MANILA, Dec. 10, 2009— Close to 6,000 priests and bishops nationwide are expected to gather for the 2nd National Congress of the Clergy from January 25-29, 2010 at the World Trade Center, in Pasay City.

Fr. Raniero Cantalamesa, OFM Cap, Papal Preacher to the late Pope John Paul II and the present Pope Benedict XVI, will be the Spiritual Retreat Preacher of the congress. His talk will center on the theme of the Year for Priests: “Faithfulness of Christ, faithfulness of priests.”

Imus Bishop Luis Antonio Tagle will give a reflection on some of the talks that will be given during the congress.

Aside from plenary talks, other spiritual activities such as recitation of the rosary, station of the cross and spiritual sharing will fill up the five-day event.

Priests coming from far-away dioceses will be accommodated by host families within Manila archdiocese and neighboring dioceses of Parañaque, Cubao, Pasig, Kalookan and Novaliches.

The assembly which is being spearheaded by the Commission on the Clergy of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) headed by Manila Archbishop Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales is in conjunction with the Catholic Church’s celebration of the “Year for Priests” which the Holy Father proclaimed last June 19, 2009.

To culminate in June 2010, the celebration was declared by His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI for the clergy to deepen their commitment and undergo “to their interior renewal for the sake of a more forceful and incisive witness to the Gospel in today’s world.”

Some dioceses have also celebrated Diocesan Clergy Congress to celebrate the Year for Priests.

The Bicol clergy had its congress last November 9-13, while the Ecclesiastical Province of Manila’s Congress of the Clergy was held on November 17, 2009 at the SMX Convention Center, MOA, Pasay City.

The January 2010 national congress will be the second nationwide gathering for the clergy. The first assembly was held on July 5-9, 2004. (Kate Laceda)