Pinoys boost ranks of UK Catholics

MANILA, Philippines - Both as British ambassador and as a British Catholic I’m looking forward to the visit to England and Scotland by His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI beginning on 16th September. This is a historic event: the first state visit to Britain by a Pope, and it will begin with a meeting with Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II at the Palace of Holyroodhouse in the Scottish capital, Edinburgh. But there’ll be an important pastoral element too, which will involve many of the Filipinos who call Britain home.  

Filipinos tend not to think of Britain as Catholic, and Filipino friends are often surprised to learn that I am Catholic. This is understandable given my country’s history, but modern Britain is a diverse and multi-faith society, and around 11 percent of the population counts itself as Roman Catholic. One of the towering figures in the renaissance of the church in Britain was the great Victorian theologian Cardinal John Henry Newman, whose motto, “Heart speaks unto Heart,” has been adopted as the theme of the papal visit. The Pope will beatify Cardinal Newman in Birmingham on Sept. 19, the final day of his visit.

While Newman was a convert from Anglicanism, the growth of Catholicism in Britain owes much to migration by Catholics from overseas. In the 19th century many Irish Catholics moved to Britain. But in more recent years, Filipinos have done much to boost the numbers of British Catholics. The Philippine embassy in London estimates that there are as many as 190,000 Filipino Catholics in the country. On a straight analysis of the statistics, that means that Filipinos account for over 3 percent of Britain’s Catholics, but my guess is that they account for an even higher percentage of those who attend mass regularly. The London-based Filipino chaplaincy, headed by Fr. Cirino “Ino” Potrido, ministers to the needs of this community. There are especially strong Filipino congregations and Catholic community groups in a number of London parishes, including a Filipino choir at the Carmelite Church in Kensington. Many of them will be at the Pope’s prayer vigil in Hyde Park on the evening of Sept. 18.

Because it’s a state visit (Pope John Paul II made a highly acclaimed visit in 1982, but that was a pastoral visit only), there will be various official elements to the program. As well as the Royal audience and reception in Edinburgh, there will be an address to British civil society at the Houses of Parliament, and meetings with Prime Minister David Cameron and the leaders of the other main political parties on Sept. 18. Dialogue between the Vatican and the British government has become increasingly important in recent years, and the visit is an important opportunity to deepen it. The Vatican is a hugely important influence globally, and a crucial partner for Britain and the rest of the international community if we are to deliver on the Millennium Development Goals for eradicating poverty and hunger, promoting access to education, tackling disease and epidemics, and ensuring environmental sustainability. Indeed, with the papal visit taking place just ahead of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals Summit in New York, these global issues will be a very important part of the discussions. 

The fact that Britain and the Vatican think alike on many of these issues should not be a surprise. There is a strong element in Catholic social teaching which teaches that we are stewards of creation with a duty to protect and pass it on to successive generations. Indeed, the theme of the Pope’s New Year message for the World Day of Peace was “If you want to cultivate peace, protect creation.”

In his message, the Pope described the environment as God’s gift to all people and said that the use we make of it entails a shared responsibility for all humanity, especially the poor and future generations. This fits well with the British government’s own emphasis on the need to tackle climate change now, rather than leaving it to future generations when the impacts will be much more catastrophic and the costs of action much higher. Our partnership is not only intellectual either. Our Department for International Development has worked for example with Catholic organizations like Caritas Internationalis and Catholic Relief Services, including on projects in different parts of Africa.  

While government and Church will not always agree on all issues, the opportunity for partnership is something that’s very important in my mission as British ambassador to the Philippines. The Philippines is the third largest Catholic country in the world, and the Church has enormous influence, including through the many religious orders who deliver important social services here. The development challenges outlined above are especially acute. Last year, typhoons Ondoy and Pepeng highlighted the country’s vulnerability to changing weather patterns. Just this month the Philippine government has cast doubt on the country’s ability to meet the Millennium Development Goals. That’s why when I arrived here last year, one of the first meetings I asked my office to arrange was with Cardinal Rosales, and it’s why, whenever I travel around the country, I try to meet the local bishop. Just this month I met Bishop Leopoldo Jaucian, Bishop of Bangued in Abra, and heard about his work to address violent conflict in that province.

Another area of great interest to me in the Philippines, and where the Church has a very important role to play, is in the promotion of interfaith dialogue to address conflict. The Pope has voiced his support for peace negotiations in Mindanao. The efforts of the Bishops Ulama Conference of the Philippines to promote dialogue between different faith communities are an important part of this. What they are doing resonates strongly with Britain’s own experience of resolving conflict in Northern Ireland, where different religious groups and churches came together to try to heal divisions and build support for the peace process – a peace process which the Vatican has frequently praised and cited as an example for others to follow.

The papal visit to Britain will have its own interfaith element. The Holy Father will meet leaders of other Christian traditions and take part in a service of evening prayer at Westminster Abbey in London, with the spiritual head of the Church of England, Archbishop of Canterbury Dr. Rowan Williams. 

An important part of the Catholic Church’s strength is its ability to combine global reach with local influence. I hope this will be true too of the papal visit: an opportunity to strengthen ties between Britain and the Vatican on a range of global initiatives, but also an opportunity to reaffirm and celebrate the faith of individuals and the role of faith in building strong communities.