By Gabriela Baron
The Catholic Conference Bishop of the Philippines (CBCP) called on parish churches to toll their bells on Monday, May 9, to encourage Filipinos to vote.
In a statement on Friday, May 6, CBCP President and Caloocan Bishop Pablo Virgilio David asked the bishops and archbishops in the country to ring church bells in their respective jurisdictions at 6 a.m. for 10 minutes on Monday, election day.
David said that this is in a bid to “remind our faithful to exercise their civic duty as citizens to vote and to do so in the spirit of prayer, asking the Holy Spirit to enlighten their consciences in their choices of new national and local leaders for our country.”
He also encouraged bishops and archbishops to stage a three-day intense prayer from May 8 to 10.
“[During] the whole days of May 8, 9, and 10, we keep our Parish Churches open and the Blessed Sacrament exposed for adoration, encourage our lay faithful–especially for our Eucharistic Adorers and members of the Apostleship of Prayer–to take turns in keeping vigil before the Blessed Sacrament, and repeatedly praying the Mysteries of the Holy Rosary, along with the Litany of Our Lady of Loreto, the Divine Mercy Chaplet, and the Oratio Imperata for the Elections,” David added.
