Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle will visit the Filipino Chaplaincy Tahanan de Madrid on March 1st, which this year celebrates four decades of presence and pastoral service to the Filipino community in the capital. This was announced by the Archdiocese of Madrid.
The cardinal will preside over the Eucharist at 3:30 p.m. in the parish of San Antonio de Padua, as one of the central acts of the commemorative program organized by the chaplaincy to celebrate its 40 years of existence.
Four decades of pastoral care for Filipino migrants
The Filipino Chaplaincy was created in 1985 following a formal agreement between the Diocese of Madrid and the Divine Word Missionaries, the congregation that took on the pastoral care of Filipino emigrants residing in the city.
According to the Archdiocese, the chaplaincy’s work focuses on the celebration of the Sunday Eucharist, the administration of the sacraments, Christian formation, and social accompaniment of the faithful.
The celebration program for the 40th anniversary began on January 1st with a Mass of thanksgiving in the parish of Nuestra Señora del Espino and will extend until January 2027.
Pastoral structure and organization
Currently, the Filipino Chaplaincy has a chaplain, Father Gerónimo John E. Paat, a Divine Word Missionary, and a pastoral council organized into different areas: liturgy, formation, assistance, stewardship, and youth. Representatives from various groups linked to the community also participate.
The Archdiocese emphasizes that the chaplaincy continues to accompany a growing community, in a context of constant arrival of Filipino emigrants to Madrid.
The visit of Cardinal Tagle is thus framed within the anniversary celebrations and reinforces the ecclesial dimension of the Catholic community of Filipino origin in the Spanish capital.