Pastoral problems, globalization and lay organizations

Here in the Philippines, the church is under seige by many social problems, including the confusion of the elite who flirt with new age ideas and the middle class who are seduced by strict protestant sects who promise salvation with rules. And that doesn't even count the corruption, the poverty, the drug problem, street kids and other "normal" problems of urbanization and globalization.

I have been coming here on and off for 18 years, and see a big change in how people treat each other. When I first came here, the roots of feudalism were dying but still alive. Indeed, my husband, who was considered the titular "head" of his farmland even after it was given to the tenants under land reform (Translation: When the fiesta came, they gave him a small gift, and he gave them money...if someone died, he gave money. If someone was sick, he gave money. And our "employees" were more like family than paid help: if they didn't like you they quit...but my husband's cook has worked for his family for two generations and their house is on our land).

Now things are different. My stepson pays a salary, and if you need money, he advances the salary, and keeps track of every peso (so they come to my husband for help, but that's another story). When they are "imperfect" or slack off, they are fired. The maids come and go quickly, and he usually hires from other towns, and prefers people from his church, not Catholics. The Catholic locals are "uppity" and won't work overtime, and are always taking off for funerals or weddings or fiestas....

So essentially our home is no longer an extended family but a business, run with honesty and hard work but little mercy.

Traditionally, in villages, the church is part of the society, and Jesus is older brother, Mary is Mama Mary, and God is the father. You show solidarity with each other at fiestas, and the rich show their generosity by giving to the poor in public.

But with "globalization", we see large numbers of children going away, either to the local city, to Manila, or even to Saudi/the middle East to work.

And as literacy, TV, and going away is eroding the extended family, so too is the parish eroded.

What has taken it's place are churches...many many different Protestant sects all over the place.

And for Catholics, this "home away from home" type community is often the Charismatic movement or other lay movements.

They are good in many ways, since they fulfill the need for closeness that is no longer supplied by family.
And they enable Catholics who need this psychological way of worship to stay Catholic. These groups can foster deep holiness, and are the key to the rejuvination of the church, and often inspire the laity to good works. (Father Groeschel on EWTN discusses how Catherine of Genoa helped reform the medieval church in this way by prayer groups).

But still it is hard on the priests, who are in the middle of it, and like American priests, no longer may be smarter or looked up to by educated laity who run their own groups.

So go to the link and hear the bishop of Boragan discuss the stresses on his priests by these lay movements (and then go to earlier posts where he discusses the laity and the church).

Then write him a short note and tell him you are praying for his priests. I suspect he would like to know that.