CFC chairman Ricky Cuenca and his wife, Irma, talk to Bishop Tumulak after celebrating the Holy Mass for top Metro Manila leaders on Sept. 1.
QUEZON City, Sept. 3, 2013—Realizing the power of the laity’s personal witnessing, a bishop requests a lay group dedicated to family renewal to take charge of the formation of military and police academy freshman cadets.
“We’re asking the help of the Couples for Christ movement to help us in our formation of the cadets…We have seen their willingness to do the task of mission. They really know the needs of the cadets,” Military Ordinariate of the Philippines (MOP) Bishop Leopoldo Tumulak said.
In an interview last Sunday, the bishop revealed that a collaboration is in the works between the MOP and Couples for Christ Global Mission Foundation.
Opportunity to share
Tumulak explained the partnership with CFC is a logical choice because a good number of CFC members and leaders are former Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and Philippine National Police (PNP) officers who through experience, know what cadets need.
“This is an opportunity given to them to help us. It’s also an opportunity to really share [CFC] with the AFP and the PNP,” he added.
Commenting on this joint effort, CFC chairman Ricky Cuenca said, it is being intentionally strategic to start the formation program with the freshman classes in the military and police academies because the cadets’minds and hearts are still “idealistic” and “not yet corrupted”.
Military partnerships
Speaking to some 400 CFC leaders from Metro Manila, Cuenca said instilling Christian values in the cadets will be for the “betterment of the military”.
According to Bishop Tumulak, depending on preparations, the formation may begin within the year or early next year.
This collective commitment of the community falls under ‘Military partnerships’, one of CFC’s Building the Church of the Poor (BCOP) Social Development programs.
Other BCOP programs include Isaiah 61:1 or the Prison Ministry; sustainable livelihood program through a CFC cooperative; St. Thomas More & Associates or the socio-political renewal through good governance and advocacy; and the Migrants’ Ministry, caring for Overseas Filipino Workers and the families they have left behind. [Nirva’ana Ella Delacruz]
