{"id":21077,"date":"2017-07-17T22:23:00","date_gmt":"2017-07-17T22:23:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/news\/in-strongly-catholic-philippines-bishops-conference-picks-new-leader-37924\/"},"modified":"2017-07-17T22:23:00","modified_gmt":"2017-07-17T22:23:00","slug":"in-strongly-catholic-philippines-bishops-conference-picks-new-leader","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2017\/07\/in-strongly-catholic-philippines-bishops-conference-picks-new-leader\/","title":{"rendered":"In strongly Catholic Philippines, bishops&#8217; conference picks new leader"},"content":{"rendered":"<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC \"-\/\/W3C\/\/DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional\/\/EN\" \"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/TR\/REC-html40\/loose.dtd\">\n<html><head><meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\"><meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\"><\/head><body><p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/images\/Archbishop_Credit_Andreas_Duren_CNA.jpg\"><\/p>\n<p>Manila, Philippines, Jul 17, 2017 \/ 04:23 pm (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">CNA\/EWTN News<\/a>).- The Philippines is one of the most populous Catholic countries in the world. About 80 percent of the country's 100 million people belong to the faith.<\/p>\n<p>Now, the country's Catholic bishops' conference has elected a new president: Archbishop Romulo Valles.<\/p>\n<p>Since 2012 Archbishop Valles, 66, has headed the Archdiocese of Davao, on the southern Philippines island of Mindanao. Davao is the largest city in the region.<\/p>\n<p>Over 60 percent of Mindanao\u2019s total population is Catholic, while Muslims make up 20 percent. In the past the island has suffered a communist insurgency and an armed Moro separatist movement, Vatican Radio reports. The region is currently suffering an insurgency of Islamic insurgents who have pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group and have captured Marawi City, burning the Catholic cathedral and taking hostage a Catholic priest and several church workers.<\/p>\n<p>Archbishop Valles served as the most recent vice-president of the bishops\u2019 conference. He has chaired the conference\u2019s Commission on Liturgy.<\/p>\n<p>His election took place at the beginning of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines' July 8-10 plenary assembly at the Pope Pius XII Catholic Center in Manila.<\/p>\n<p>Bishop Pablo Virgilio David of the Manila-area Diocese of Caloocan was elected the conference vice-president.<\/p>\n<p>The newly elected leaders will take office Dec. 1. The Philippines bishops' conference covers 86 ecclesiastical jurisdictions.<\/p>\n<p>Archbishop Valles' archdiocese is the home base of controversial President Rodrigo Duterte, a past mayor of Davao City. The president has vocally insulted the bishops who criticized his harsh crackdown on drugs.<\/p>\n<p>In his final keynote as conference president, Archbishop Socrates Villegas of Lingayen-Dagupan stressed the need to reach out to society with an open hand.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cClosed fists do not love; they hurt. Closed fists do not touch, they strike and injure. Closed fists and prayer do not match,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Without mentioning by name President Duterte, Archbishop Villegas alluded to how the bishops had been \u201ccalumniated and slandered.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have been cursed and ridiculed but you our shepherds have chosen to fly high when the mockers of the Church chose to go so low,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI know that the values of an open hands, fortitude and listening will be same pastoral tools that we will use to serve and guide the flock of God,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<p>Archbishop Villegas\u2019 tenure included a massive earthquake in Bohol province and a major typhoon in the Visayas. Pope Francis visited in 2015. The country also hosted the 51st International Eucharistic Congress.<\/p>\n<p>Politically, during the archbishop\u2019s tenure the Philippines bishops clashed with previous president Benigno Aquino over a population control bill and over issues of corruption, Vatican Radio reports.<\/p>\n<div class=\"feedflare\">\n<a href=\"http:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~ff\/catholicnewsagency\/dailynews?a=hT--SlJaBY4:khm6BNt_M80:yIl2AUoC8zA\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~ff\/catholicnewsagency\/dailynews?d=yIl2AUoC8zA\" border=\"0\"><\/a>\n<\/div>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~r\/catholicnewsagency\/dailynews\/~4\/hT--SlJaBY4\" height=\"1\" width=\"1\" alt=\"\"><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/images\/Archbishop_Credit_Andreas_Duren_CNA.jpg\"><\/p>\n<p>Manila, Philippines, Jul 17, 2017 \/ 04:23 pm (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/\" target=\"_self\">CNA\/EWTN News<\/a>).- The Philippines is one of the most populous Catholic countries in the world. About 80 percent of the country&#8217;s 100 million people belong to the faith.<\/p>\n<p>Now, the country&#8217;s Catholic bishops&#8217; conference has elected a new president: Archbishop Romulo Valles.<\/p>\n<p>Since 2012 Archbishop Valles, 66, has headed the Archdiocese of Davao, on the southern Philippines island of Mindanao. Davao is the largest city in the region.<\/p>\n<p>Over 60 percent of Mindanao&rsquo;s total population is Catholic, while Muslims make up 20 percent. In the past the island has suffered a communist insurgency and an armed Moro separatist movement, Vatican Radio reports. The region is currently suffering an insurgency of Islamic insurgents who have pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group and have captured Marawi City, burning the Catholic cathedral and taking hostage a Catholic priest and several church workers.<\/p>\n<p>Archbishop Valles served as the most recent vice-president of the bishops&rsquo; conference. He has chaired the conference&rsquo;s Commission on Liturgy.<\/p>\n<p>His election took place at the beginning of the Catholic Bishops&#8217; Conference of the Philippines&#8217; July 8-10 plenary assembly at the Pope Pius XII Catholic Center in Manila.<\/p>\n<p>Bishop Pablo Virgilio David of the Manila-area Diocese of Caloocan was elected the conference vice-president.<\/p>\n<p>The newly elected leaders will take office Dec. 1. The Philippines bishops&#8217; conference covers 86 ecclesiastical jurisdictions.<\/p>\n<p>Archbishop Valles&#8217; archdiocese is the home base of controversial President Rodrigo Duterte, a past mayor of Davao City. The president has vocally insulted the bishops who criticized his harsh crackdown on drugs.<\/p>\n<p>In his final keynote as conference president, Archbishop Socrates Villegas of Lingayen-Dagupan stressed the need to reach out to society with an open hand.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Closed fists do not love; they hurt. Closed fists do not touch, they strike and injure. Closed fists and prayer do not match,&rdquo; he said.<\/p>\n<p>Without mentioning by name President Duterte, Archbishop Villegas alluded to how the bishops had been &ldquo;calumniated and slandered.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;We have been cursed and ridiculed but you our shepherds have chosen to fly high when the mockers of the Church chose to go so low,&rdquo; he said.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I know that the values of an open hands, fortitude and listening will be same pastoral tools that we will use to serve and guide the flock of God,&rdquo; he added.<\/p>\n<p>Archbishop Villegas&rsquo; tenure included a massive earthquake in Bohol province and a major typhoon in the Visayas. Pope Francis visited in 2015. The country also hosted the 51st International Eucharistic Congress.<\/p>\n<p>Politically, during the archbishop&rsquo;s tenure the Philippines bishops clashed with previous president Benigno Aquino over a population control bill and over issues of corruption, Vatican Radio reports.<\/p>\n<div>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~ff\/catholicnewsagency\/dailynews?a=hT--SlJaBY4:khm6BNt_M80:yIl2AUoC8zA\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~ff\/catholicnewsagency\/dailynews?d=yIl2AUoC8zA\" border=\"0\"><\/a>\n<\/div>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~r\/catholicnewsagency\/dailynews\/~4\/hT--SlJaBY4\" height=\"1\" width=\"1\" alt=\"\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1031,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21077","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-asia-pacific"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>In strongly Catholic Philippines, bishops&#039; conference picks new leader<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Manila, Philippines, Jul 17, 2017 \/ 04:23 pm (CNA\/EWTN News).- The Philippines is one of the most populous Catholic countries in the world. About 80 percent of the country&#039;s 100 million people belong to the faith. Now, the country&#039;s Catholic bishops&#039; conference has elected a new president: Archbishop Romulo Valles. Since 2012 Archbishop Valles, 66, has headed the Archdiocese of Davao, on the southern Philippines island of Mindanao. Davao is the largest city in the region. Over 60 percent of Mindanao&rsquo;s total population is Catholic, while Muslims make up 20 percent. In the past the island has suffered a communist insurgency and an armed Moro separatist movement, Vatican Radio reports. The region is currently suffering an insurgency of Islamic insurgents who have pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group and have captured Marawi City, burning the Catholic cathedral and taking hostage a Catholic priest and several church workers. Archbishop Valles served as the most recent vice-president of the bishops&rsquo; conference. He has chaired the conference&rsquo;s Commission on Liturgy. His election took place at the beginning of the Catholic Bishops&#039; Conference of the Philippines&#039; July 8-10 plenary assembly at the Pope Pius XII Catholic Center in Manila. Bishop Pablo Virgilio David of the Manila-area Diocese of Caloocan was elected the conference vice-president. The newly elected leaders will take office Dec. 1. The Philippines bishops&#039; conference covers 86 ecclesiastical jurisdictions. Archbishop Valles&#039; archdiocese is the home base of controversial President Rodrigo Duterte, a past mayor of Davao City. The president has vocally insulted the bishops who criticized his harsh crackdown on drugs. In his final keynote as conference president, Archbishop Socrates Villegas of Lingayen-Dagupan stressed the need to reach out to society with an open hand. &ldquo;Closed fists do not love; they hurt. Closed fists do not touch, they strike and injure. Closed fists and prayer do not match,&rdquo; he said. Without mentioning by name President Duterte, Archbishop Villegas alluded to how the bishops had been &ldquo;calumniated and slandered.&rdquo; &ldquo;We have been cursed and ridiculed but you our shepherds have chosen to fly high when the mockers of the Church chose to go so low,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I know that the values of an open hands, fortitude and listening will be same pastoral tools that we will use to serve and guide the flock of God,&rdquo; he added. Archbishop Villegas&rsquo; tenure included a massive earthquake in Bohol province and a major typhoon in the Visayas. Pope Francis visited in 2015. The country also hosted the 51st International Eucharistic Congress. Politically, during the archbishop&rsquo;s tenure the Philippines bishops clashed with previous president Benigno Aquino over a population control bill and over issues of corruption, Vatican Radio reports.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2017\/07\/in-strongly-catholic-philippines-bishops-conference-picks-new-leader\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"In strongly Catholic Philippines, bishops&#039; conference picks new leader\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Manila, Philippines, Jul 17, 2017 \/ 04:23 pm (CNA\/EWTN News).- The Philippines is one of the most populous Catholic countries in the world. About 80 percent of the country&#039;s 100 million people belong to the faith. Now, the country&#039;s Catholic bishops&#039; conference has elected a new president: Archbishop Romulo Valles. Since 2012 Archbishop Valles, 66, has headed the Archdiocese of Davao, on the southern Philippines island of Mindanao. Davao is the largest city in the region. Over 60 percent of Mindanao&rsquo;s total population is Catholic, while Muslims make up 20 percent. In the past the island has suffered a communist insurgency and an armed Moro separatist movement, Vatican Radio reports. The region is currently suffering an insurgency of Islamic insurgents who have pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group and have captured Marawi City, burning the Catholic cathedral and taking hostage a Catholic priest and several church workers. Archbishop Valles served as the most recent vice-president of the bishops&rsquo; conference. He has chaired the conference&rsquo;s Commission on Liturgy. His election took place at the beginning of the Catholic Bishops&#039; Conference of the Philippines&#039; July 8-10 plenary assembly at the Pope Pius XII Catholic Center in Manila. Bishop Pablo Virgilio David of the Manila-area Diocese of Caloocan was elected the conference vice-president. The newly elected leaders will take office Dec. 1. The Philippines bishops&#039; conference covers 86 ecclesiastical jurisdictions. Archbishop Valles&#039; archdiocese is the home base of controversial President Rodrigo Duterte, a past mayor of Davao City. The president has vocally insulted the bishops who criticized his harsh crackdown on drugs. In his final keynote as conference president, Archbishop Socrates Villegas of Lingayen-Dagupan stressed the need to reach out to society with an open hand. &ldquo;Closed fists do not love; they hurt. Closed fists do not touch, they strike and injure. Closed fists and prayer do not match,&rdquo; he said. Without mentioning by name President Duterte, Archbishop Villegas alluded to how the bishops had been &ldquo;calumniated and slandered.&rdquo; &ldquo;We have been cursed and ridiculed but you our shepherds have chosen to fly high when the mockers of the Church chose to go so low,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I know that the values of an open hands, fortitude and listening will be same pastoral tools that we will use to serve and guide the flock of God,&rdquo; he added. Archbishop Villegas&rsquo; tenure included a massive earthquake in Bohol province and a major typhoon in the Visayas. Pope Francis visited in 2015. The country also hosted the 51st International Eucharistic Congress. Politically, during the archbishop&rsquo;s tenure the Philippines bishops clashed with previous president Benigno Aquino over a population control bill and over issues of corruption, Vatican Radio reports.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2017\/07\/in-strongly-catholic-philippines-bishops-conference-picks-new-leader\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Catholic News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-07-17T22:23:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/images\/Archbishop_Credit_Andreas_Duren_CNA.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"CNA Daily News\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"CNA Daily News\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2017\/07\/in-strongly-catholic-philippines-bishops-conference-picks-new-leader\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2017\/07\/in-strongly-catholic-philippines-bishops-conference-picks-new-leader\/\",\"name\":\"In strongly Catholic Philippines, bishops' conference picks new leader\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2017-07-17T22:23:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-07-17T22:23:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#\/schema\/person\/35d4bd7addc580050842c844a11575f1\"},\"description\":\"Manila, Philippines, Jul 17, 2017 \/ 04:23 pm (CNA\/EWTN News).- The Philippines is one of the most populous Catholic countries in the world. About 80 percent of the country's 100 million people belong to the faith. Now, the country's Catholic bishops' conference has elected a new president: Archbishop Romulo Valles. Since 2012 Archbishop Valles, 66, has headed the Archdiocese of Davao, on the southern Philippines island of Mindanao. Davao is the largest city in the region. Over 60 percent of Mindanao&rsquo;s total population is Catholic, while Muslims make up 20 percent. In the past the island has suffered a communist insurgency and an armed Moro separatist movement, Vatican Radio reports. The region is currently suffering an insurgency of Islamic insurgents who have pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group and have captured Marawi City, burning the Catholic cathedral and taking hostage a Catholic priest and several church workers. Archbishop Valles served as the most recent vice-president of the bishops&rsquo; conference. He has chaired the conference&rsquo;s Commission on Liturgy. His election took place at the beginning of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines' July 8-10 plenary assembly at the Pope Pius XII Catholic Center in Manila. Bishop Pablo Virgilio David of the Manila-area Diocese of Caloocan was elected the conference vice-president. The newly elected leaders will take office Dec. 1. The Philippines bishops' conference covers 86 ecclesiastical jurisdictions. Archbishop Valles' archdiocese is the home base of controversial President Rodrigo Duterte, a past mayor of Davao City. The president has vocally insulted the bishops who criticized his harsh crackdown on drugs. In his final keynote as conference president, Archbishop Socrates Villegas of Lingayen-Dagupan stressed the need to reach out to society with an open hand. &ldquo;Closed fists do not love; they hurt. Closed fists do not touch, they strike and injure. Closed fists and prayer do not match,&rdquo; he said. Without mentioning by name President Duterte, Archbishop Villegas alluded to how the bishops had been &ldquo;calumniated and slandered.&rdquo; &ldquo;We have been cursed and ridiculed but you our shepherds have chosen to fly high when the mockers of the Church chose to go so low,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I know that the values of an open hands, fortitude and listening will be same pastoral tools that we will use to serve and guide the flock of God,&rdquo; he added. Archbishop Villegas&rsquo; tenure included a massive earthquake in Bohol province and a major typhoon in the Visayas. Pope Francis visited in 2015. The country also hosted the 51st International Eucharistic Congress. 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About 80 percent of the country's 100 million people belong to the faith. Now, the country's Catholic bishops' conference has elected a new president: Archbishop Romulo Valles. Since 2012 Archbishop Valles, 66, has headed the Archdiocese of Davao, on the southern Philippines island of Mindanao. Davao is the largest city in the region. Over 60 percent of Mindanao&rsquo;s total population is Catholic, while Muslims make up 20 percent. In the past the island has suffered a communist insurgency and an armed Moro separatist movement, Vatican Radio reports. The region is currently suffering an insurgency of Islamic insurgents who have pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group and have captured Marawi City, burning the Catholic cathedral and taking hostage a Catholic priest and several church workers. Archbishop Valles served as the most recent vice-president of the bishops&rsquo; conference. He has chaired the conference&rsquo;s Commission on Liturgy. His election took place at the beginning of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines' July 8-10 plenary assembly at the Pope Pius XII Catholic Center in Manila. Bishop Pablo Virgilio David of the Manila-area Diocese of Caloocan was elected the conference vice-president. The newly elected leaders will take office Dec. 1. The Philippines bishops' conference covers 86 ecclesiastical jurisdictions. Archbishop Valles' archdiocese is the home base of controversial President Rodrigo Duterte, a past mayor of Davao City. The president has vocally insulted the bishops who criticized his harsh crackdown on drugs. In his final keynote as conference president, Archbishop Socrates Villegas of Lingayen-Dagupan stressed the need to reach out to society with an open hand. &ldquo;Closed fists do not love; they hurt. Closed fists do not touch, they strike and injure. Closed fists and prayer do not match,&rdquo; he said. Without mentioning by name President Duterte, Archbishop Villegas alluded to how the bishops had been &ldquo;calumniated and slandered.&rdquo; &ldquo;We have been cursed and ridiculed but you our shepherds have chosen to fly high when the mockers of the Church chose to go so low,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I know that the values of an open hands, fortitude and listening will be same pastoral tools that we will use to serve and guide the flock of God,&rdquo; he added. Archbishop Villegas&rsquo; tenure included a massive earthquake in Bohol province and a major typhoon in the Visayas. Pope Francis visited in 2015. The country also hosted the 51st International Eucharistic Congress. Politically, during the archbishop&rsquo;s tenure the Philippines bishops clashed with previous president Benigno Aquino over a population control bill and over issues of corruption, Vatican Radio reports.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2017\/07\/in-strongly-catholic-philippines-bishops-conference-picks-new-leader\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"In strongly Catholic Philippines, bishops' conference picks new leader","og_description":"Manila, Philippines, Jul 17, 2017 \/ 04:23 pm (CNA\/EWTN News).- The Philippines is one of the most populous Catholic countries in the world. About 80 percent of the country's 100 million people belong to the faith. Now, the country's Catholic bishops' conference has elected a new president: Archbishop Romulo Valles. Since 2012 Archbishop Valles, 66, has headed the Archdiocese of Davao, on the southern Philippines island of Mindanao. Davao is the largest city in the region. Over 60 percent of Mindanao&rsquo;s total population is Catholic, while Muslims make up 20 percent. In the past the island has suffered a communist insurgency and an armed Moro separatist movement, Vatican Radio reports. The region is currently suffering an insurgency of Islamic insurgents who have pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group and have captured Marawi City, burning the Catholic cathedral and taking hostage a Catholic priest and several church workers. Archbishop Valles served as the most recent vice-president of the bishops&rsquo; conference. He has chaired the conference&rsquo;s Commission on Liturgy. His election took place at the beginning of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines' July 8-10 plenary assembly at the Pope Pius XII Catholic Center in Manila. Bishop Pablo Virgilio David of the Manila-area Diocese of Caloocan was elected the conference vice-president. The newly elected leaders will take office Dec. 1. The Philippines bishops' conference covers 86 ecclesiastical jurisdictions. Archbishop Valles' archdiocese is the home base of controversial President Rodrigo Duterte, a past mayor of Davao City. The president has vocally insulted the bishops who criticized his harsh crackdown on drugs. In his final keynote as conference president, Archbishop Socrates Villegas of Lingayen-Dagupan stressed the need to reach out to society with an open hand. &ldquo;Closed fists do not love; they hurt. Closed fists do not touch, they strike and injure. Closed fists and prayer do not match,&rdquo; he said. Without mentioning by name President Duterte, Archbishop Villegas alluded to how the bishops had been &ldquo;calumniated and slandered.&rdquo; &ldquo;We have been cursed and ridiculed but you our shepherds have chosen to fly high when the mockers of the Church chose to go so low,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I know that the values of an open hands, fortitude and listening will be same pastoral tools that we will use to serve and guide the flock of God,&rdquo; he added. Archbishop Villegas&rsquo; tenure included a massive earthquake in Bohol province and a major typhoon in the Visayas. Pope Francis visited in 2015. The country also hosted the 51st International Eucharistic Congress. Politically, during the archbishop&rsquo;s tenure the Philippines bishops clashed with previous president Benigno Aquino over a population control bill and over issues of corruption, Vatican Radio reports.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2017\/07\/in-strongly-catholic-philippines-bishops-conference-picks-new-leader\/","og_site_name":"Catholic News","article_published_time":"2017-07-17T22:23:00+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/images\/Archbishop_Credit_Andreas_Duren_CNA.jpg"}],"author":"CNA Daily News","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"CNA Daily News","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2017\/07\/in-strongly-catholic-philippines-bishops-conference-picks-new-leader\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2017\/07\/in-strongly-catholic-philippines-bishops-conference-picks-new-leader\/","name":"In strongly Catholic Philippines, bishops' conference picks new leader","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#website"},"datePublished":"2017-07-17T22:23:00+00:00","dateModified":"2017-07-17T22:23:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#\/schema\/person\/35d4bd7addc580050842c844a11575f1"},"description":"Manila, Philippines, Jul 17, 2017 \/ 04:23 pm (CNA\/EWTN News).- The Philippines is one of the most populous Catholic countries in the world. About 80 percent of the country's 100 million people belong to the faith. Now, the country's Catholic bishops' conference has elected a new president: Archbishop Romulo Valles. Since 2012 Archbishop Valles, 66, has headed the Archdiocese of Davao, on the southern Philippines island of Mindanao. Davao is the largest city in the region. Over 60 percent of Mindanao&rsquo;s total population is Catholic, while Muslims make up 20 percent. In the past the island has suffered a communist insurgency and an armed Moro separatist movement, Vatican Radio reports. The region is currently suffering an insurgency of Islamic insurgents who have pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group and have captured Marawi City, burning the Catholic cathedral and taking hostage a Catholic priest and several church workers. Archbishop Valles served as the most recent vice-president of the bishops&rsquo; conference. He has chaired the conference&rsquo;s Commission on Liturgy. His election took place at the beginning of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines' July 8-10 plenary assembly at the Pope Pius XII Catholic Center in Manila. Bishop Pablo Virgilio David of the Manila-area Diocese of Caloocan was elected the conference vice-president. The newly elected leaders will take office Dec. 1. The Philippines bishops' conference covers 86 ecclesiastical jurisdictions. Archbishop Valles' archdiocese is the home base of controversial President Rodrigo Duterte, a past mayor of Davao City. The president has vocally insulted the bishops who criticized his harsh crackdown on drugs. In his final keynote as conference president, Archbishop Socrates Villegas of Lingayen-Dagupan stressed the need to reach out to society with an open hand. &ldquo;Closed fists do not love; they hurt. Closed fists do not touch, they strike and injure. Closed fists and prayer do not match,&rdquo; he said. Without mentioning by name President Duterte, Archbishop Villegas alluded to how the bishops had been &ldquo;calumniated and slandered.&rdquo; &ldquo;We have been cursed and ridiculed but you our shepherds have chosen to fly high when the mockers of the Church chose to go so low,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I know that the values of an open hands, fortitude and listening will be same pastoral tools that we will use to serve and guide the flock of God,&rdquo; he added. Archbishop Villegas&rsquo; tenure included a massive earthquake in Bohol province and a major typhoon in the Visayas. Pope Francis visited in 2015. The country also hosted the 51st International Eucharistic Congress. Politically, during the archbishop&rsquo;s tenure the Philippines bishops clashed with previous president Benigno Aquino over a population control bill and over issues of corruption, Vatican Radio reports.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2017\/07\/in-strongly-catholic-philippines-bishops-conference-picks-new-leader\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2017\/07\/in-strongly-catholic-philippines-bishops-conference-picks-new-leader\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2017\/07\/in-strongly-catholic-philippines-bishops-conference-picks-new-leader\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"In strongly Catholic Philippines, bishops&#8217; conference picks new leader"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/","name":"Catholic News","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#\/schema\/person\/35d4bd7addc580050842c844a11575f1","name":"CNA Daily News","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8f1180c7dca7995d4a997aac72a3a88a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8f1180c7dca7995d4a997aac72a3a88a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"CNA Daily News"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/"],"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/author\/cna-daily-news\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21077","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1031"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21077"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21077\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21077"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21077"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21077"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}