Iloilo diocese to set up ministry for Pinoy migrants, families

The Catholic diocese in Iloilo province, the Philippines' 20th top provider of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), will set up a ministry to help overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) and their families. In an article posted on the website of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), Jaro Auxiliary Bishop Gerardo Alminaza said: “I want this ministry to be one of our parish’s priorities."  "Let us take a pro-active response against the disadvantages of migration to the family, the domestic church, and the basic unit of society,” Alminaza said. Following the theme of this year’s Migrants Sunday on February 26, “Migration and the New Evangelization,” the Iloilo diocese’s OFW ministry hopes migrants and their families would become "missionaries of faith." In some Philippine dioceses with active migrant ministries, the Mass is regularly celebrated for OFW families, Alminaza noted.   Fellowships and other religious activities are also organized for their spiritual advancement, he said. Teachers and guidance counselors in Catholic schools also teach children about the value of the sacrifices of their migrant parents, he added.   “I personally believe that this ministry is of great importance and demands our urgent response as a caring local church community,” Alminaza said.   High psycho-social costs   While migration helps improve the lives of many Filipino families, the CBCP said the psycho-social costs of migration are way too high.   The article noted that some of these psycho-social effects are:

• infidelity of spouses,
• breakdown of families,
• early marriages among migrants’ children,
• incest,
• gambling,
• threatened family relationships,
• materialism, and
• various types of vices.