Last year March 16th, 2021, the Catholic Church marks its 500 years of presence in the Philippines. Many Filipino people remember the first arrival of Christianity five centuries ago on the shores of Limasawa, South of Leyte. The first mass was celebrated in the Philippines on March 31st, 1521 and on April 14th, 1521, the first baptism was performed. According to some sources that day at least 800 natives, including Cebu chieftain Rajah Humabon and his wife, were baptized and the image of Santo Niño was given as a gift to the wife of Rajah Humabon as a present.
The year-long celebration of the 500 years since the gift of faith was received in the Philippines, begins on April 4th, 2021 – Easter Sunday –and it will end on April 22nd, 2022. On the opening ceremony of this celebration, Archbishop Romulo Valles of Davao, President at that time of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), flagged off the opening of the “Holy Doors” of pilgrim churches across the Philippines, with its theme “Gifted to Give”. The CBCP, to make it more meaningful, has been preparing for this celebration since 2013 and the whole Philippine Church has launched every year a theme for the preparation of this 500 years of Christianity.
Indeed, the gift of faith in many Filipino people is still alive and lived. And now, many Filipinos become missionaries in many foreign lands.