The Archdiocese of Cebu, led by Archbishop Jose Palma, on Friday, November 5, 2021, announces the programs and activities that they will be holding for the Cebu Caritas Jubilee Week. | via Mae Fhel Gom-os
CEBU CITY, Philippines — The Cebu Caritas Inc. (CCI) is set to hold a week-long celebration of its first Caritas Jubilee Week starting November 7 to November 13, 2021.
With the theme “The Cebu Caritas Inc.: Grateful for the Gift of Faith and Gifted Towards Sustained Generosity to the Poor and Solidarity with the Community,” the celebration is in line with the celebration of the 500th Year of Christianity in the country.
Fr. Alex Cola Jr., president of Cebu Caritas Inc., said the celebration would highlight Caritas’ programs, including their social and charitable works that would aim to promote human development under the umbrella of Alay Kapwa.
The celebration is set to culminate on November 13, 2021, which coincides with the World Day of the Poor, where they will spearhead parish caritas program orientation and invite 2 lay PPC (Parish Pastoral Council) service committee representatives from every parish to join the activity.
CCI programs and services are under Alay Kapwa with its tripod programs focusing on humanitarian, development, and advocacy.
“Under its humanitarian programs are the Archbishop Teofilo Camomot Buhat sa Kalooy (which include health care, travel assistance, food assistance, burial assistance, clothing assistance, and referral services) and Relief , Emergency Response and Rehabilitation,” he said.
Fr. Alden John Baran, vice chairman of the Commission on Service of the Archdiocese of Cebu, said the activities would be intended to pre-selected communities but he stressed that they had already coordinated with the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) for the deployment of police personnel to ensure the compliance of minimum health protocols.
Baran, however, said that although they would be giving tickets to those pre-selected individuals, they had allotted around 20 to 30 slots for those who were not part of the list.
Cola, who is also the chairman of the Commission on Service, said that they would be celebrating the Caritas week for three reasons.
He said they intended to unite themselves with the who Philippine Church in thanking the Lord for the celebration of the 500 years of Christianity, with the belief that works of charity were “Faith in Action.”
Apart from that, Cola said this would also mark the 62 years of ministry in serving the poor and the vulnerable members of the Archdiocese of Cebu.
“Not only has our building been facelifted, we have also improved our programs for our less fortunate brothers and sisters. It is very necessary because Cebu Caritas Inc. is the charitable arm of the local church,” he said.
He further said that such celebration was their way of raising consciousness of all the Catholic faithful that Caritas or service to the poor was their common mission.
Cola said they were considering to make the celebration to be their yearly activity, with the funds coming from friends of Cebu Caritas giving monthly donations and resource mobilization from the parish.
Archbishop Jose Palma, for his part, invited the parishes to rally behind the many projects of the Cebu Caritas that faith could be seen in action.
” As the social action arm, it lends sa helping hand to the faithful. It is the heart of the Archdiocese that beats in solidarity with those who are less fortunate,” said Palma.
CCI is a social development and charitable arm of the Archdiocese of Cebu, where the primary goal is to inoculate and impart among the Board of Trustees and Staff of Cebu Caritas, Inc., and their partners (beneficiaries) the term “Our Faith in Action” through responding to social issues and concerns of the communities especially vulnerable and marginalized sectors of the society.
Apart from that, CCI is also the frontline in the struggle against poverty, and its causes, justice and peace and ecological issues seeking to transform the lives of others, and realize the Church for the Poor and provide them material, spiritual and other related services guided by the Catholic Social Teachings.
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