Mindanaotoday.com | Catholic prelate cites Mindanao’s IP converts
By: Uriel Quilinguing
CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY – A ROMAN Catholic Church prelate paid tribute to indigenous peoples (IPs) in Mindanao for accepting the faith, particularly family members who were converted to Christianity in early 1600s in Northern Mindanao.
“It was a grandmother named Magdalena from Camiguin who convinced her grandson Datu Salangsang to be baptized to Christianity (by Augustinian Recollect missionaries),” Archbishop Jose Cabantan recalled in his Mass homily on Monday, November 7, at the Saint Augustine Metropolitan Cathedral.
Cabantan described Datu Salangsang, who belonged to Higaonon tribe who had established a settlement called Himologan on the upstream of Cagayan de Oro River, as one of the ancestors of Cagayanons as well as those in Misamis Oriental and Bukidnon provinces.
The 65-year-old head of the Archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro, a native of Lagonglong town, Misamis Oriental, was the main celebrant of a liturgical celebration offered to welcome over 200 delegates to the 17th Mindanao Sulu Pastoral Conference (MSPC) now on its golden jubilee year.
“Indeed, the family plays a vital role in evangelization (in Mindanao), the first school of life and worship, of love and friendship, of communion and mission,” said Cabantan, adding that Mindanao natives had that gift of faith because of their families, through their forefathers and the missionaries.
He quoted Davao Archbishop Romulo Valles who, as Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines president once said: “We embraced the faith, but we reject the abuses of the colonizers,” referring to the country’s Christianization 500 years, and Mindanao 400 years ago – often symbolized by the cross and the sword of the Spaniards.
Today, roughly six of every 10 residents in Mindanao, except the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, are affiliated with the Roman Catholic Church, data from the Philippine Statistics Authority show. The island is home to over 14 million Roman Catholic Church members.
But Cabantan maintained the Church in Mindanao is confronted with challenges which the original intent of the MSPC in 1971 could address, that of involving the laity and for religious leaders to listen to them.
These challenges, he said, include ecumenism, inter-religious dialogues, and “new evangelization,” details of these would be tackled by resource speakers at the Chali Beach Resort where the consultative fora be held until Friday, November 11.
Before the Mass started, Monsignor Florencio Salvador, ACDO’s vicar general, said today’s clergy must be grateful to the stewards of the Church in Mindanao some 50 years ago, who realized lay leaders must be listened to and be involved in the journey for evangelization to succeed.
This, Salvador said, was long before discussions of a “Synodal Church” began – a process that allows bishops to consult with parishioners all the way to the priests in the spirit of collaboration and openness.
Aside from ecumenism and inter-religious dialogues, Salvador specifically mentioned of “missio ad gentes” – the task of preaching the Gospel and the establishment of the Church among non-believers, including pagans.
As of Monday, though majority are members of the clergy and religious sisters, yet the laity comprises one-third of the 17th MSPC delegates. (MT)
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