CBCP to establish pro-poor, environment ministries

The social action arm of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) will establish three advocacy ministries that will address the needs of the environment, poor, and vulnerable sectors. (File photo by Darth Narutorious, CC BY-SA 3.0)

MANILA – The social action arm of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) will establish three advocacy ministries that will address the needs of the environment, poor, and vulnerable sectors.

Kidapawan Bishop Jose Colin Bagaforo, National Secretariat for Social Action (NASSA) – Caritas Philippines national director, said the Good Governance Ministry or Good Governance Movement, Justice and Peace Ministry, and Ecology or Environmental Ministry will create programs that will help protect the environment, address the impact of climate change, address the needs of the poor, and push for a good government.

At the recent five-day NASSA General Assembly in General Santos City, 204 social action workers including priests, nuns and the laity, agreed that a huge sector of society needs help, care, and church guidance.

Caritas Philippines will focus on the good governance program so that the church can monitor the government’s actions in enforcing laws and regulations.

“The accountability and monitoring program that we will do with the social action directors is important for the Philippines and the people,” Bagaforo said in an interview over Church-run Radyo Veritas on Saturday.

He said the Ecology Ministry will deal with the dangers posed by open-pit mining, black sand mining, construction of coal-fired powered plants, illegal logging, and disregard for nature.