REV. MARK FRANCIS IS ORDAINED PRIEST
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On March 19, 2025 Rev. Mark Francis Campit, LRMS was ordained as priest by His Eminence Jose F. Cardinal Advincula, D.D., Archbishop of Manila. He was among the 4 deacons who were ordained on the Solemnity of the St. Joseph, the Husband of Mary. In his homily, the Cardinal emphasized the virtues of ordinariness, availability, and interiority which are found in St. Joseph should also be the virtues that are to be found in the newly ordained priests. The greatness of the priesthood is not measured in achievements which are just physical but how one's priestly life is lived and shared. Fr. Mark Francis, as a newly ordained priest will be part of the intership program of the Archdiocese of Manila. He will be assigned as parochial vicar of National Shrine of the Sacred Heart, Makati City from March 20, 2025 to September 19, 2025.
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1211 Philippines
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St. John Paul II: The Mind and Heart of LMI Beginnings
The papacy of John Paul II was remarkable for the advancement of missio ad gentes in the Philippines. There were three important events that triggered a new phase of missionary thrust of the local church in the Philippines. This began with the first pastoral visit of John Paul II to the Philippines in 1981. He met the Bishops of Asia that would later comprise the Federation of Asian Bishops Conferences. His inaugural meeting with them in Manila marked a new milestone for Asian way of doing mission. The second event that moved Asia to a new missionary consciousness was the Beatification of Lorenzo Ruiz de Manila in 1981 at the Luneta Park which was the first event that happened outside the Vatican and his canonization as the first proclaimed martyr-saint of the Philippines in 1987. The third important event was his visit to the Lorenzo Mission Institute in 1995 on the occasion of the 10th World Youth Day that had 5 million attendees which also marked the biggest youth assembly in the history of the Church.
It was also from these three events that carved the new history of the Archdiocese of Manila where it did not only host the first inaugural meeting of the Federation of Asian Bishops Conferences (FABC), the Beatification of Lorenzo Ruiz, but it was also the solidifying evidence of John Paul II's mission vision and dream for Asia. The establishment of the Lorenzo Mission Institute became a clear manifestation of the local church's commitment to mission in Asia. Thus, the underlying motivations of missionary approaches towards the Filipino-Chinese Apostolate as well as the desire to do missions among Chinese communities overseas became an evolving preferential option. The direction of missions of the 21st century is towards a global mission anchoring on the idea that the mission we undertake is God's mission. Understand world mission is to be understood under entire realm of God's mission in the world (Missio Dei). The Lorenzo Ruiz Mission Society begins its inception, its missionary identity and its thrust from the womb of the Filipino-Chinese Apostolate and has evolved into a missionary Society for world missions. Today, the missionary assignments of the members of the Lorenzo Ruiz Mission Society are gradually moving from the center of its inception to the centrifugal direction of missionary work in the world. John Paul II had already observed and articulated the Church's new evolving missionary direction. His Encyclical Letter "Redemptoris Missio" said: "The Second Vatican Council sought to renew the Church's life and activity in the light of the needs of the contemporary world. The Council emphasized the Church's "missionary nature," basing it in a dynamic way on the Trinitarian mission itself." The movement of the Spirit in the mission of the Lorenzo Ruiz Mission Society has become conspicuous in the dynamic missionary work and assignments of the members of the Society today.
John Paul II is the only pope who has visited the Lorenzo Mission Institute. He has not only a memory which will never be forgotten but he also left the imprint of a missionary zeal to focus missions in Asia. China was one of the wonderful places the Roman Pontiff had dreamt of visiting. With the lamp that was lighted by John Paul II in the Philippines, that light and missionary spirit of bringing the Gospel to Asia had grown now into a wider concern of the local church. The Lorenzo Mission Institute is just response to the urgent call of the formation of a local clergy and the evangelization in Asia. Through the years, the Lorenzo Ruiz Mission Society has grown in its number of members and it had not lost its fervor to develop missio ad gentes in spite of challenges and difficulties of missionary work in China and Taiwan. The Second Plenary Council of the Philippines mentions the missionary imperative of the local church in the Philippines for Asia as it looks beyond its shores and takes note of the missionary opportunities (cf 109). The spirit of mission which was been planted by John Paul II had already grown and hopefully will reap a good harvest in the years to come.
Jaime Cardinal Sin: The Soul of the Lorenzo Ruiz Mission Society and the Lorenzo Mission Institute
The initiative and the ingenuity of the late Jaime Cardinal Sin made the two institutions namely, the Lorenzo Ruiz Mission Society in 1997 and the Lorenzo Mission Institute in 1987 emerge in the last years of the past century.
These events fulfill the thought and vision of John Paul II when he said: "With the Church throughout the world, the Church in Asia will cross the threshold of the Third Christian Millennium marvelling at all that God has worked from those beginnings until now, and strong in the knowledge that "just as in the first millennium the Cross was planted on the soil of Europe, and in the second on that of the Americas and Africa, we can pray that in the Third Christian Millennium a great harvest of faith will be reaped in this vast and vital continent." (Ecclesia in Asia, no.1)
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