IN 2021 we, as a nation, will celebrate the fifth centenary of the coming of Christianity to the Philippines. We will commemorate the first Mass celebrated in Limasawa Island on 1521, as well as the first Christian baptism in the country. It was on that same year when Ferdinand Magellan brought the image of Santo Niño de Cebu, oldest religious icon in the Philippines.
Today the Philippines is known as the bastion of Christianity in Asia, with 84 million Catholics nationwide, and the third country with the most number of Catholics in the world. However, only 13 million, or almost 15 percent, are actively participating in this faith experience. So much work and effort has to be done to reach out and reevangelize the remaining 71 million “unchurched” or non-active Catholics who have drifted from the Church. In the time when the world is deeply influenced by secularism and materialism that leads to the abandonment of faith, there is a need to explore and discover new methods and means for transmitting the “Good News” more effectively to our people.
In his Apostolic Exhortion, “Evangelii Gaudium”, Pope Francis said there are deficiencies in the popular cultures of Catholic people, which need to be healed by the Gospel: machismo, alcoholism, domestic violence, low Mass attendance, fatalistic or superstitious notions that lead to sorcery and the like.
Aware of this situation, Radio Veritas will launch a five-year program, “Veritas 500: Bringing Jesus to every Catholic home” on December 8, 2016, feast day of the Immaculate Conception, the principal Patroness of the Philippines with a Eucharistic Celebration to be presided by Most Rev. Teodoro Cruz Bacani Jr., Bishop Emeritus of Novaliches at 12 noon. The station will also conduct a telethon from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. to raise initial funds for the campaign.
The program aims to spread and witness the love, truth and justice of Jesus to the 71 million “unchurched” Filipino Catholics through new “ardor, methods and expression” in radio, television, social media and Catholink, the Church info hub.
We will do this by expanding nationwide by putting up relay stations in Luzon, the Visayas and Mindanao, and creating a strong presence in various media platforms through Veritas TV and livestreaming in the next five years.
In this campaign, the Catholic faithful are encouraged to contribute P500 balik handog each year for the next five years. Each P500 balik handog will help reach 480 inactive catholic faithful back to our parish communities (based on the population and number of barangays in the Philippines).
As Catholics, we are encouraged to take part in this historic movement in our Christian faith. Let us thank the Lord God Almighty who gave us the priceless gift of Christian faith nearly 500 years ago by preserving it and helping our brethren to renew their relationship with Jesus Christ and His Church.
To know more about Caritas Manila, visit www.caritasmanila.org.ph. For your donations, please call our DonorCare lines 563-9311, 564-0205, 0999-7943455, 0905-4285001 and 0929-8343857. Make it a habit to listen to Radio Veritas 846 in the AM band, or through live streaming at www.veritas846.ph. For comments, e-mail veritas846pr@gmail.com.