A sustained role for the Catholic Church of intervening in issues that concern the rural poor was one of the recommendations that came out of the Second National Rural Congress (NRC-II) held on 7-8 July 2008 in San Carlos Seminary, Mandaluyong City, Philippines.   The NRC-II was organized by the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), whose support for populist causes has been a decisive factor to the success of many advocacy campaigns. Read more...   More than 300 participants representing the rural poor and the clergy participated in the NCR-II. The Co-Chair of the NRC-II is Archbishop Antonio J. Ledesma, S.J., former Chairperson of ANGOC.  PhilDHRRA is an active member of the Rural Poor Solidarity (RPS) who provided technical support for the NRC-2 Secretariat.   Among its priority recommendations, the NCR-II declared its support for the extension of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) with major reforms, and the enactment of a new land reform law. The consensus among the participants was that the Church should assume the role of facilitator ? ?a moderator or an intermediary that nurtures a platform for interaction among the rural poor, the government, civil society and the private sector.?   An important proposal was the creation of an ?institutionalized dialogue,? or a process and venue where the rural poor can continually and sustainably interact with the Bishops and the Catholic Church. There was also a recommendation to activate specialized desks in the Church structure that may be able to specifically implement sectoral or thematic work at the parish, diocesan, regional and national levels.