Published June 17, 2005
Philippine archbishop visits Anchorage area
Filipino Archbishop Orlando Quevedo visited the Anchorage Archdiocese June 9-12, stopping off in Talkeetna, Kenai and Eagle River to further explore the partnership between his Cotabato Archdiocese on the southern Philippine island of Mindanao and the Anchorage Archdiocese.
Archbishop Quevedo’s visit is a follow-up to the trip that Anchorage Archbishop Roger Schwietz made last fall with a delegation of seven Alaskans to the Cotabato Archdiocese. On that trip, the archbishops formalized their "global solidarity partnership," a program facilitated by Catholic Relief Services.
Both archbishops belong to the same religious order, Oblates of Mary Immaculate, which Pope Pius XI referred to as "specialists in difficult missions," and Archbishop Quevedo told the Anchor last week that that charism has influenced the fledgling partnership.
"We have the same idea of mission and that idea of mission is a giving type of mission, not a receiving one," said Archbishop Quevedo, a former president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines.
The mutuality of the partnership, rather than the inequality of a First World diocese merely funding projects in the Third World, is a key component of the global solidarity partnership, he said. Mindanao’s Catholics have much to offer their Alaskan counterparts in the way of spirituality, a strong sense of family and their experience cultivating active, organized faith communities, he said.
In Cotabato City on Nov. 6. in a small chapel at Archbishop Quevedo’s residence, the two archbishops celebrated Mass in the presence of the Alaskan delegation, Filipino clergy and Catholic Relief Services workers and then put their pens to an official partnership agreement binding the people of their archdioceses.
"We seek a Spirit-filled relationship out of which will grow mutual understanding and support," the agreement states. "This relationship will enrich the lives of our people through the sharing of who we are and what we have. We desire a partnership rooted in communion that is characterized by openness and solidarity."
Archbishop Quevedo said he came to Anchorage to get an idea of how to work toward creating solidarity between people an ocean apart. He said the partnership involves "two sister churches praying for each other" and also sharing skills and experiences that may be rare in the other archdiocese.
The Filipino archbishop said people in his archdiocese have an "inferiority complex" about being able to contribute to a partnership with a diocese in a developed country.
"What can we give?" the archbishop said people are wondering.
"There is no one so rich that he does not need anything. There is no one so poor that he cannot give anything," he said. "Whether you are a poor person or a rich person, you can give for the church."
In the Cotabato Archdiocese, church leaders nourish "basic ecclesial communities," groups of 10-40 parish families that meet regularly to share their faith and focus ministries on liturgy, family life, catechesis, youth, social action, interreligious dialogue and programs with indigenous people.
Archbishop Quevedo said the Philippine archdiocese is well-known for the work of its basic ecclesial communities in promoting peace and building relationships among residents in an area that has been a battleground of four major armed conflicts since 1997. Parishes stood with victims of violence during the fighting and continue to work to heal relationships damaged by years of war.
The Alaska visitors participated in basic ecclesial community life, staying in the homes of parishioners who gathered to dance, play music, share their faith and support each other’s livelihoods.
"How people in poverty can still be very happy because of their faith — that’s something we can share," the archbishop said. Coming from Cotabato, where basic ecclesial communities are at the root of parish life and beyond, the archbishop said that visiting the United States, he sees a loss of spirituality.
"The life is hectic, you go to work and back, go to work and back, and often the Sunday, Sabbath, is for cleaning cars and shopping and not so much really for spending the day as a rest day … given to the Lord," the archbishop said.
"Some of the values that are lost are those that are most important in life, values of the family, Gospel values; and the values that take their place are very often materialistic, secular. That sense of the sacred is lost," he added.
Filipino people are also affected by American choices and American policies, the archbishop said. Globalization is not just an economic concept but also affects cultures and values.
The Philippines was ruled by the United States for 48 years between 1898 and 1946; the last U.S. military base on the islands closed in 1992.
"American policies with regard to economics would be something the Filipino government would either support or at least comply with," he said. He listed the war in Iraq, quotas of sugar or other imports and immigration regulations as some of the Philippine policies influenced by Americans.
Plans to host a delegation from the Cotabato Archdiocese in Anchorage next spring are under way, according to Angela Liston, the Anchorage Archdiocese’s Catholic Relief Services liaison.