‘Year of the Poor’ kicks off

MANILA — The Archdiocese of Manila (RCAM)’s Commission on Social Services and Development (CSSD) officially launched the Year of the Poor (YOP) in an event held at the Paco Catholic School Saturday, Nov. 29 with hundreds in attendance, representing various sectors. We as the Church of the Poor are called to renew our commitment to Christ’s mission and to always take the side of the poor and the oppressed, especially when and where there is injustice and denial of basic human rights, Fr. Enrico Martin Adoviso, RCAM-CSSD chief, said. The farmers that till the land to bring us food, the fisher folks who navigate the seas for us and the workers who run the industries are still materially poor after decades and generations of work for living. Their dignity as co-creator of the Lord should be reclaimed,” Fr. Adoviso, said. The handicapped, prisoners, indigenous people and even the victims of calamities are in dire need of our compassion to lift up their hope and spirits. They are all poor, and they are all sons and daughters of our Lord,” he said.Fr. Adoviso saidthe world need to re-examine the use of our natural resources, for more often, the destruction of God’s gift make the poor poorer.”Themed Bumangon at Manindigan” (Rise and Stand up), the year-round event is in line with the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP)’s declaration of 2015 as a time for the faithful to do their part in helping the poor, especially in pushing for and acting on the true alleviation, reduction, and eradication of poverty in the country.The occasion, which comes third in the nine-year era of New Evangelization, prepares Filipinos ahead of the 500th anniversary of the coming of the Catholic Faith in the Philippines in 2021.Fr. Luke Moortgat, CICM, head of RCAM’s YOP Committee, proposes to make it more concrete, focusing on those at the bottom of society who make up the lowest 25 percent of the population.The priest noted although a family of five who live on P350 or less per day, or P70 each person per day, may be considered poor, in general, most of the poor are those with disabilities, particularly the mentally challenged, and others. While food and shelter are important, the first that the people need is respect. We know that Jesus has a special love and concern for the rejected, the ridiculed, the poorest of the poor. He asks us to do the same,” Moortgat stressed.(Raymond A. Sebastián/CBCP News)