On February 12, 2023, a diocesan meeting of the clergy of the Philippine-Vietnamese Diocese was held in the Church of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos of the municipality of Arakan. Metropolitan Pavel of Manila and Hanoi made a report summarizing the work of the diocese over the past 3 years, complicated by the pandemic period.
To date, there are 34 parishes in the Philippine-Vietnamese Diocese. The number of clergy of the diocese is steadily growing. During his current visit to the diocese, Vladyka performed 6 ordinations of the clergy, and it is also planned to perform 2 more. Metropolitan Pavel expressed his desire that Filipino priests could visit Russia, visit churches and monasteries, and, if possible, meet with Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia. His Eminence also recalled his intention to erect a temple in the Philippines capable of accommodating a large number of parishioners. “We met with the Mayor of Davao City about the allocation of land,” Metropolitan Pavel noted, “and of course, we would like to build not only a temple, but also a theological school that would train clergymen here in the Philippines. A meeting is also planned with the Mayor of Manila, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of the Philippines and the Ambassador of the Russian Federation to the Philippines on the construction of our large Orthodox center in Manila. Let’s hope that the Church in the Philippines will grow architecturally, but more importantly, the Church is primarily people, and we need to grow internally,” Metropolitan Pavel stressed. Let’s hope that we will see each other more often, since my visit as part of a large delegation to Vietnam is planned in June 2023, and if it takes place, I will come to the Philippines as well.”
At the meeting it was decided to separate the North Kotobato deanery from the Davao deanery, as well as to include the Davao del Sur deanery in the Davao deanery and establish a parish in honor of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker in Dipolog. Vladyka blessed the creation of a new parish in honor of St. George the Victorious in the settlement of Balilai. The parishioners of the settlement are ready to donate a lot of land for the construction of the temple. Decisions have also been made on the formation of the diocesan Department for Prison Service and the Youth Department. Vladyka Pavel also spoke about the specifics of the documentary work in the diocese, the appearance of the clergyman and other topical things
