Pastoral Letter on Alay Kapwa 2021
Give and gifts will be given to you (Lk. 6:38)
9 February 2021
My dear People of God in the Archdiocese of Manila,
Lent in the time of the COVID-19 pandemic is intimately related to the suffering of
Jesus Christ. Lent is also the perfect time for us to be the face of Christ to the needy
through charity in action. In the spirit of LOVE (CARITAS), we are called to participate
in the Lenten pillar of almsgiving.
With the theme, “Alay Kapwa 2021: Gifted to Give,” this Lenten evangelization and
fundraising program is one way of expressing our spiritual commitment to be the face
of Christ to the poor and marginalized. Alay Kapwa supports our social services to the
poor, to victims of calamities, and to those heavily affected by the pandemic. Funds
raised during the second collection for the six (6) Sundays of Lent (February 21, 2021 –
March 28, 2021) will be remitted to Caritas Manila for our Damayan assistance for relief
and emergency response and humanitarian aid.
In 2020, we extended relief and rehabilitation assistance to the urban poor families who
were affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and those who were victims of typhoons
Rolly and Ulysses. We continue to address the hunger and malnutrition of the poor as a
result of the pandemic and other calamities.
However, with natural and man-made disasters left and right, funds get immediately
depleted. Thus, it is our fervent prayer and hope that we become more generous in
supporting the Alay Kapwa campaign and be the face of Christ’s love to those most in
need in these trying times. We deeply believe that “God is able to make every grace
abundant for you, so that in all things, always having all you need, you may have an
abundance for every good work” (2 Cor. 9:8).
+ BRODERICK S. PABILLO
Apostolic Administrator of Manila
