Simbang Gabi is for worship, not courtship - bishop

Young Catholics attending the traditional "Simbang Gabi" (dawn mass) for reasons other than religion received a scolding from the Catholic Church. Fr. Gerry Patio lamented some young people tend to congregate with their peers or loved ones outside the church during the dawn mass. “Simbang Gabi is for worship, not for courtship," Patio, an editor of the Theological Centrum Documentation Service, said in an article on the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines news site. He reminded the youths of the "religious dimension" of the dawn mass, a Filipino tradition that culminates at Christmas. Filipino Catholics began Wednesday the first of nine predawn masses for this year. Coincidentally, Dec. 16 is also the celebration of the National Youth Day. "During this day the Church in the Philippines celebrates the presence of the youth in the Church and encourages all the faithful to support the apostolate with young people," the CBCP said. The CBCP noted an increase in Church attendance of “Simbang Gabi" compared to recent years. It said some churches are now holding two or three dawn masses and anticipated masses. “The coming together of young people is always a great event of the church, as time of faith, life and love," Manila Archbishop Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales said. - JHU, GMANews.TV