Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle’s visit to Madrid, Spain
Madrid was blessed with the visit of the Archbishop of Manila, Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle last March 31 to April 3, 2016. The Cardinal is currently the president of the Pontifical Commission on Caritas International. The Claritian Fathers (CMF) in Madrid invited him to come to Madrid to give a conference on The Consecrated Life in April 2. The Religious Sisters, Nuns and Male Religious Orders attended the said conference held at the Claritian College. The Philippine ambassador to Spain Mr. Carlos C. Salinas and the Consul General Mr. Emmanuel R. Fernandez also made the appropriate preparations for the coming of the Cardinal in coordination with the CM priests of Madrid.
The Vincentian Provincial in Madrid Fr. Joaquin Gonzales together with the superior of the house, Fr. Miguel Renes coordinated with Fr. Juan Jose Gonzales, the Parish Priest of the Basilica to arrange the invitation through Fr. Teodoro Barquin for the Cardinal to preside in the 9:00 A.M. Sunday Mass, the 3rd of April, the second Sunday of Easter which was also the Feast of the Divine Mercy. The CM provincial superiors of the different provinces of Spain came to join in celebrating the mass. There were also Filipinos and Spanish priests of the different Congregations nearby Madrid who graced the celebration. The most important person of the Diocese, the Archbishop of Madrid Mons. Carlos Osoro Sierra graced the occasion together with the Primer Consejo de Nunciatura Apostolica de la Santa Sede en Madrid Mons. Santiago De Wit. The Filipinos in Madrid and the other Provinces of Spain as far Barcelona and Malaga came to join the celebration with their beloved cardinal from Manila. The Philippine Ambassador and his staff were also present. The host church, the Basilica Parroquia De La Medalla Milagrosa was jam packed with Filipinos. The mass was in English but the homily was in Filipino and English. After the mass cardinal Tagle spent some time in the church to give some inspirational words of encouragement to the Filipinos. And then his activity was concluded with a very rare opportunity for the Filipinos to have their photos taken with the cardinal either in group or by individuals. The Cardinal immediately left for Canada in the afternoon of the same day.
Upon the arrival of the cardinal, just before the mass, Fr. Teodoro Barquin reminded the cardinal of the Vincentian’s plan in cooperation with the Philippine Embassy to help in the pastoral caring of the Filipinos in Spain by the Filipino Vincentian confreres starting here in Madrid and in Malaga. The cardinal was more than happy to hear the news. Fr. Barquin introduced to the cardinal Fr. Danilo Carolino, who will pioneer in this new apostolate.
One priest, Fr. Remigio Domino SVD, is officially missioned in Madrid to take care of the Filipinos but the load was too heavy for him to handle alone and so he allowed Fr. Carolino to share him his job for the moment. The future plan is to send Fr. Carolino, after his language studies in Spanish, to Malaga, where there are more Filipinos andwhere no priest is taking care of their spiritual needs. The Filipino community of Malaga already sent their official letter of request-invitation to the CM in Madrid and were very excited when they learned about the pastoral plan.
They are over anxious to see the plan actualized in the very near future.
Por P. Danilo R. Carolino, CM
12 Abril 2016
