FOREWORD
Father Jerry Gomez has written a book that
challenges all of us in Church ministry to recognize a heavily – Catholic yet
often overlooked ethnic group in our parishes.
“The
Pastoral Care of the Filipino Migrant Family” highlights the enormous impact
that Filipino immigration has had throughout the world. In Europe, Asia and the
Middle East, as well as our own country, Filipinos labor as domestics and
maintenance workers, as well as highly-skilled medical professionals.
Father
Gomez documents how this human movement, encouraged by the government of the
Philippines as a way to boost its economy via remittances sent home to
families, has an impact on the spiritual and personal lives of all Filipinos,
including those who leave and those who are left behind.
Working
with demographic data and personal anecdotes gleaned from ministry to Filipino
expatriates in Rome and New Jersey, Father Gomez describes the heartache of
many families in the Philippines, where spouses and often children are left
behind for years to cope without a beloved husband, wife, mother or father. He
points out that this has enormous social consequences.
He also
challenges the Church to be a source of support and comfort to these families,
both in the Philippines and around the world. The Church, he says, is ably
situated to both welcome and to warn against the excesses of materialism and
consumer culture that often accompanies the paychecks earned via overseas
labor.
Father
Gomez’ work is a fruit of his pastoral service to Filipino immigrants. We are
happy to have him here in the Diocese of Camden and I hope his book can get
wide distribution among those interested in outreach to this faithful and
vibrant community. It deserves wide attention wherever the Filipino presence is
felt which, Father Gomez points out, is just about everywhere.
+Most Reverend Joseph A. Galante, D.D., J.C.D.
Bishop of Catholic Diocese of Camden
April 11, 2012
New Jersey, U.S.A.
