BANGUED Bishop Leopoldo C. Jaucian urged the youth to “be the Eucharist” and share the love of God that they have experienced.
“If you have felt his love, you should also share it to others. We should also become the Eucharist like Jesus in offering ourselves to our fellow men and to society,” said Jaucian, chairman of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines Episcopal Commission on Youth.
The prelate presided the closing mass for the Youth Day of the 51st International Eucharistic Congress.
According to the National Filipino Catholic Youth Survey, in 2013, the number of Filipino Catholics reached an approximately 76.2 million (78.7 percent) out of the country’s estimated population of 96.8 million. Some 30.5 million (40 percent) belong to the youth sector aged 13-39 years old.
The results of the 2013 survey, commissioned the Episcopal Commission on Youth, also showed that nine out of 10 Catholic youths state that they “are interested to learn more about their Catholic faith” and “can defend their faith to anyone who challenges them.”
Pope Francis said in his message for the World Youth Day to be held in Krakow, Poland on July 25-31, 2016, “You young people are brave adventurers! If you allow yourselves to discover the rich teachings of the Church on love, you will discover that Christianity does not consist of a series of prohibitions which stifle our desire for happiness, but rather a project for life capable of captivating our hearts.”
The International Eucharistic Congress is an international gathering aimed at promoting an awareness of the central place of the Eucharist in the life and mission of the Catholic Church.