Asian Catholic bishops have released a prayer for the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences this year.
The Church leaders urged Catholics across the region to pray for the federation so that it will continue to be steadfast in its mission.
The FABC asked its member episcopal conferences that the prayer be prayed in all churches until October 30 for the success of its upcoming general conference.
More than 140 bishops from across the Asian region are expected to attend the conference in Thailand’s capital of Bangkok from October 12 to 30.
This year’s celebration and conference will carry the theme “Journeying Together as Peoples of Asia.”
Prayer for FABC 50
Blessed are you Father who in your great love,
sent your Only Begotten Son
to reconcile us to you and to one another
by his Passion, Death, and Resurrection
and the power of the Holy Spirit.
We thank and praise you for the birth of FABC over fifty years ago.
By divine providence and under the guidance of the Holy Spirit,
Bishops from Asia met and formed the FABC
May the FABC continue to be steadfast in its mission of love and service
for your beloved people in this vast continent of Asia.
Help us to surmount the challenges
that threaten the stability of our families, the dreams of our youth,
the integrity of our environment, and the harmony among peoples, cultures and religions
Through the intercession and motherly protection of Mary, Mother of the Church,
and Star of the New Evangelization,
may this occasion of the 50th anniversary celebration of FABC
be a propitious time to discern and undertake new pathways
for genuine renewal in our mission of making the Gospel alive and life-giving:
for the poor, deprived and marginalized, for the displaced and the migrants,
and for mother earth who groans with wounds of exploitation.
We make this prayer through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever. Amen.
