Bishop says synodality begins with being present among ordinary people

By CBCP News

OZAMIZ City — Synodality begins not with new Church programs but by simply being present among ordinary people, a newly ordained bishop told fellow prelates gathered Sunday for their annual retreat.

Bishop Cyril Villareal of Kalibo said the Church’s call to synodality ultimately means accompanying people in their daily lives, especially those living in society’s margins.

“We have been listening and talking about synodality for almost five years now,” Villareal said during Mass at Santa Teresita Parish. “For me, it is simply being with the people. It is the ministry of presence and journeying with our people.”

Ordained just two months ago, Villareal said he worried that becoming a bishop might unintentionally distance him from ordinary Catholics because of status, protocol and the heightened security often surrounding Church leaders.

He recalled hearing stories about bishops requiring police escorts, even while jogging, saying such barriers could unintentionally make shepherds appear inaccessible to the faithful they are called to serve.

Villareal also questioned whether the Church’s voice still resonates with many Catholics, citing public issues including elections, extrajudicial killings, corruption and environmental degradation.

He suggested the faithful may stop listening when they no longer feel the Church is close enough to understand their daily struggles.

“When we talk on these issues, they seem to fall on deaf ears on many faithful.Perhaps we have become too distant, and they no longer feel that we are close to them or that they matter to us,” he said.

Drawing on his experience celebrating monthly Basic Ecclesial Community Masses, Villareal said spending time talking and eating with parishioners after the liturgy helped transform struggling village chapels into vibrant faith communities.

“Indeed, it is when we give them our full and conscious attention that they feel they are important, that they are seen, that they matter… that they belong to the Church,” he said, adding that people rediscover the Church as their family.

Reflecting on Sunday’s Gospel, Villareal said Jesus changed hearts not primarily through miracles but through his closeness to ordinary people, sharing their burdens and accompanying them throughout everyday life.

The annual retreat, being held in the Archdiocese of Ozamis, precedes the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines’ 132nd plenary assembly scheduled for July 8 to 10, where the country’s bishops will deliberate on pastoral concerns facing the Church.

Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, pro-prefect of the Vatican's Dicastery for Evangelization, speaks during the second day of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines' annual retreat at AMORAP in Sinacaban, Misamis Occidental, on Sunday, July 5, 2026. (Photos and caption from CBCP News)