PALO, LEYTE – The Archdiocese of Palo, through Archbishop JOHN F. DU, responded to the call of the whole Church in the country for an expression of love and support to the sacredness of LIFE.

The COUNCIL OF THE LAITY OF THE ARCHDIOCESE OF PALO (CLAP) thru the leadership of Rev Fr ERBY LAJARA, Director, CLAP, & Dr. EDNA AYASO, president of the Council, answered the call and initiated the “WALK FOR LIFE,” in cooperation with the different Lay Organizations, Movements, and Associations (LOMAs.) The Walk for Life is now a yearly activity in the Philippine Church done every third Saturday of February.

The Walk for Life in the Archdiocese of Palo was in unity with all the other philippine dioceses. The activity started at 4:00 am and ended at 8:00 am. The 2020 Walk for Life is our commitment to promoting the value of LIFE and human dignity, the manifestation of our love for God’s creation, and for the deliverance from pestilence.

The activity started in 4 venues and converged at the Palo Metropolitan Cathedral.

  1. Cluster A – Starting from Warehouse Seafood’s Grill: Participants coming from Tacloban Vicariate and nearby parishes;
  2. Cluster B – Starting from Cogon Chapel: Participants coming from the south such as San Joaquin Parish, Tanauan parishes, Tolosa onwards and joined by the Sacred Heart Seminary and St. John Evangelist School of Theology;
  3. Cluster C – Starting from Barangay Gacao Chapel: Participants at this point coming from Castilla Mission Station, Pastrana, and nearby parishes;
  4. Cluster D – Starting from St. Roch Chaplaincy: Participants in this point coming from Bgy Arado of Palo, Sta Fe, Alang-alang parishes.

This year’s observance of the Walk adhered to the theme of the Church for 2020, which is the Year of Ecumenism, Inter-religious, and Indigenous People. A one-hour DIALOGUE OF LIFE welcomed the participants. Invited speakers such as Rev Fr KELVIN APURILLO (Archdiocesan Chancellor), Dr. GRACE UY (Tacloban Bible Community, TBC), and Ms. Ma. LOLITA CAMCAM (FOCOLARE,Cebu).

Ms. Camcam stressed the point that we are one family, for we come from only ONE FATHER. Fr. Kelvin meanwhile brought out the fact that we are all GIFTED with a sense of SPIRITUALITY; with this sense of spirituality, we are allowed to reach out to others. Dr. Grace Uy added that by our respective professions, we have “ to grab the opportunity to be of service to our fellowmen.”

All parishes from the Vicariates of Palo and Tacloban were well represented. Schools of nearby congregations and members of the different LOMAs from the churches participated. Registered participants of the WALK assembled in the Palo Metropolitan Cathedral reached 2,000 while some unregistered were 500 more, a total of 2,500 faithful. Medical Teams from Tanauan Rural Health Unit, Leyte Provincial Hospital, Palo Rural Health Unit, and Tacloban City Rescue Unit and the RADNET communication team were actively involved.

After Archbishop John, with 21 priests, celebrated the mass, all attendees took part in the refreshments at the back of the Cathedral. Generous benefactors and donors distributed Coffee, bread, eggs, Arroz Caldo, suman, and puto to the attendees.

Meanwhile, other Vicariates of the Archdiocese of Palo also joined the Walk for Life. The different parishes of Vicariate of Carigara met at Holy Cross Parish, Carigara, with Bishop Filomeno Bactol was their mass presider. The Walk for Life activity in the Vicariates of Ormoc, Palompon, and Abuyog were done at the parish level.

-Council of the Laity, Archdiocese of Palo-