“Mission Stations” in Manila Archdiocese

Manila prelate Cardinal Jose Advincula who is known for establishing mission stations and school in under-serviced, often-forgotten and far-flung areas in his previous dioceses is seriously considering the idea of establishing “mission stations” in the Archdiocese of Manila.

The 69-year-old prelate disclosed that he will consult the clergy and the archdiocese’s board of consultors on the matter as more mission stations would also mean more priests, especially the younger ones, will be given the chance to lead a ministry.

“We need to look at the whole situation so that we can determine how many parishes or mission stations we can open, even gradually,” Advincula said. The cardinal further said that he still has to visit more parishes to see the deeper situation of the archdiocese.

There are 224 priests incardinated to the archdiocese which covers the cities of Manila, Pasay, Makati, Madaluyong and San Juan.

“I don’t know if it is possible to divide these big parishes into smaller ones so that people will be given more attention,” CBCP News quoted Advincula in an interview over Radio Veritas.

Noting that many priests have been assigned to different parishes but have remained assistant parish priests until now, Cardinal Advincula said young priests will most likely be given the responsibilities in the new mission stations because of their creativity in serving the community.

“These young priests have very strong creativity and they put their energy into creating programs in their parishes. I saw it among the young priests in San Carlos and Capiz,” he said.

“Life is hard at mission stations, in the mountains, but they are very creative in their ministries and services to the people,” Advincula added.

Another important advocacy of Cardinal Jose Advincula is education. “I’m bent especially towards education because of its more lasting effect on the lives of our people,” the cardinal also told CBCP news. “We need to help not just the people in the archdiocese but also those from other places. I know that we can still do a lot especially for our poor brothers and sisters.”

There are about 1,000 scholars who graduate under Caritas Manila’s Youth Servant Leadership and Education Program (YSLEP). Today, there are more than 4,000 active scholars not just in Metro Manila but also in other provinces.

Over 10,000 scholars have benefited from the program in the past 66 years. In 2019 alone, 98 percent of YSLEP scholars found employment just a few months after graduation. (VGVE)