• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Catholic Review

Catholic Review

Inspiring the Archdiocese of Baltimore

Menu
  • Home
  • News
        • Local News
        • World News
        • Vatican News
        • Obituaries
        • Featured Video
        • En Español
        • Sports News
        • Official Clergy Assignments
        • Schools News
  • Commentary
        • Contributors
          • Question Corner
          • George Weigel
          • Elizabeth Scalia
          • Michael R. Heinlein
          • Effie Caldarola
          • Guest Commentary
        • CR Columnists
          • Archbishop William E. Lori
          • Rita Buettner
          • Christopher Gunty
          • George Matysek Jr.
          • Mark Viviano
          • Father Joseph Breighner
          • Father Collin Poston
          • Robyn Barberry
          • Hanael Bianchi
          • Amen Columns
  • Entertainment
        • Events
        • Movie & Television Reviews
        • Arts & Culture
        • Books
        • Recipes
  • About Us
        • Contact Us
        • Our History
        • Meet Our Staff
        • Photos to own
        • Books/CDs/Prayer Cards
        • CR Media platforms
        • Electronic Edition
  • Advertising
  • Shop
        • Purchase Photos
        • Books/CDs/Prayer Cards
        • Magazine Subscriptions
        • Archdiocesan Directory
  • CR Radio
        • CR Radio
        • Protagonistas de Fe
  • News Tips
  • Subscribe
Pope Francis shares a laugh with a priest as they pose a photo with representatives of the Filipino Catholic community in Spain at the end of an audience in the Apostolic Palace at the Vatican Dec. 16, 2024. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)

Church must be a welcoming home to migrants, pope tells Filipinos

December 17, 2024
By Carol Glatz
Catholic News Service
Filed Under: News, Vatican, World News

Share
Share on Facebook
Share
Share this
Pin
Pin this
Share
Share on LinkedIn

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Immigrants who arrive in a new country and face obstacles and difficulty should find in the Catholic Church a welcoming home and ready assistance, Pope Francis said.

Meeting representatives of the Filipino Catholic community in Spain, the pope commented on the choice of calling their center in Madrid “Tahanan,” the Filipino word for home.

“And it is true, wherever we go, the church is always a home for us,” he said, “a warm, welcoming home.”

The Tahanan center is located at the Madrid Church of Our Lady of the Thorns, which, the pope said, “makes me think of so many migrants who, far from finding that warm and welcoming home, encounter an infinite number of difficulties and misunderstandings that rise up like thorns against them.”

And, yet, like the 14th-century vision of Mary standing on a thorn bush, the origin of Our Lady of the Thorns, “Our blessed Mother presents herself to us on those thorns, so that we do not lose hope, and we are able to face the problems, confident in her protection and shelter.”

But the group made the pilgrimage to Rome to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Filipino parish in Barcelona: the parish of the Immaculate Conception and St. Lorenzo Ruiz, a Filipino martyred in 1637.

St. Lorenzo “is a beautiful figure,” the pope said, partly because he “speaks to us of the integration of cultures. His family, like that of Cardinal (Luis Antonio) Tagle, had Chinese and Filipino ancestry and, together with the Spanish who gave him the faith, created an excellent mix.”

Falsely accused of killing a Spaniard, he was forced “to leave his homeland due to injustice” just “like many people who still today are forced to emigrate to save their lives or seek a better future,” the pope said. “And when he finally arrived in the land that should have welcomed him (Japan), God asked him to witness his faith with the greatest proof of love, to give his life” rather than renouncing his faith.

Pope Francis asked the Filipinos to trust in Jesus “without ever losing hope” and to serve anyone who comes to them in need. “In this way we will be able to build our ‘tahanan,’ that welcoming and warm home that, like a mother, our church should be.”

Read More Vatican News

Pope Leo tells migration advocates church must not be ‘silent’ on the issue

Bishop Seitz shares migrants’ stories with Pope Leo

Jesus wants to be close, rekindle hope, on life’s journey, pope says

Pope to young people: Friendship with Jesus leads to love, not propaganda

Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors will focus its new report on reparations

Vatican confirms papal trip to Turkey, Lebanon Nov. 27-Dec. 2

Copyright © 2024 Catholic News Service/U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops

Print Print

Share
Share on Facebook
Share
Share this
Pin
Pin this
Share
Share on LinkedIn

Primary Sidebar

Carol Glatz

Click here to view all posts from this author

For the latest news delivered twice a week via email or text message, sign up to receive our free enewsletter.

| MOST POPULAR |

  • Dundalk faith community considers options for St. Rita Church

  • Archdiocese of Baltimore files ‘form plan’ for bankruptcy settlement, proposes $33 million contribution

  • Partners in Excellence breakfast recognizes donors, students

  • Movie Review: ‘Anemone’

  • Book details Redemptorist priest risking everything to reveal hidden dramas of Vatican II 

| Latest Local News |

Healthcare professionals encouraged to attend annual White Mass

Picking the right Catholic school an ‘immersive experience’ at open houses 

Dundalk faith community considers options for St. Rita Church

Seton Shrine hosts pilgrimage, Mass for Sea Services

Radio Interview: Rita Buettner and Faith for Working Moms

| Latest World News |

Pope Leo tells migration advocates church must not be ‘silent’ on the issue

Two popular Catholic media producers to publish new edition of Liturgy of the Hours

Mexican priest murdered in cartel-ravaged Guerrero state

Bishop Seitz shares migrants’ stories with Pope Leo

Jesus wants to be close, rekindle hope, on life’s journey, pope says

| Catholic Review Radio |

Footer

Our Vision

Real Life. Real Faith. 

Catholic Review Media communicates the Gospel and its impact on people’s lives in the Archdiocese of Baltimore and beyond.

Our Mission

Catholic Review Media provides intergenerational communications that inform, teach, inspire and engage Catholics and all of good will in the mission of Christ through diverse forms of media.

Contact

Catholic Review
320 Cathedral Street
Baltimore, MD 21201
443-524-3150
mail@CatholicReview.org

 

Social Media

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Recent

  • Pope Leo tells migration advocates church must not be ‘silent’ on the issue
  • Two popular Catholic media producers to publish new edition of Liturgy of the Hours
  • Healthcare professionals encouraged to attend annual White Mass
  • Mexican priest murdered in cartel-ravaged Guerrero state
  • Bishop Seitz shares migrants’ stories with Pope Leo
  • Jesus wants to be close, rekindle hope, on life’s journey, pope says
  • Rosary Pilgrimage to Lourdes, with record turnout, highlights brotherhood, martyrs of Algeria
  • The myth of the naked public square
  • An important civics lesson, well taught

Search

Membership

Catholic Media Assocation

Maryland-Delaware-DC Press Association

The Associated Church Press

© 2025 CATHOLIC REVIEW MEDIA, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

en Englishes Spanish
en en