(Cebu, Philipines) The Cebu Province has issued a document entitled Recuperatio Et Sanatio to be circulated among the local Redemptorist communities as a pastoral response to the present situation. The document was made mainly through the efforts of the APOSEC (Secretariat of the Apostolate), with inputs from the communities and confreres. The authors present it in the preface as follows:
This document was prepared in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in an attempt to have a view on how we are responding PASTORALLY.
We are indeed in an unusual situation these days, with our usual pastoral activities now being very limited, and even suspended.
This document attempts to highlight the present practices and initiatives of the different communities. With this document, may we learn from one another in CREATIVELY responding to the situation.
We might have some limitations now in our ministry but may this not stop us from CONCRETELY reaching out to others. May we indeed not succumb to the temptation to just wait for things to die down and for things to get back to normal. While we are indeed in a crisis, this is also an opportunity.
The guidelines and suggestions here are not exhaustive, and this document is made respecting the context, capacity and resources of the local community. Ultimately, the local community is to be one to decide what to concretely implement as pastoral responses.
There may be differences in our implementations but may the values and priorities among us be common- mainly to contribute to the efforts of recovery and healing.
May the document be material for each community (perhaps in your meetings/sharings), as we continue assessing our pastoral plans in the coming weeks, or even months.
May we deepen our solidarity with the present plight of God’s people.
