Pope urges service to poor in message for Fiesta Señor

By CBCP News

Pope Leo XIV urged unity and service to the poor as Cebu Catholics gathered for the annual Fiesta Señor at the Basilica Minore del Santo Niño de Cebu.

In a message sent by Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican secretary of state, the pope said the annual feast should inspire believers to live their baptism through service.

Parolin said the pope hopes that the celebration will inspire the devotees “a greater desire to embrace the baptismal call to live a grace-filled life in Christ.”

He also urged the faithful to reach out to “those on the margins of society,” so they may bear witness to Christ’s call for unity and charity.

Pope Leo, an Augustinian, has visited Cebu several times before his election as pope. He greeted the Augustinian community at the basilica and assured his spiritual closeness to pilgrims and devotees in one of the Philippines’ largest gatherings.

The Fiesta Señor, held every third Sunday of January, draws millions of devotees and centers on the centuries-old image of the Santo Niño, the Philippines’ oldest Christian icon.

Commending all those present to the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Pope Leo said he was imparting his apostolic blessing as “a sign of joy and hope in the Lord.”