TEN LEADERS from different religions are set to meet Pope Francis at the Pontifical University of Santo Tomas (UST) on Jan. 18, 2015.
In a press briefing Monday (Dec. 22, 2014) at the Fr. George Willmann, S.J. Memorial Building of the Knights of Columbus Fraternal Association in Manila, Fr. Carlos Reyes, executive secretary of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines-Episcopal Commission on Interreligious Dialogue (CBCP-ECID), disclosed the names of the 10 religious leaders invited to the interreligious meeting with the Holy Father.
On the list are Metropolitan Nektarios (Tsilis) of the Orthodox Metropolitanate of Hong Kong and Southeast Asia; Venerable Master Hsing Yun, a Buddhist monk from the Fo Guang Shan Monastery in Taiwan; and Rabbi Eliyahu Azaria, who heads the synagogue in Makati.
They will be joined by Maharaj Rajesh Sharma, a Hindu priest; Ephraim Fajutagana, obispo máximo of the Philippine Independent Church and chairman of the National Council of Churches in the Philippines, and Bishop Cesar Vicente Punzalan III, chairman of the board of the Philippine Council of Evangelical Churches.
Former UST Graduate School dean Lilian Sison and Julkipli Wadi, dean of the Institute of Islamic Studies at the University of the Philippines, will represent the academe.
Completing the list are Imam Ibrahim Moxir Alhaj of the Imam Council of the Philippines and former chief justice Reynato Puno, chairman of the Philippine Bible Society.
Fr. Reyes said the interreligious meeting would run for 10 to 15 minutes. “There is no specific topic to discuss. It will probably be a simple ‘kumustahan’ between our Pope and the religious leaders. Most of them have been very active partners of the CBCP-ECID,” he said.
The interreligious meeting serves as a response to the call of the Second Vatican Council (Vatican II) for the Church to work with “moderate elements” for peace, justice and harmony, Fr. Reyes said.
“One discovery of the Vatican II is that there are also elements of sanctification and truth outside the visible borders of the Catholic Church,” Fr. Reyes explained.
Giovanna Fontanilla, UST public affairs director, said the meeting would take place “near the Arch of the Centuries,” the UST landmark whose stones formed the portal of the original university campus in Intramuros, or the walled city of Manila.
Pope Francis is expected to arrive in UST at 9:45 in the morning. After the interreligious meeting, Pope Francis will meet young people at the University’s football field. Angeli Mae S. Cantillana
