Occidental, Manila, Samar, and Dumaguete.

Bullecer also announced that this coming August 22, a prayer rosary rally will be held in the Basilica Minore del Sto. Nino and he urged all Catholics to participate and renew their faith. (FREEMAN)