Franciscan Father Elton Viagedor celebrates Mass in a village in the southern Philippine province of Basilan. (Photo supplied)
Undaunted by the danger posed by extremists in the southern Philippine region of Mindanao, Franciscan missionaries hold Masses and other church activities in the mountains of Basilan province, home of the bandit Abu Sayyaf group.
Franciscan Father Elton Viagedor, pastor of San Roque parish in the town of Lantawan, said they want to show that the church is “centrifugal” in its missionary approach, that it can be “flexible in spreading the mission.”
“We hold Masses either in the streets or in backyards to show that the church should not wait for people to come to the parish chapel,” the priest told ucanews.com.
He said it is the Franciscan congregation’s “simple way of responding to the present day challenge of going out of the comforts of the parish or the convents to be with those on the peripheries.”
“It is on the peripheries that we are transformed,” said Father Viagedor.
“As Franciscans, I believe that we should be willing to go to the margins, even if they are considered risky and difficult,” said the priest.
“Such daring is not driven by arrogance but by the simple fact that we are dependent on God’s grace and by the desire to encounter the people on the peripheries,” added Father Viagedor.
The priest said the Masses he celebrates in the streets are not meant to attract Muslims to convert to Christianity, noting that people in the province maintain a healthy inter-religious and inter-cultural relationship.
Street or backyard Masses are held every second, third, and fourth Saturdays of the month.
Father Viagedor said he prioritizes holding street Masses because many parishioners seldom attend the Eucharistic celebrations.
“Living, working and serving these people is very transformative and enriching for me as a religious missionary,” he said.
The province of Basilan is the 28-year-old missionary’s second assignment after his “baptism of fire” in the city of Marawi, which was torn by five-months of clashes last year between government troops and Islamic State-inspired militants.
The conflict displaced about 400,000 people.
Father Viagedor’s parish in Basilan is serving 231 Catholic families in two predominantly Muslim villages in the town of Lantawan, the birthplace of terrorist leader Isnilon Hapilon, reportedly the designated emir of the Islamic State in Southeast Asia.
On July 31, a powerful car bomb exploded in Basilan, killing 11 people. This year alone, at least 55 Abu Sayyaf bandits have surrendered to authorities.
Father Viagedor described the island province as marginal not only geographically but also “economically, politically and culturally,” but he said he considered his assignment in Basilan as “a privilege and a blessing.”
“Here I found alternative forms of discourses particularly from the lives of people at the grassroots,” he said, adding that he will continue to go out with the people “who are the true embodiment of the church.”
Of the estimated 400,000 population of Basilan, 126,000 are Catholics who are being served by 20 priests, including four Franciscans and five Claretian missionaries who are serving 10 parishes under the Prelature of Isabela.
