By Matters India Reporter

Manila: The Fifth Philippine Conference on New Evangelization (PCNE5) which is taking place in Manila from July 18 to 22 is a time to get rooted in Jesus, Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle of Manila.

“For evangelization means nothing if we do not get rooted again and again in the person of the good news, Jesus. He is the Gospel in person,” he said.

He said PCNE is full of rituals and it should be rooted on Jesus, adding, “There are some portions, themes that are already ritualized and had become some sort of identity of PCNE and we need that. It should bring us back to life. Let the rituals express life and let the rituals equipped us, prepare us to face life.”

The Cardinal reminded the faithful of the importance of rituals to be rooted from a “deeper reality” and not just “performance.”

“PCNE is not just a ritual, it is not just a conference, it is about life, and it should be rooted in the life and it should transform the realities, values, and the living of the Christian faith. The point of PCNE, to provide a gripping experience of Jesus, a gripping experience of the community called the Church, and a gripping experience of the mission, the calling, motivated only by the love of Christ,” Tagle said.

Father James Mallon, the Episcopal Vicar for the Archdiocese of Halifax-Yarmouth of Canada is one of the key speakers at the PCNE5.

Mallon will deliver the keynote message on the theme during the second day of PCNE 5, July 19.

This, as the second day of the conference, will focus on the ordained ministers and consecrated persons as disciples of God and their mission to join Christ as they strive to have their hearts formed.

The theme for this year’s PCNE is “Moved with Compassion: Feed the Multitude,” which is aimed to celebrate the Year of the Clergy and Consecrated Persons as declared by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines.

It is a celebration of the ministerial priesthood and the consecrated life as a community of the baptized faithful, as missionary disciples and servant leaders like Christ, and a roadmap to foster the spirit of communion and synergy among the laity and consecrated.

Cardinal Tagle presided the opening Mass on the first day (July 18), and led the plenary session about the spiritual life of priests through an encounter with Christ, with the theme “Sharing in the One Priesthood of Christ.”

The third day of PCNE 5, aptly themed “Ministerial Priesthood at the Service of Baptismal Priesthood”, tackles the primary tasks of the clergy and consecrated persons in bringing all their creativity, imagination and enthusiasm for the Gospel to the ministry.

Aside from the plenary sessions, there will be 13 tracks of concurrent sessions on parish, schools, workplace/government, family, youth, the digital and social media, catechesis, a church in mission, new ministry, young adult, and new trends in the church.

Cardinal Tagle introduced PCNE in 2013 as a local response to the call of a new evangelization. It was first held from October 16 to 18, 2013 with the theme “God makes all things new (Rev 21:5)”.

PCNE I focused on rekindling the ardor of evangelization and renewal of faith experience in the local and Asian context.

More than 5000 priests, nuns, and lay people are attending the conference.

According to Msgr. Manuel Gabriel, theology professor at Mary Hill School of Theology and at Asian Social Institute in Manila, the five elements of the New Evangelization could help address these “critical situations” of the Church: contextual, focus on faith experiences, Christocentric, renewal of the Church and prioritize the life of the excluded and marginalized.

“There is a lack of shared and common paradigm to handle the critical situation today. The challenge is the New Evangelization should bring us all together to bring about transformation in our society,” he told Fides.

Gabriel emphasized that the Church must be in a “missionary mode” rather than stuck in a “maintenance mode.”

“If we are maintenance mode, nothing happens as it was, in the beginning, is now forever will be. A missionary mode breaks barriers, breaks new grounds, has new thinking, changes everything,” he added.

The Philippines, with a population of 110 million, 80% are Catholics, divided into 86 dioceses.