POPE Francis called on Filipinos on Saturday to pray for the Church as it is faced with difficult issues, including its ongoing “purification of its ranks.”
The appeal was made by Apostolic Nuncio to the Philippines Gabriele Giordano Caccia during his 20-minute homily on Saturday in Batangas.
“He has fond memories of his visit in the Philippines and he always keeps you Filipinos close to his heart,” Caccia said.
“Please remember to pray for him, especially in his difficult time,” he added.
Pope Francis visited the country in 2015 to meet with the victims of Supertyphoon Yolanda (international code name Haiyan).
In a news conference, Caccia said the Church is now trying to address pressing social and economic concerns.
These include problems faced by families; environment; injustice in society between the rich and the poor; migrant, immigrants and refugees and wars.
“There are many many issues to which we need to have the helping hand of God, the Holy Spirit,” Caccia said.
Also included in the said list are the ongoing internal reforms being implemented by the Church.
“The pope also spoke about purification and scandals inside the Church,” Caccia said.
The Church was hit earlier this year with several allegations of sexual abuses committed by its clergy.
One of the prominent cases was in Chile, where 34 bishops offered to resign for their inaction on the abuses of their priests and even one of their own.
A comprehensive report on the incident later prompted Pope Francis to accept the resignation of three of the said bishops and apologize to the victims of the said abuses.
The incident led to increasing public pressure on the Catholic Church to make its clergy more accountable for their actions.