CEBU City, Feb. 1, 2016 – Pope Francis’ representative to a global Catholic congress here called on Filipino families to re-populate and re-Christianize Europe and North America as well as countries where Christians are a minority, calling Filipino families and youth the future of the Church.

In his homily for the Statio Orbis or Closing Mass of the 51st International Eucharistic Congress (IEC), Papal legate Charles Maung Cardinal Bo of Myanmar said Christianity is in a “twilight zone” in the West, and the Philippines, where 52 percent of the population are below 25-years old, could usher in a “new dawn” for the religion.

The Philippines is the “favorite daughter of the Church in Asia,” said the Yangon Archbishop, as he noted that in 2021 the country would mark the 500th anniversary of the arrival of Christianity on its shores. The Philippine Church is a source of hope for the Church in many ways, said Bo.

Not only in Asia

“The youth of the Philippines is the hope of the Church,” he said.

“This nation will become light not only to Asia but to the whole world,” Bo added in the homily for the “Mass of the World.”

Bo, who spoke in Filipino, Cebuano, and English, encouraged Filipinos to revitalize the Church by “multiplying” the number of families and missionaries. He said: “Paramihin ninyo ang inyong mga anak. Paramihin ninyo ang inyong mga misyonero. Pumunta kayo sa Europa at Amerika, doon ay mas marami silang aso at pusa!” (Multiply your children. Multiply you missionaries. Go to Europe and America, there they have more cats and dogs!)

Echoing the Holy Father who condemned “ideological colonization” during his apostolic visit to the Philippines last year, the prelate warned against efforts by international organizations to promote distorted concepts or new forms of the family. He also criticized coercive laws passed to redefine marriage in some countries.

More cats and dogs

“The destruction of the family is the greatest danger … Mortal danger awaits humanity because some countries have started the path of destroying families through laws,” Bo said. “The future of the Church depends on Catholic families.”

Bo called young people a “blessing” and urged the Church not to neglect the youth, who “deserve understanding, not judgment.” The government should also invest more on the youth, he said.

Moral power, he said, is the greatest power, citing the Church-backed 1986 Edsa Revolution that toppled one-man Marcos rule. This time, however, the revolution should be against poverty. “You need a new Edsa Revolution, a revolution for human development,” the Myanmar prelate said. (Felipe Francisco / CBCP News)