Pakistan Church declares 2021 as Year of St. Joseph
In the footsteps of Pope Francis, the president of the Pakistani Bishops’ Conference has announced that the Church in Pakistan would observe the current year as the Year of St. Joseph.
By Robin Gomes
The Pakistan Catholic Bishops Conference (PCBC) has announced that it is dedicating 2021 as the Year of St. Joseph. PCBC president Archbishop Joseph Arshad of the Diocese of Islamabad-Rawalpindi made the announcement of the yearlong celebration in a video message on 12 January on the archdiocesan YouTube channel Ave Maria Catholic TV.
The Pakistani bishops’ initiative comes in the footsteps of Pope Francis, who on 8 December issued an Apostolic Letter
Dr. Bernardo M. Villegas
We are now in the Year of St. Joseph, as proclaimed by Pope Francis last December 8, 2020. This celebration of the 150th anniversary of the declaration of St. Joseph as Patron of the Universal Church will last till December 8, 2021. There is a beautiful coincidence with the celebration by Philippine Catholics of the 500th anniversary of the beginning of Christianity in our archipelago. It was in 1521 when Ferdinand Magellan landed in Cebu, bringing with him the cross. As I wrote last week, Catholics in the Philippines are fortunate that during these very troubled times of the pandemic they can turn to a very powerful intercessor to ask God for protection and help, whether they be overseas workers, workers in general and fathers especially of little children.
Published December 29, 2020, 6:00 AM
Filipino workers abroad have once again saved the day for the Philippine economy during the ongoing pandemic. As they did during the Great Recession of 2008 to 2012, they are softening the blow of the world-wide depression caused by COVID-19 by continuing to send a good portion of their earnings to their loved ones in the Philippines. Already in September and October 2020, the remittances they sent home had started to climb despite the fact that hundreds of thousands of them were forced to return home as they were laid off from work, especially in the Middle East. Thanks to the land-based OFWs who have kept their jobs, their extra generosity during these hard times is limiting the decline of remittances to less than one percent decline on a year to year basis. In fact, they may still surprise us during the months of November and December since as Christmas approached, their generosity could even prevent an actual decline of remitt