Caccia, Tagle inaugurate church facility for humanitarian workers

FACILITY FOR HUMANITARIAN WORKERS. Catholic Church officials in the country led by Papal Nuncio, Archbishop Gabriele Caccia (2nd from right) and Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle, also Caritas Internationalis president (2nd from left), grace the inauguration of the facility for development and humanitarian workers in Tagaytay City on Friday (Dec. 13, 2019). The facility aims to provide technical expertise to improve competences of the dioceses in doing development sector-based engagement, humanitarian response, climate adaptation and environment sustainability-driven development work and advocacy actions. (PNA photo by Ferdinand Patinio)

MANILA — Catholic Church officials in the country on Friday led the opening of a facility for development and humanitarian workers by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines-National Secretariat for Social Action, Justice and Peace, (CBCP-NASSA)-Caritas Philippines in Tagaytay City.

Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle, also Caritas Internationalis president; and Papal Nuncio, Archbishop Gabriele Caccia, together with Caritas Philippines officials inaugurated the Center for Resiliency, Empowerment and Integral Development (CREED), a social action academy.

Kidapawan Bishop Jose Colin Bagaforo, the new chairman of Caritas Philippines, and his predecessor Archbishop Rolando Tria Tirona officiated the mass along with Caccia and Tagle.

The four-storey building is located at the bishops’ Basic Ecclesial Community Center compound in Tagaytay City.

The facility aims to improve the overall organizational competence of diocesan social action centers.

In his homily, the Cardinal is hoping that the center would be able to fulfill some of the strategic orientations of Caritas international.

“We are working towards professional training so that our service for the poor would really be of quality. At the same time this professional training should be accompanied by what Caritas called the formation of the heart,” he said.

On the other hand, Fr. Edwin Gariguez, executive secretary of Caritas Philippines, said the center aims to provide technical expertise to improve competences of the dioceses in doing development-sector-based engagement, humanitarian response, climate adaptation and environment sustainability-driven development work and advocacy actions.

“We need to harness the required qualifications to render maximum possible service to the people we serve,” he added.

The Catholic priest said the center is their “gift” to the Philippine Catholic Church.

“CREED is not only a building, it is the whole capacity strengthening the program for the network dioceses,” Gariguez added.

At present, the center offers a graduate scholarship program in Masters in Social Services and Development (MSSD) in partnership with the Asian Social Institute.

Meanwhile, Caccia, who is leaving the country this month for his new post in the United Nations, urged Filipino Catholics to go spread the faith to the world after witnessing their faith and devotion.

“I hope that they (Filipinos) will continue to spread the Good News not just in the country but also in Asia and wherever they live outside in the bigger world,” he said.

Caccia is set to leave the country on December 22. He was appointed as the Vatican’s Permanent Observer to the United Nations in New York where he will report on Jan. 16, 2020.

Caccia has served as the Apostolic Nuncio in Manila since November 2017.