
By RITCHE T. SALGADO
Bulatlat.com
MANILA — To conclude the commemoration of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, the Episcopal Commission on Ecumenical Affairs of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP ECEA) and the National Council of Churches in the Philippines (NCCP) issued a unity statement highlighting and recommitting itself to the unifying elements of the Nicean Creed.
The Nicean Creed is a proclamation of belief first formulated in 325 at the First Council of Nicea and promulgated by different church leaders present.
Signed by Most. Rev. Mel Rey Uy, D.D, bishop of Lucena and chairperson of CBCP ECEA, and Minnie Anne Calub, general secretary of NCCP, the statement begins: “We come not just to celebrate but to confess once more our faith.”
The churches assert, “we live our faith by being responsible to every created being and thing.” For this it commits “to act now to protect our environment and the lives of every person, especially the unborn and the vulnerable.”

It also asserts that the churches would unite in going against and in denouncing “all forms of dishonesty and corruption in politics, in government, in our private offices, homes and families.”
“We unite in prayer to make our faith alive and let it radiate more intently as it had already influenced humanity for the past 1,700 years now,” it ends.
The Week of Prayer was celebrated last Jan. 16 to 24, with daily ecumenical worship services hosted by different Christian churches.
Opening the celebration, Cubao Bishop Elias Ayuban Jr., CMF was quoted in an article at Radio Veritas Asia, saying: “Pope Francis often speaks of the ecumenism blood, noting that Christians of all denominations are persecuted across the globe for their faith…. This shared offering calls us to solidarity and reminds us of our common mission—prayer, dialogue, action and unity.”
The NCCP is an ecumenical fellowship of non-Roman Catholic churches in the Philippines with ten member churches and nine associate members composed of faith-based organizations and other Christian churches. The CBCP ECEA, on the other hand, is the Philippine Catholic church’s ecumenical arm that aims to “foster dialogue with leaders of Christian Churches and ecumenical bodies.”