SP OKs ‘Blessed John Paul II’ Week
A resolution declaring the days from February 13 to 20 this year as the Blessed John Paul II Week in Bacolod was unanimously passed by the Sangguniang
Panlungsod (SP) during their regular session Wednesday.Authored by Councilor Caesar Distrito, the resolution states that Bacolod City was one of the few cities in the Philippines honored with a visit by then Pope John Paul II on February 20, 1981.
Pope John Paul II died on April 2, 2005 and his cause for sainthood in the Catholic Church has since been started, it added.
The rare and distinct honor of historical proportions accorded Bacolod City has spawned the rise of a number of landmarks and institutions honoring John Paul II in Bacolod City, it reads further.
These institutions include the Pope John Paul II National Institute for Studies on Marriage and the Family, located at the University of Saint La Salle campus, and is the first of its kind in Southeast Asia, it added.
It also include the Pope John Paul II Tower at the Reclamation Area and the Pope John Paul II Cultural Center at the Sacred Heart Seminary at Lacson St., it read.
On February 14, the Centro Giovanni Paolo II, which will serve as a retreat and resort facility in Punta Taytay will be inaugurated, while on February 15, the Centro Giovanni Paolo II for Research at Lacson St. will also be inaugurated, it added.
These landmarks and institutions bolster Bacolod City’s tourism program, especially in the area of religious pilgrimages, as they attract visitors from all over the Philippines and the world, the resolution added.
The JP II Institute is spearheading the ‘Totus Tuus!’ Week on February 13 to 20, which is a celebration of the 31st anniversary of the Pope’s visit to Bacolod, it said.The ‘Totus Tuus!’ Week will be highlighted by a national conference on John Paul II’s Nuptial Theology and is expected to draw 300 delegates from all over the country, including the highest officials of the Catholic hierarchy in the Philippines, it added.
Distrito is the chairman of the SP Committee on Laws, Ordinances and Good Government.*
