Deacon hopes Filipino cardinal can help restore domestic church  

Special to The B.C. Catholic

The family is considered the domestic church, says the Vatican II document Lumen Gentium. But for many Filipino families a variety of challenges posed by globalization and migration is breaking these families apart.

Deacon Greg Barcelon, head of Filipino Ministry in the Archdiocese of Vancouver, is hoping the upcoming event featuring Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, Archbishop of Manila, will boost efforts to help embattled Filipino families renew their domestic churches.

Cardinal Tagle will be speaking at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre on March 19.

“What I hope (Cardinal Tagle) points towards is that it isn’t a choice between keeping our Filipino culture or changing to survive in the foreign culture, but an opportunity to uphold our Christian culture,” Deacon Barcelon said.

“As a Christian I should be able to go anywhere and live life to the fullest and not be suffering from the baggage of my old culture or threat of the new culture.”

Deacon Barcelon believes Cardinal Tagle resonates well with his audience because of his humble nature. In the Philippines, Deacon Barcelon said, there are the powerful and wealthy and the very poor, and not many in between. Cardinal Tagle is able to “tickle the Filipino imagination,” according to Deacon Barcelon, by being able to connect with anyone no matter what status they have in life.

“He’s a man of the people because he’s known to go anywhere,” Deacon Barcelon said. “When he was bishop in southern Luzon (Diocese of Imus) he was known to go to the market and talk to people, as well as ride the buses.”

Like Pope Francis, Cardinal Tagle talks frequently about the difficulties of migration. Deacon Barcelon highlighted how many Filipino families in the Lower Mainland illustrate migration problems. He said Filipino families break down due to long-term family separation, parents working multiple jobs, and children exposed to Western culture devoid of the family values they had growing up.

“The bishops conference in the Philippines recognizes this as a problem,” Deacon Barcelon said. “They know migration helps families financially, but it also tears them apart.”

Joy Jose, Filipino Multicultural Liaison Worker for the Vancouver School Board, estimates that 75 per cent of the first family members to migrate to Western countries are mothers. They come over mostly to take caregiver positions. This leaves the children in the care of single dads or grandparents. She added that many of those mothers also stop over in countries like Saudi Arabia, Taiwan, and Hong Kong before coming to countries like Canada.

“It’s years of separation from their children,” Jose noted. She said in the five or so years the family is separated, the children bond with the new caregivers and don’t necessarily want to resettle in the new country where the mom has now received permanent residence.

“I see a level of defiance in the schools,” she said. “It’s expressed in not coming to school, not being engaged, and not performing in classes.”

Complicating matters more for many children is that the mother might be in another relationship or the parents separate shortly after reunification. In the majority of families Jose works with, the children have to raise themselves.

These breakdowns also lead to a loss of Catholic identity, she said.

“Most of the kids I deal with are Catholic,” she said. “But because they’re exposed to a secular school environment here, they get carried away with what they see. They go in a direction where school doesn’t matter.”

This includes joining gangs, being sexually promiscuous, or completely withdrawn.

Deacon Barcelon notes that while there are many challenges, the Church can play a role in healing. He hopes Cardinal Tagle can address this and give practical examples.

“Many of the Filipinos in the midst of their complicated situations are still coming to the Church and praying for help in their situations,” he said. “So, I hope by catechising them and pastoral care, they can be healed and witness to their faith.”

Click here for tickets and more information about Cardinal Tagle’s talk.