Pockets of faith

Now that the Missionary-in-Chief is back in the Vatican, mainstream media is preoccupied with analyzing the pronouncements that Pope Francis made during his five-day visit.

Some reporters came up with a list of 7, lifted mostly from his off-script homily in mass celebrations that took place in Manila and Tacloban.  He was also quoted extensively during a talk with reporters on board the Shepherd One flight that took him back to Rome.

The statements reveal Francis’ focus on all the events that took place in Manila and Tacloban. Memories of the rain-soaked mass wherein many people including grown men openly wept as he delivered his homily tugged many hearts.  Francis admitted he was deeply moved, “annihilated” was the word he used to describe how he felt.

So much has been said and written about this and the message during the Liturgy of the Word at the University of Santo Tomas with the representative youth of the land in attendance.  The young of today are very lucky to be in the middle of all these events even if most of them were a thousand miles away from the national capital.  Technology can be a blessing in this particular case.

My friends who usually drop everything to join the Sinulog street dancing told me they stayed home to watch the papal activities on TV.  I also skipped this year’s grand parade and I’m glad I did because there was plenty to chew in the news conference at the end of the pope’s official activities.

The press briefing which took place in Diamond Hotel was brief and had   a handful of foreign journalists asking questions to Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle, Federico Lombardi, the Vatican press secretary and a CBCP official.

A lady reporter from Spain told Cardinal Tagle she was struck that the legacy of Spain, that is, the Christianization of the Philippines which dates back to 1521, frames the Pope’s visit and in light of his challenge for Filipinos to be the “light” of the world, it looked to her that Filipinos will be giving back the gift of faith to Spain, where Catholicism, although still the dominant religion, has become irrelevant.

Three quarters of Spain’s population of more than 46.2 million is Catholic but only 15% of the number, attends Sunday mass.   In this once ardently Catholic country in which divorce, contraception, and same-sex marriage are practiced, the Church has time and again warned about a demographic winter.  That could well be taking place as the country’s population shrinks – from 46.7 million in 2011, to 46.5 million in 2013.  Judging by the lady reporter’s question, I think even secular media is taking note of the dangerous drop in population.

Cardinal Tagle’s response highlighted the role of Filipino overseas workers in the work of evangelization.

I think Vatican expert John L. Allen of the National Catholic Register and the Boston Globe was all ears when this topic was brought up because he cited the “pockets of faith” that OFW’s bring with them when they work in foreign lands.  This was during an interview with Channel 9’s Pia Hontiveros who asked the Vatican-based reporter about his impressions of the papal visit in the Philippines.

“A Father is in the house,” was Allen’s description of how Filipinos felt about the 5-day visit of Pope Francis. The Holy Father did not come here to give Filipinos a thumbs-up, but to challenge them to be true to their faith, according to Mr. Allen.
Allen may be well aware of the dichotomy of the Filipino psyche, passionately Catholics on Sundays and holy days of obligation and especially during papal visits, but secular in everyday life.

Allen is also well-informed about the growing number of Filipinos who work abroad and emphasized that Filipino overseas workers bring with them “pockets of faith” which can renew the Church.

Allen’s opinion reminds me of the way Cebuanos like Cecille Paschner share their faith in places where they are planted.  Every year for the past 5 years or so now, Cecille tirelessly organizes novenas to the Senor Santo Nino in Carson City, California and even spends her own money to bring the devotion to Filipinos in that part of the USA.

Meanwhile, our paisanos in the United Kingdom, like Philbert Fernandez, a Pardohanon who now permanently resides in the UK with his family, also participate in similar celebrations in Dudley, England.

Such gatherings celebrate life and answer the call of the Holy Father for families to live the joy of faith.  Since this kind of sharing comes naturally for Filipinos, I agree with Allen that the “pockets of faith” is prophetic for the Church and will shape the Catholic culture in the years to come.