Warm Reception for Bishop Ongtioco’s Episcopal Pastoral Visitation
Bishop Honesto Ongtioco was welcomed warmly by the CTK Parish Pastoral Council last June 10 during his Episcopal Pastoral Visitation.
The visit was intended to give the Bishop a clear picture of the life of the parish and to give him an opportunity to get to know the parish pastoral council members in a deeper way. At the same time, it was meant to give the PPC an opportunity to meet Bishop Ongtioco and get to know him better as their chief pastor.
By way of presentation and dialogue, the visit would assist the bishop to evaluate the parish and assist in carrying out its function more effectively going forward.
At the same time, with the help of the Vicar Forane of the vicariate to which the parish belongs, the head of the diocese would be looking into the condition of the church, the chapel, the furnishings and other accessories, as well as the administration of church property, Finances, and administrative record keeping. All in all, the visit would be a
complete investigation of the spiritual and temporal affairs of the parish, and together with the Saturday visits to the other 46 parishes from May 2016 to November 2017, would provide a full picture of the state of the diocese.
After a warm meet-and-greet at the main church, there was a para-liturgical celebration at 9:15 am at the Divine Mercy Chapel, presided over by Bishop Ness and Fr. Bong Tupino. The celebration included mass prayers, gospel
reading about the ‘lost sheep’, and the exposition of the Blessed Sacrament. This was followed by fellowship with snacks at 10 am.
At 10:45 am, the formal presentations to the Cubao Diocese head by the various ministry heads proceeded as scheduled. This included: Tiny Perfecto on BECs; Regie Polancos on Family & Life; Lei Abando on Youth; Wins Mirasol on Stewardship; Mila Bangco on Social Action; Bing del Rosario on Me d i a ; A lma Yeh on Catechetics; Bert Santos on Vocation (on behalf of Louie Laudico); Leila Banico on Worship; Henry Tañedo on TransParochial Groups; Doy Lopez on Sunrise Ministry; David Ong on Coffee After Church. Bishop Ness expressed immediate interest in the Coffee After Church project by David and Fely Ong.
Since there was an anticipation of a dialogue that could include perspectives on parish priest performance, Fr. Bong had earlier recused himself and accompanied Fr. Arnel Recinto, in his role as Vicar Forane, in examining the parish canonical books and physical state of the parish facilities, structures and surroundings. The presentation of plans by, accomplishments of, and challenges faced by the ministries was then followed by a lively Q&A, which included questions from a Libis Youth leader, Jo Piyaw and Ching Botero as Libis Co-Coordinators and BEC Co-Heads, Bert Santos, Fe Pery, and a lively comic-yet serious exposition of Fr. Bong’s serious exposition of Fr. Bong’s contributions by Lulay dela Cruz.
Several Libis Youth leaders in fact attended, invited speciFically by Fr. Bong. At 12:15 pm, Fr. Bong Tupino and Fr.
Arnel Recinto rejoined the group for lunch. At 1 pm, Treasurer Elise del Rosario presented the budget and actual spend of the Parish Pastoral Council for 2017 to-date, followed by Fr. Bong who presented the status of parish funds.
In preparation for the June 10 pastoral visit, Fr. Bong met with the PPC in a special meeting to brief them on objectives, expectations, and agreed on the format and timing of t he presentations. Fr. Bong also gave tips and reminders to PPC members based on lessons learned from the previous pastoral visit-dialogue.
