First held in Manila in 2009, a gathering aimed at strengthening and promoting devotion to Divine Mercy throughout Asia is returning to the Philippines this year.
The Archdiocese of Cebu announced this week it is hosting the 5th Asian Apostolic Congress on Mercy (AACOM), with the theme “Divine Mercy: Pilgrimage of Hope in Asia.”
About 5,000 participants are expected to attend the event that will be held at the IC3 Pavilion in Cebu City from October 14 to 19.
Imma Alfon, the lay coordinator of Divine Mercy Philippines-Archdiocese of Cebu, said they have allotted 1,000 slots for delegates from outside the country.
She also said that 1,000 slots are allotted for participants in each of the Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao regions, with the remaining 1,000 reserved for delegates from Cebu.
Held once every three years, AACOM is an Asian gathering of Divine Mercy devotees and promoters, among whom are cardinals, bishops, priests, religious and the laity.
It is also an offshoot of the World Congress on Mercy, initiated by the Vatican and first convened in Rome in 2008. Subsequently, continental congresses were held across the globe.
Among the speakers of the five-day event is Lithuanian Archbishop Gintaras Grušas of Vilnius, the city where Polish nun St. Faustina Kowalska experienced many of the visions of Jesus that she recorded in her diary.
The city houses the only Divine Mercy image seen by St. Faustina before her death in 1938 at age 33.
Fr. Patrice Chocholski, Rector of the Shrine of Saint Jean Marie Vianney in Ars, France and a well-known lecturer and theologian on the Divine Mercy message, is also set to deliver a talk.
The last AACOM was held in the Malaysian state of Penang in 2018. Its fifth congress was originally scheduled to take place in Hong Kong in 2021, but it was disrupted by the pandemic.
Alfon said registration for the October congress will open on March 19, the feast of St. Joseph, and end on September 8, the feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
More updates about the 5th AACOM will be posted on its official Facebook page.
In January 2017, the Philippines also hosted the 4th World Apostolic Congress on Mercy.