Dedicated to the Spiritual and Cultural enrichment of the Filipino Catholic communities, civic organizations and other Filipino Christian communities, who are already providing support to parishes within the Melbourne archdiocese.

Unified in our actions,  reaching out to  others in the Australian community.

Share the faith. Live the faith.

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

We have come to the most important celebration of the year which is the passion, death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.  For me, this is not just a traditional celebration which we observe because it is in the calendar.  I thank the Lord that somehow this Lent I was able to enter more deeply into the meaning of this celebration by reflecting on the beautiful Sunday gospels.  The “parable of the prodigal son” which I would rather call “the parable of the prodigal Father” always struck in my mind.  And for me this is the message of the whole season.

Let us not allow this season to pass without really understanding and experiencing the meaning of Lent and Easter.  The passion, death and resurrection of Jesus our Lord is not just a story in the past but it could also be our own story today.  God loves us so much and he became man, suffered and died for us. But he rose again triumphant.  He won the victory for us for we can not win this victory by ourselves.

Human as we are, we still realize the difficulty of living a perfect life in spite of all our efforts.  We still continue to fall.  But Lent and Easter is an assurance for every believer that no matter who we are and what we are, as long we cling to Him, we are on the side of victory.  God is always ready to embrace us.

Happy Easter.

FR. ROLYN VICS, C.M.

Chaplain

MINISTRY TO THE FILIPINO MIGRANTS
ARCHDIOCESE OF MELBOURNE 

MIGRATION HISTORY 
Migration from the Philippines started in the 70’s and has been one of the fastest growing in recent years and it is still growing.  The bulk of Filipinos came to Australia as skilled workers.  They came here with their families, and gave origin to the steady flow of chain migration, as they petitioned their relatives to come to Australia.   

RELIGIOUS AFFILIATION 
The Philippines is the only predominantly Catholic nation in Asia.  The Filipinos form of Catholicism has had, and keeps having a positive effect in the Catholic Church of Australia.  At the 2001 Census 16,263 persons living in the Archdiocese of Melbourne declared to be Catholics, equivalent to 81.1% of the total Philippine-born population.  They are the fourth largest migrant Catholic community in the Archdiocese after the Italian, those born in former Yugoslavia (including Croatia), and the Maltese. 

SETTLEMENTS
There is a concentration of Philippine-born people (38.4%) in the Western Region, while 47% settles in the Northern and Southern regions in about the same number and proportion.  Fewer are in the Eastern Region.  

AGE
Like the other Asian Migrant Communities, the Filipinos are of relatively young age.  Only 7.1% at the 2001 Census were 60 years or older, with more than 50% below 40 years of age. 

CATHOLIC ORGANIZATIONS
There are many lay organizations among the Filipino Community.  These are the groups that exist in the Philippines and they also brought with them as they migrate to Australia.  Below are the list of lay groups and movements:

1.     Couples For Christ
2.     Families For Christ Movement
3.     Holy Redeemer Servant Charismatic Community
4.     Good Shepherd Charismatic Community
5.     Holy Infant Charismatic Community
6.     El Shaddai Community
7.     Alliance of the Holy Family
8.     Katawan ni Kristo Charismatic Community
9.     Two Hearts Cell Group
10. Hearts of Jesus and Mary Prayer Group
11. Pangkat Pinoy Choir
12. Others 

MINISTRIES

1.     Sacramental Ministry
a.      Once a month Mass in Tagalog in eleven (11) areas. We do not have a church of our own so we just use the parish churches in the area for our liturgical celebrations.  Most of the parish priests are very accommodating and they are more than happy with our activities but we also encounter difficulties with few.
b.     Once a month Mass with the some organizations and movements and occasional mass with other groups
c.     Baptisms with baptismal preparation seminars
d.     Weddings (with pre-cana seminar conducted by a team)
e.      Funerals (very seldom since the Filipinos is not an ageing community)

2.  Formation
Once a month spiritual and doctrinal inputs to the different religious organizations.  In some cases the chaplain takes part in their formation seminars (e.g. Christian Life Program, Life in the Spirit Seminar, Marriage Encounter, etc.)

3.  Ministry to the Elderly
Monthly mass to the different elderly groups.  The chaplain also makes himself present in some of their social activities and visits them in their homes especially when they are not feeling well.

4.     Mass Media
The chaplain is a regular broadcaster (Wednesday 3 PM) at 3ZZZ 92.3 FM.  This is a good venue to reach out many people and also a way of evangelizing.

5.     Counselling
Individual, family and group counselling.

6.     Apostolate to the Seafarers
Although there is a regular chaplain for the seafarers, and yet the Filipino chaplain is involved with the seafarers since a good number of Filipino crews are docking in Melbourne ports regularly.  The people of Stella Maris and the ITF always ask my help when needs come.

7.     Ministry to the Youth
There are existing active youth groups which have regular activities. 

FESTIVITIES
1.       San Lorenzo Ruiz Feast for the whole Filipino community in the      Archdiocese of Melbourne (last Sunday of September).
2.       Santo Nino (south-eastern suburbs, 3^rd Sunday of January; western suburbs, 4^th Sunday of January)
3.       Mother of Perpetual Help (eastern suburbs, 4^th Sunday of June) 
4.       Immaculate Conception  (northern suburbs, 2^nd Sunday of December) 
5.       Saint Anthony of Padua (north-western suburbs, June during Queens birthday holiday)
6.       Dawn Masses (Simbang0gabi) in five parishes during December.  The bishop always says the mass at the end of the nine-day novena. 
The festivities are ways to connect the Filipinos to their cherished Catholic practices, culture and traditions.
 

NEW PROJECT 

Upon the invitation of the Maltese community who owns the Ta Pinu Marian Center at Bacchus Marsh (40 minutes drive from Melbourne) the Filipino community is constructing the Shrine of the Santo Nino and the Mother of Perpetual Help on the pilgrimage site.  So far the response is very good and the blessing and the inauguration of the shrine will be on the second Saturday of December.  

The shrine is a good place for the Filipinos to do a pilgrimage where they can connect themselves to God.  This could be an icon of the Filipino Catholic faith.  The Santo Nino (Holy Child) is closely connected to the Christianization of the Philippines and the Mother of Perpetual Help symbolizes the Filipinos devotion to the Blessed Mother.

Prepared by:
FR. ROLYN VICS, CM
Associated Priest of the Scalabrinians
Chaplain to the Filipino Migrants
Archdiocese of Melbourne

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