By Mark Saludes
PHILIPPINES – A leading Church official in the Philippines called on Catholics to confront corruption and structural injustice as the Church renews its mission among communities living in poverty.
Bishop Gerardo Alminaza of San Carlos made the call in a message to Columban missionaries gathered for their Joint Area Meeting in the Philippines on March 16, saying the Gospel must be lived where “the wounds of society are most visible.”
Opening his reflection with questions about the persistence of poverty, Alminaza asked: “Why do children still die from poverty in a land that is rich with resources? Why do communities remain poor even when development projects are everywhere? And why does injustice continue even in societies that profess faith?”
The bishop thanked Columban missionaries for decades of work among marginalized communities, noting that many had accompanied people “in some of the most difficult moments of our history—among farmers struggling for land, workers seeking dignity, Indigenous Peoples defending their ancestral domains, and families trying to survive amid poverty and injustice.”
Their witness, he said, helped shape the social conscience of the local Church by showing that “the Gospel cannot remain distant from the suffering of the poor.”
Recalling the experiences of Columban missionaries in Negros, Alminaza pointed to the ministry of Fr. Brian Gore in Kabankalan, where nearly half of the burial Masses he celebrated were for infants who died before their first birthday.
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