In early 2012, Fr. Francis Teo and 2 collaborators of the MCSPA first came to the Philippines to investigate the possibility of carrying out further studies here.
In June 2012, a definitive group of four persons – one priest and three collaborators of the MCSPA – eventually rented a house at Loyola Heights in Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines. The place where this initial group settled lies within the jurisdiction of the Diocese of Cubao. More collaborators came to the Philippines in 2013. Fr. Steven Ochieng and two more collaborators also came in July 2014 for further studies. The University of Santo Tomas (UST) became the main institution where the MCSPA priests and collaborators pursued their studies in Philosophy, Canon Law and Educational Management and Leadership. The collaborators also enrolled for Spanish classes.
Currently, in August 2015, there are 8 persons living in the house in Quezon City.
Since 2013, remedial classes were held by the collaborators to assist children from a poor neighbourhood of Loyola Heights, with special emphasis on English and Mathematics.
The priests have been assisting with the pastoral work of the local parish (Our Lady of Pentecost). Mission animation work is also done with individuals and groups in and around Metro Manila and other parts of the Philippines.
Despite the fulltime study schedule of the members and collaborators, the MCSPA has begun to be involved at community centres run by other religious communities at two huge slum areas of Metro Manila: Parola and Payatas. At these centres, the collaborators assist with remedial classes for children and youth from these slum areas, and also teach the children and youth catechesis in preparation for baptism and confirmation. They also visit the families of these children, and plans are underway to expand the nature of the assistance which the MCSPA is providing to these community centres. The priests of the MCSPA also celebrate masses for the beneficiary families at the centre at Parola. In February a disastrous fire broke out at one area of Parola; the MCSPA galvanised support in cash and kind for the affected families which numbered several thousand.
The presence of members of the MCSPA in the Philippines has a three-fold purpose:
- That the house in Manila be a centre for members and collaborators of the MCSPA to do post-graduate studies in different fields as well as studies for degrees in philosophy and theology;
- That Manila serves as a base for the MCSPA’s missionary awareness activities in the Far East; and
- That the house in Manila also acts as a base for the MCSPA’s vocational promotion work not only in the Philippines but also in other countries of the Far East.
In fact, the countries in the Far East where the MCSPA is already actively doing mission animation work and vocational promotion activities are Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Hong Kong, South Korea and Japan. Thus, the presence of MCSPA members in Manila acts as a bridge between individuals and groups in these countries, on one hand, and the MCSPA missions in Africa on the other.
