Church social arm running out of funds

THE coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic and the recent typhoon have taken its toll on the finances of Caritas Philippines, the Catholic Church’s humanitarian arm amid increased demand for its services.

Bishop Jose Colin Bagaforo, who heads Caritas Philippines, on Friday appealed for funding support, saying the lockdown affected its Alay Kapwa ( AK) fundraising program.

He said the Covid- 19 health crisis meant the church’s humanitarian arm stood to suffer a drop in income.

The prelate disclosed that the AK solidarity fund was down to about P900,000, more than half of which or P500,000 hadd already been allotted for Typhoon “Ambo “response in the diocese of Borongan and Catarman in Samar province.

“We will not have enough if another disaster or emergency will happen during the next months,” the bishop said.

Bagaforo also noted that only a fraction of the country’s 85 dioceses had been “religiously” providing support to the national campaign mandated by the bishops’ conference.

The appeal urges bishops “to show solidarity” with the stormhit dioceses “by giving your donations directly to them.”

Bagaforo also enjoined the dioceses to collectively support the AK program, both at the diocesan and national levels.

The two-month enhanced community quarantine has also hurt the budget of parishes and dioceses in the absence of contributions from parishioners due to the cancellation of Masses.

“The financial effect on the parishes is tremendous,” said Bishop Broderick Pabillo, the administrator of the Manila archdiocese.

He added that parishes also had to support its personnel and declining collections could threaten the financial security of parishes, adding that for how long parishes could go without receiving contributions from parishioners remained to be seen.

“The parishes help one another. Those who have resources help those who do not have enough,” Pabillo said.