Apostolic Nuncio to the Philippines Archbishop Fernando Filono, D.D., will officiate the concelebrated mass marking the three-day international congress.
Internationally acclaimed historians, theologians, and missionaries will take turns in revisiting the historical paths taken by early missionaries and propose new perspectives in the theology of missionary involvement.
The pioneering Recollect missionaries arrived in Cebu in May, 1606 and later built their first convent in San Juan de Bagumbayan (presently between Orosa and Padre Burgos Sts., Manila) the same year.
In 1609 the Recollect founded the San Nicolas Church and Rectory in Intramuros, Manila, where Manila Bulletin is presently located. In a span of 400 years, they built more than 200 churches and laid the foundation of 13 cathedrals. They were responsible for the foundation, administration, and development of about one-third of the Philippine islands entrusted to them by both Church and government.
Among their contributions to Philippine socio-cultural, economic, and spiritual development were the introduction of the sugarcane industry in Negros island, the discovery and production of the Manila paper, the construction of San Sebastian Basilica (the only all-steel Basilica in Asia), and the construction of the Bamboo Organ of Las Piņas.
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