The Institute on Philippine Culture (IPC) and the John J. Carroll Institute on Church and Social Issues (JJCICSI) presented their joint research titled “Knowledge Needs, Acquisition, and Use among the Catholic Bishops of the Philippines” before the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) 112th Plenary Assembly at the Oakridge Business Park in Mandaue City, Cebu during the biannual assembly’s last day on January 24, 2016.
With around 98 cardinals and bishops in attendance since the beginning of the assembly, Dr. Marita Concepcion Castro Guevara (from the IPC and co-project director of the study) presented the general findings on 62 bishop respondents’ information needs and views on various social issues facing the country today (including marriage and family issues), as well as their sentiments on the statements of Pope Francis. These findings were obtained from one-on-one, face-to-face interviews conducted with 62 Filipino Catholic bishops from March 2014 to March 2015.
Seventeen bishops including CBCP President Archbishop Socrates Villegas also attended a small group meeting organized by the IPC and JJCICSI the following day at the Montebello Villa Hotel, at which Eleanor R. Dionisio (from JJCICSI and co-project director of the study) made a presentation on additional research findings. This was immediately followed by an in-depth discussion where the bishops raised questions and comments on some of the themes suggested by the research findings.
The research team is composed of Marita Concepcion Castro Guevara from the IPC; and Eleanor R. Dionisio, Anna Marie A. Karaos, and Gemma Rita R. Marin from JJCICSI, with Isabella Louise A. Abustan (IPC) and Miguel Paolo P. Rivera (JJCICSI) providing research assistance. The study is slated to be published in the second half of 2016.
The CBCP Plenary Assembly coincided with the 51st International Eucharistic Congress also held in Cebu from January 24 to 31, 2016.