AMID the string of natural and man-made calamities affecting the country, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) has set October 7, 2025, as the National Day of Prayer and Public Repentance.
In a pastoral statement, CBCP President Cardinal Pablo David called on all sectors to join in praying for healing, renewal, and justice.
“We call for a National Day of Prayer and Public Repentance to be launched on Tuesday, October 7, 2025, Feast of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary,” David said.
He said the activity is necessary given the recent calamities, particularly the typhoons and the earthquake, as well as the controversy surrounding the Department of Public Works and Highways’ (DPWH) flood control projects.
“This is a prayer of national confession and contrition, in the context of the calamities that continue to afflict our land,” the cardinal said.
“This act of national contrition is also a step in our journey of synodality—walking together as God’s people, listening to the Spirit and to one another in humility and hope,” he added.
The CBCP said the call to prayer extends beyond parish churches, chapels, and homes.
“We ask our Basic Ecclesial Communities (BECs), families, schools, and church groups and organizations to pray this together,” David said.
He also urged that the prayer continue beyond October 7.
“We invite that the following prayer be prayed also on the succeeding Sundays leading to the Feast of Christ the King, as a sustained supplication for mercy and renewal,” he said.
The declaration comes in the wake of the devastation caused by tropical cyclones Mirasol, Nando, and Opong, as well as the magnitude 6.9 earthquake in Cebu.
It also follows the controversy surrounding alleged corruption in the DPWH’s flood control projects. (Anton Banal/SunStar Philippines)
