The Philippines is the only country in Asia where
Christians—in this case Catholics—form the overwhelming majority of the
country. More than one-third of the population of some 100 million is under age
15; another 10 million Filipinos are living abroad.
Reinhard Backes, who oversees projects in the country
for international Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), just
returned from a fact-finding mission to the Philippines.
By Maria Lozano
What is the main focus of the Church in the
Philippines?
The Church is concerned about both
the general and religious education of the faithful. The people are deeply
religious, but poorly educated. To give one example, I attended a wedding on
the island of Luzon. Ten couples were married at the same time, and all of them
brought their children with them. There were quite a few of them.
It was explained to me that many
couples live together before marriage and only marry later, partly because they
do not have the money—but also owing to a lack of understanding of the faith.
What impressed you most on this trip?
The work of the Silsilah dialogue
movement on Mindanao, where the fighting over the past four decades between
government forces and the Moro National Liberation Front (MNFL) has cost the
lives of around 120,000 people. ACN has long been supporting this initiative by
Father Sebastiano D’Ambra, and Italian priest from Sicily, and Minda Sano, a
Filipina woman who herself comes from Mindanao.
“Silsilah“ is Arabic for chain, link
or connection; the movement has been working for 40 years to promote dialogue
between the various religious and ethnic groups, to educate teachers, strive
for social justice, help refugees and establish schools, among other vital
initiatives.
Roughly 60 percent of the population of Mindanao is Christians,
with Muslims accounting for the other 40 percent. However, on other islands,
Muslims are in the majority, for example on Basilan.
In some of those areas the extremist
group “Abu Sayyaf“ (or Sword Fighters)
is active, launching attacks and abducting people for ransom money. In
the past there have been repeated assassinations of priests, religious and
ordinary faithful.
However, the Silsilah movement has never
allowed itself to be intimidated by the violence. Again and again its
representatives encourage Muslims and Christians to come together and talk,
building up trust and caring for the suffering victims on both sides.
What are the local Church’s biggest needs at present?
An estimated 10,000 people died as
the result of typhoon Yolanda on the island of Leyte in 2013. There was
widespread devastation; many churches were destroyed, as well as the seminary
in the Archdiocese of Palo. This was a one-story building not far from the
coast, which was totally devastated.
ACN has already helped the
archdiocese to rebuild 10 churches. Now Archbishop John Forrosuelo Du has asked
us to help for the rebuilding of the seminary as well. The work has already
begun in fact, and the first seminarians are already living in the half
finished complex. They are now building a massive multi-story building that
will hopefully be able to withstand future natural disasters.
With picture of life in the Philippines (© ACN)
Editor’s Notes:
Directly under the
Holy Father, Aid to the Church in Need supports
the faithful wherever they are persecuted, oppressed or in pastoral need.
ACN is a Catholic charity - helping to bring Christ to the world through
prayer, information and action.
Founded in 1947 by Father Werenfried van Straaten, whom Pope John Paul
II named “An Outstanding Apostle of Charity,” the organization is now at work
in over 145 countries throughout the world.
The charity undertakes thousands of projects every year including
providing transport for clergy and lay Church workers, construction of church
buildings, funding for priests and nuns and help to train seminarians. Since
the initiative’s launch in 1979, 43 million Aid to the Church in Need Child’s Bibles have been distributed
worldwide.
For more information contact Michael Varenne at
michael@churchinneed.org or call
718-609-0939 or fax718-609-0938. Aid to the Church in Need, 725 Leonard Street,
PO Box 220384, Brooklyn, NY 11222-0384. www.churchinneed.org
