Manila Cathedral (INQUIRER FILE PHOTO / JILSON SECKLER TIU)
MANILA — The fourth World Apostolic Congress on Mercy (WACOM 4) opened on Monday afternoon with a well-attended Mass at the Manila Cathedral presided by the Apostolic Nuncio, Archbishop Giuseppe Pinto.
The cathedral, jampacked with hundreds of foreign and Filipino delegates, was the first venue of the five-day meeting, which will be also held at the University of Sto. Tomas, Batangas, Bulacan and Bataan.
Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle served as homilist in the Mass.
Rev. Fr. Prospero Tenorio, WACOM Asia secretary general, said the event has drawn 5,000 to 6,000 local and foreign delegates.
It is a gathering of Catholic faithful from January 16 to 20, 2017, which aims to accelerate the culture of mercy in the Catholic Church and all over the world.
Around 300 to 500 policemen will be deployed to each of the WACOM events in Manila, Batangas, Bulacan and Bataan.
The other venues of the WACOM 4 are the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy in Bulacan, the National Shrine of Padre Pio in Batangas, and the Las Casas Filipinas de Azucar, Bataan.
The WACOM is held every three years, the first one held in Rome and subsequently in Poland and Colombia. SFM