Dr. Jose Parappully, Director of Sumedha Centre, was one of
the nine select experts invited to a “Consultation on Helping Priests Distress”
organized by the Office of Clergy of the Federation of Asian Bishops’
Conferences (FABC).
The Consultation was held at the Baan Phu Waan Pastoral
Centre of the Archdiocese of Bangkok on 23-25 July, 2018.
The Consultation meetings were facilitated by Most Rev. Mylo
Vergara, Bishop of Pasig, Philippines and the Chairman of the FABC Office of
Clergy. He was assisted by Fr. Philip Lazatin SDB, Ex. Secretary of the FABC
Office of Clergy. Present and participating in the discussions was also Most
Rev. Buenaventura Farmadico, Bishop of San Pablo, Laguna, Philippines and Chair
of the Conference of Catholic Bishops of the Philippines.
There were four experts from the Philippines, three from
India and two from Thailand.
Bishop Mylo Vergara explained the rationale for the
consultation: Creation of a pan-Asian organization for information sharing, liaison
with church leadership and synergy-creation out of best practices in regard to assisting
priests in distress.
Bishop Mylo invited the participants to introduce themselves
and then to share their “Best Practices” in helping priests in distress. This
led to discussion of common problems and issues and actions that need to be
taken in the Asian Context.
Based on these discussions, the group came up with four
proposals that will be submitted to the Central Committee of the FABC and to
the Chairs of the regional Conference of Bishops.
