Tagle asks faithful to support Alay Kapwa

MANILA, Philippines - Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle yesterday appealed to the Catholic faithful to support Alay Kapwa, the diocese’s special Lenten program for the poor, by donating during special collections that will be held for the next six Sundays.

In his pastoral statement, Tagle said the funds gathered during the six Sundays, from Feb. 17 until March 24, would be used as emergency funds for victims of natural and man-made calamities in the country.

“The Alay Kapwa is a Lenten-evangelization program to raise our social consciousness on the plight of the marginalized and is also the time to raise funds for the Church’s social services and programs for the poor. Alay Kapwa means offering (alay) to our neighbour (kapwa),” said Cardinal Tagle.

Among those who benefited from last year’s Alay Kapwa program, which raised P14 million in cash and in kind, were the victims of floods caused by storm “Sendong,” typhoon “Pablo” and the monsoon rains.