Pope: Philippine Marian sanctuaries to pray vs COVID-19

MANILA, Philippines — The Antipolo Cathedral, a revered Marian sanctuary, was chosen by Pope Francis to lead a prayer marathon for the month of May in a bid to call for divine intervention to end the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The National Shrine of Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage is chosen by the Pontifical Council for Promotion of the New Evangelization in Vatican as one of the Marian Sanctuaries to participate in a marathon of prayer in the whole month of May to end the pandemic,” the Antipolo Cathedral said.

It said the Vatican has asked them to pray the Holy Rosary for the intentions of all the families in the world, which will be broadcast live by the Vatican media in Rome at 6 p.m. on May 7 (midnight, Phl time).

Under the “marathon of prayer,” there will be a livestream on all Vatican media platforms on each day of May from one of the 30 chosen Marian shrines with a different prayer intention related to the pandemic.

Pope Francis will lead the opening of the month-long rosary on May 1 and which will conclude on May 31.

The Basilica of the Annunciation in Israel, Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico, Mother Mary’s House in Turkey and Our Lady of Lourdes in France are among the 30 Marian sanctuaries that will participate in the marathon prayers.

The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) declared the Antipolo Cathedral as a national shrine on Jan. 14, 1954, making it the oldest national shrine in the Philippines and in Southeast Asia.

Religious survey

About four in 10 Filipino adults rate themselves as “very religious,” according to the latest survey by the Social Weather Stations (SWS).

The poll, conducted from Nov. 21 to 25 last year, found 38 percent of Filipino adults rating themselves as “very religious,” 50 percent “moderately religious,” 10 percent “slightly religious” and two percent “not religious at all.”

By religion, the percentage of those who consider themselves as very religious is highest among Iglesia ni Cristo members at 56 percent, followed by “Other Christian” believers (46 percent), Muslims (44 percent) and Catholics (36 percent).

The percentage of Filipino adults who consider themselves as very religious is highest in the Visayas (45 percent), followed by Mindanao (38 percent), balance Luzon (37 percent) and Metro Manila (32 percent).

SWS also asked the Muslim respondents, “How many times do you pray the Salah?” Salah are prayers performed by Muslims, observed five times daily at prescribed times.

It found 53 percent of the Muslim respondents saying they pray the Salah five times daily, 29 percent a few times daily, 16 percent sometimes and two percent over a year ago.

Non-Muslim respondents were asked: “About how often do you pray?” To this, 28 percent of non-Muslims say they pray several times a day, 39 percent once a day, 17 percent weekly, nine percent monthly and three percent occasionally. – Helen Flores