JUST CALL ME CARDINAL CHITO
"CARDINAL TAGLE DOES A LOT OF THINGS FOR THE HOLY SEE" Archbishop Michael Miller
by Tom Choy
Vancouver, British Columbia
His Eminence Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, Archbishop of Manila recently visited the Catholic faithful of Vancouver. Praising the young performers in a musical before his keynote speech at a Catholic rally held at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre in Downtown Vancouver, he said " Isn't it wonderful when it is sung, when it is danced...?," referring to the mini-musical show the young people of Vancouver just performed. The Cardinal prefers to be called simply Cardinal Chito.
For tonight's rally, don't expect Cardinal Chito to be quoting chapter and verse numbers of the Holy Bible. . He would rather tell stories and weave the gift of faith and God's love through stories of people he encounters everyday from anywhere in the world.
The whole night, Cardinal Chito told stories upon stories of the people he come across in the slums of Manila to the refugee camps in Greece. "I vividly remember this child from Syria who is now safe in the Greek camp," he shares to the audience. He continues, " I asked him where his father is and he said he is in Syria." "Your Mom?" Cardinal Chito further asks the child. And the boy answers, "She is in Syria." He was almost in tears at that point. He feels the pain and loneliness of families getting separated due to political turmoil.
He then talks about the Filipino family separated because the Dad has to work in the Middle East and the Mom works in Asia. The children are in the Philippines. They are separated. Cardinal Chito finds this sad.
This Catholic event's theme is "Keeping Families in Faith: The Domestic Church in a Global Village." The challenge for the church is how to keep families in faith and how to keep faith in families.
Cardinal Chito believes that a "family that eats together is good but a family that shares food with the hungry becomes more of a Christian family."
The Cardinal exhorts the audience to "tell stories of family life nurtured by faith." "Charity begins at home but it shouldn't stay there."
Cardinal Chito is the current President of Caritas Internationalis which is involved in international relief and development. The NGO helps poor people and those in distress from calamities both natural and man-made. This organization is close to the heart of Pope Francis.
Archbishop Michael Miller of Vancouver introduced Cardinal Chito as one person who does a lot of work for the Holy See. Archbishop Miller also said, "At one point Cardinal Tagle was saying 9 masses from Saturday to Sunday." There is a big demand for new priests as the older ones retire and pass on.
Vancouver is home to a huge number of Filipino Catholics. The Archdiocese has a formally organized Filipino Catholic Ministry to cater to the spiritual needs of the Pinoys in Vancouver. Archbishop Miller says that "there are over 5,000 Pinoy churchgoers in St. Mary's Church in Collingwood on average Sundays."
It was a great rally for a "sold out" event at Queen Elizabeth Theatre (capacity 2900). Cardinal Chito was largely humorous throughout his speech. He was very genuine in his stories. Everyone was awake and intently listening to his stories. He is also the modern-day evangelist who is on Youtube, Facebook and Twitter. That was a great introduction to a down-to-earth holy representative of the Holy See. And tomorrow we follow him some more in social media to tell us stories of the Word of God in his daily human encounters.
Photo Credit: Angelo Siglos
For comments, please email atenista888@gmail.com
Tom Choy writes for the Philippine Asian Chronicle, a Vancouver broadsheet.
by Tom Choy
Vancouver, British Columbia
His Eminence Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, Archbishop of Manila recently visited the Catholic faithful of Vancouver. Praising the young performers in a musical before his keynote speech at a Catholic rally held at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre in Downtown Vancouver, he said " Isn't it wonderful when it is sung, when it is danced...?," referring to the mini-musical show the young people of Vancouver just performed. The Cardinal prefers to be called simply Cardinal Chito.
For tonight's rally, don't expect Cardinal Chito to be quoting chapter and verse numbers of the Holy Bible. . He would rather tell stories and weave the gift of faith and God's love through stories of people he encounters everyday from anywhere in the world.
The whole night, Cardinal Chito told stories upon stories of the people he come across in the slums of Manila to the refugee camps in Greece. "I vividly remember this child from Syria who is now safe in the Greek camp," he shares to the audience. He continues, " I asked him where his father is and he said he is in Syria." "Your Mom?" Cardinal Chito further asks the child. And the boy answers, "She is in Syria." He was almost in tears at that point. He feels the pain and loneliness of families getting separated due to political turmoil.
He then talks about the Filipino family separated because the Dad has to work in the Middle East and the Mom works in Asia. The children are in the Philippines. They are separated. Cardinal Chito finds this sad.
This Catholic event's theme is "Keeping Families in Faith: The Domestic Church in a Global Village." The challenge for the church is how to keep families in faith and how to keep faith in families.
Cardinal Chito believes that a "family that eats together is good but a family that shares food with the hungry becomes more of a Christian family."
The Cardinal exhorts the audience to "tell stories of family life nurtured by faith." "Charity begins at home but it shouldn't stay there."
Cardinal Chito is the current President of Caritas Internationalis which is involved in international relief and development. The NGO helps poor people and those in distress from calamities both natural and man-made. This organization is close to the heart of Pope Francis.
Archbishop Michael Miller of Vancouver introduced Cardinal Chito as one person who does a lot of work for the Holy See. Archbishop Miller also said, "At one point Cardinal Tagle was saying 9 masses from Saturday to Sunday." There is a big demand for new priests as the older ones retire and pass on.
Vancouver is home to a huge number of Filipino Catholics. The Archdiocese has a formally organized Filipino Catholic Ministry to cater to the spiritual needs of the Pinoys in Vancouver. Archbishop Miller says that "there are over 5,000 Pinoy churchgoers in St. Mary's Church in Collingwood on average Sundays."
It was a great rally for a "sold out" event at Queen Elizabeth Theatre (capacity 2900). Cardinal Chito was largely humorous throughout his speech. He was very genuine in his stories. Everyone was awake and intently listening to his stories. He is also the modern-day evangelist who is on Youtube, Facebook and Twitter. That was a great introduction to a down-to-earth holy representative of the Holy See. And tomorrow we follow him some more in social media to tell us stories of the Word of God in his daily human encounters.
Photo Credit: Angelo Siglos
For comments, please email atenista888@gmail.com
Tom Choy writes for the Philippine Asian Chronicle, a Vancouver broadsheet.
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