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‘I exhort you to tend the flock of Christ that is in your charge, exercising the oversight, not under compulsion but willingly, as God would have you do it – not for sordid gain but eagerly. Do not lord it over those in your charge, but be examples to the flock.’
(1 Peter 5. 1-4)
We, bishops of the Iglesia Filipina Independiente, celebrating in fellowship the gift of ministry of oversight which we have received from Christ, our Chief Shepherd, and lifting-up our hearts in prayer for the Holy Spirit to keep us worthy of our calling, offer to God our thanksgiving for consecrating us to the ministry of leading and guiding the faithful towards reconciliation with Him.
We take this moment to renew our vows before you, God’s People, to the ministry that God has called us and for which our souls have been consecrated to, as we pledge to truthfully and faithfully live out the fullness of our sacred vocation as bishops in the Iglesia Filipina Independiente.
We therefore implore you to uphold us in love in the face of our fragility, humans as we are, and ceaselessly pray for us to fill our hearts with the passion to faithfully witness to the life giving and liberating love of God for all humanity.
We, now, being pastors of the flock that Christ placed in our charge, commit ourselves to this fourfold pastoral principles in the exercise of our ministry:
σ maintain strict standards of discipline and devotion in cultivating our spiritual life, by reading and reflecting on the scriptures, by meditating and devoting ourselves to prayer, and by seeking to be Christ-like in our personal attitude and conduct towards all people.
σ exalt the Word of God in our preaching and proclaim the same in love, and in exercising our pastoral calling, and never in any circumstance violate the confidence entrusted in us as representatives of Christ and the Church.
σ endeavor with evangelistic zeal to build up the Church, and in fulfilling our administrative and pastoral duties, sustain and strengthen the clergy and the congregation of our dioceses towards maturity in the faith.
σ strive to be humane in all our relationships to the society of which we are a part, and uphold it as our first social duty to be a conscientious leader in our own dioceses, and would never excuse ourselves to escape any responsibility that society calls upon us to assume. We surrender ourselves to the renewing power of the Holy Spirit in living-out our ministry of oversight in the Iglesia Filipina Independiente, and enjoin you all, brothers and sisters, to pray for us while we seek to mature in the qualities that Christ has set for us being bishops,
Supreme Council of Bishops
City of Manila
6th November 2004
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Bishops, Pastors of the Flock |