Meeting of Asian bishops in Manila

from the FABC website

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The 9th Plenary Assembly of the Federation of the Asian Bishops' Conferences (FABC) will open with a Eucharistic celebration at the Manila Cathedral on August 11, 2009. The main celebrant and homilist will be Francis Cardinal Arinze, special Papal envoy for the assembly. Some 100 bishops and priests are expected to concelebrate. 

With the theme "Living the Eucharist in Asia," it is fitting to begin all deliberations of the assembly with a Eucharistic celebration at the Cathedral of the host city, where Asian bishops first met in history in 1958. The occasion was the re-consecration of the then renovated Cathedral which was destroyed during World War II. [Rebuilt by Cardinal Santos.]

More than 100 participants have signed up for the upcoming 9th Plenary Assembly of the Federation of Asian Bishops' Conferences (FABC). They are official representatives of the Federation's member-bishops' conferences, as well as bishops related to the nine FABC offices, and observers from other continental bishops' conferences and funding agencies.  The biggest number of bishops of a single country will come from India, which has, not only a conference of Latin Rite bishops, but two conferences in addition for the Syrian rites. The Indian delegation has altogether 15 bishops, including two Cardinals and those related to FABC offices. In total, 22 Asian countries will be represented at this year's Plenary Assembly, including two countries from Central Asia - Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. There will be two representatives of the Holy See, with Francis Cardinal Arinze as the official Papal Delegate. From outside Asia, bishops from two European countries (Germany and Spain) will come, as well as bishops from New Zealand, Australia, the United States and Canada.   A representative of the Christian Conference of Asia (CCA), FABC's Protestant counterpart, will be present. [What role they have in the Assembly, I have no idea.  Just like Vatican 2, eh?  Observers.  Hmmmm.]

Manila Cathedral was recently in the limelight at the wake and funeral of former Philippine President Corazon "Cory" Aquino. On August 6, her remains were transferred from there to her final resting place, beside her late husband Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino. The funeral procession to the cemetery, south of Manila, took more than eight hours.