East Asian Catholic laymen hold 4-day meeting in Cebu

CEBU, Philippines - The Society of Saint Vincent De Paul from the 15 countries in East Asia gathered together in Cebu City for a four-day meeting starting yesterday.

Thomas Tan, SSVP's territorial vice president, said lay Catholic faithfuls from the East Asian countries are gathered to share experiences and upgrade their skills to render better services to the poor.

Around 60 foreign delegates and 250 local delegates attended the event at the Cebu International Convention Center.

After four days, Tan said they expect to be able to come up more improved means and resolutions to existing common problems in East Asia they called as HOPE.

H stands for Hunger and poverty alleviation; O for Overseas migrant workers upliftment; P for Primary education thrust; and E for Environmental care. SSVP has been in the Philippines for the past 152 years.

From establishing primary schools for poor Filipino children, it continues to engage in various works for the poor such as visitation (home, hospital, prison, charitable, institution), health ministry, immediate relief to calamity/disaster stricken areas, including building of houses), educational assistance, livelihood projects, liturgical and para-liturgical formations, catechesis, issues/advocacies concerning the poor, formation of its members and beneficiaries, family welfare apostolate, and other pastoral initiatives.

Mayleen Bernardino, SSVP National President-Philippines, said that in the country, their priority project is on the education of the less fortunate Filipinos.

Bernardino said they will provide more scholarships for children to attend elementary until high school and at the same time ask for local donors for the children's tertiary education.

Bernardino further said that they already offered assistance in the different parts of the country such as feeding, mass weddings, operation tuli, and the latest was the building of houses for families affected by the mudslide in Guinsaugon, St. Bernard, Southern Leyte.

The group is currently working on the construction of houses affected by typhoon Sendong in Cagayan De Oro City.

Bishop Julito Cortes, auxiliary bishop of Cebu, in his speech said that while Cebu is being depicted as a good place, it is also a place of the "most expensive lamp posts and the location of the mega-shabu laboratory."

"There really is no resting in our laurels. There are many things to be done," he said.

Cortes said the poor can find hope in the rich and the rich, on the other hand, has the responsibility to look after the poor.

SSVP is an international Catholic lay organization present in 143 countries with over 700,000 members belonging to around 51,000 conferences.

SSVP, from its foundation in Paris, France in 1833, envisions "to embrace the world in a network of charity" through its person-to-person apostolate. Its works of charity start with a visit to the poor as exemplified by its founder, Blessed Frederic Ozanam. — (FREEMAN)