Roman Catholic priests in the Philippines on Friday pledged to follow a "Christ-like lifestyle" after the country's dominant religion was sullied by sex scandals.
A total of 3,869 bishops, priests and deacons from Asia's largest Catholic country ended five days of a "moral renewal" seminar with a vow to "renew our commitment to serve wholeheartedly".
A spate of high-profile controversies including priests siring children, homosexuality and sexual misconduct prompted the local Church leadership to convene the Manila retreat to remind priests of their responsibilities.
"The priesthood is a gift that the Lord does not take back despite our brokenness and sins," the congress said in a closing statement.
The priests, who must take a vow of celibacy, pledged to "develop a vibrant life of prayer that will nurture a Christ-like lifestyle, marked by discipline, self-offering and single-heartedness."
The statement did not specifically address the sex scandals.
Cardinal Gaudencio Rosales, the archbishop of Manila, told reporters "there will be an attempt by other people, especially the media, to assess the congress in terms of final statements, resolutions, or actions especially regarding what many like to refer to as controversies.
"But these attempts will be futile if the deeper and more intangible effects are not understood."
During the retreat, Church leaders said the Philippines has less than 9,000 priests and needed 25,000 more to minister to the spiritual needs of nearly 70 million Filipino Catholics.
Sex scandals and materialism have contributed to the decline in the ranks, with the youth seen as not interested in entering the priesthood, said Bishop Luis Antonio Tagle.
Some 200 sexual offense cases have been filed against Filipino priests over the past 20 years, while the archbishop of a northern Manila suburb resigned late last year for an "inappropriate expression of affection" to a female member of his staff.
The Church in the Philippines has played a major role in shaping public opinion, and in 1986 and in 2001 was instrumental in toppling the graft-ridden presidencies of Ferdinand Marcos and Joseph Estrada.