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CBCP: PHL youth delegates harassed by anti-Catholics in Madrid


Philippine delegates to the ongoing World Youth Day activities in Spain experienced a "jarring" cultural shock after being harassed by anti-Catholic protesters, the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines said Friday. The CBCP said the harassment ranged from [provocative] chants to obscenities, with some incidents leading to a verbal confrontation. “Hindi ko lang lubos maisip na sila yung nagdala ng Christianity sa atin, pero bakit ngayon andami ng anti-Catholics? Ano kaya ang nangyari?" delegate Jan Dell Posion said in an article posted on the CBCP news site Friday. (I just cannot understand, [Spain] brought the Christian faith to the Philippines, but now there are many anti-Catholics there. What happened?) Fr. Ransom Rapirap, a cluster head handling eight sub-groups under the official Philippine delegation, was with Posion when a Spanish man who recognized them as WYD delegates shouted profanities at them. At the time, the two were asking directions from a pharmacist at a neighborhood in Alcorcón, Spain. "Suddenly he wanted to cross the street but he was already shouting at us… The tone of his voice and the expression of his body... parang (he looked as if) he wanted to crush you," Rapirap said. Other incidents J.C. Perez, a Jesuit novice under the Archdiocese of Manila, had a "direct" confrontation with anti-Catholic, anti-Pope protesters. Perez said he was chanting together with other delegates in a public place in Madrid, when a group of protesters met them with derogatory chants, as if to provoke them. Two Filipino delegates from Dubai – Chris Asero, 28, and Rome Jarlego, 27 – said they were walking along Sol, Madrid, on Wednesday when they encountered protesters harassing some Italian, German and French WYD delegates. "May mga nagmumura na. Yung mga placards nila talagang derogatory (Some were already cursing. Their placards were really derogatory)," Asero said. Jarlego and Asero said some 3,000 protesters were countering the WYD delegates’ chants with anti-Catholic chants. Jarlego said the protesters were against government spending as host for the WYD. But Jarlego said he considers the encounter with the anti-Catholic protesters as a personal message to "be firm in faith lalo na sa modern age ngayon." Asero also noted the protesters are unaware that the Spanish government did not fund the WYD... each delegate had to shell out a $500 registration fee for the event. "Sa pagbuhos ng mga turista sa bansa nito... Malaking bagay na ‘to sa economy nila galing sa tourism (The arrival of tourists in their country will be a big boost to their economy from tourism)," Asero said. Bishop calls for understanding Bishop William Murphy, who gave a short talk to many of the English-speaking pilgrims including those from the Philippines, called for understanding. "They may be angry with us because we represent something that challenges something in their own lives," he said. Catholic bishops and priests advised the delegates not to complain about the inconveniences they experienced during their stay in Madrid. The CBCP noted pilgrims had to sleep on the floor of classrooms, school gyms, and sports centers, bathe in communal shower rooms, walk long distances to get to WYD events, and endure the summer heat. Murphy said delegates should instead remind each other that WYD is not the time to complain about the discomfort that they are enduring. Similarly, CBCP Episcopal Commission on Youth (ECY)'s Fr. Conegundo Garganta, the leader of the ECY-Philippines delegation, urged the delegates to look at the bright side. He said he had heard complaints from Filipino delegates about the inconvenience of the accommodation, the discomfort of eating European dishes, and nausea and sore feet because of long walks during the past days. “This pilgrimage is meant for us to experience suffering and sacrifices as a way of purifying our intentions and motivation. It is a form of penance and we have to be open to the discomfort and pain that we will experience during WYD and offer this sacrifice to God," Garganta said. “Ours is not a perfect delegation. There are expressions of discomfort and inconvenience. But if after their WYD experience, what lingers is the complaint and not the meaning of it, it is a loss on their part," he added. Pinoys pray for Spain's church Despite the "harassment" some of them experienced, Filipino delegates attending the WYD prayed for the Catholic Church in Spain to withstand the challenges it now faces. At Masses after each catechesis, Filipinos offered their intentions through the petitions of the faithful. "(They) prayed for the strengthening of the Church in Spain amid the disintegration of moral values of the Spaniards, especially the youth," the CBCP said. Ed Bellido, welfare officer of the Embassy of the Philippines in Spain, noted the deteriorating Christian identity of Spain. He cited legalization of abortion, prostitution, and same-sex marriage, and the mandatory teaching of sex education to children as young as 11 years old. “Spain has a lot of old and grandiose Churches to brag and yet nobody visits them even on Sundays to attend Mass. We rarely see mass goers, especially from the youth. In fact, it is the Filipino Catholics here [who] fill up the Church during Masses," he said. Bellido even echoed the observations made by Filipino WYD delegates seeing young Europeans displaying affection in public. For his part, overseas Filipino worker Erik Santiago urged his fellow Filipinos, especially those attending the WYD, to show concern to the race that brought the Christian faith in the Philippines. — LBG, GMA News

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