Church to fete OFWs on 25th National Migrants Sunday

Despite the uncertainties they face abroad, overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) — including those facing unrest in the Middle East and Northern Africa — will be feted for their contributions to the Philippines on National Migrants Sunday on March 13. The Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) said it will call for prayers from the faithful for the safety and well-being of OFWs on that day. “The annual event which started at the Archdiocese of Manila in 1986 [has now] reached other dioceses as far as Davao and Cagayan de Oro in Mindanao and Ilocos Norte and Isabela in Northern Luzon," CBCP Episcopal Commission for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People executive secretary Fr. Edwin Corros said in an article posted Saturday on the CBCP news site. For 2011, the CBCP adopted the theme, "25 Years and Beyond… Pastoral Commitment of Caring for Filipino Migrants and their Families." National Migrants Sunday falls on the first Sunday of Lent. Corros said various dioceses have prepared different activities to underscore the importance of the occasion. — TJD, GMA News