| COPYRIGHT 2007. ST JAMES COPA FOUNDATION, INC. AYALA ALABANG VILLAGE, MUNTINLUPA CITY PHILIPPINES |
CHURCH OF THE POOR
APOSTOLATE (COPA)
APOSTOLATE (COPA)
BRIEF HISTORY:
The St. James Church of the Poor Apostolate (SJ-COPA) was formally
established on January 4, 1998. It was during the Eucharistic
Celebration on the Solemn Feast of the Epiphany of Our Lord when His
Eminence Jaime L. Cardinal Sin signed the parchment to signify the
event.
Yet, the roots of this Foundation can be traced even further from that. It
was in early 1997, when the Parish of St. James the Great in Alabang, as
a community and through discernment, put into reality the call made at
the 2nd Plenary Council of the Philippines (PCP-II,1991) to have
preference for the poor. PCP-II stated:
The St. James Church of the Poor Apostolate (SJ-COPA) was formally
established on January 4, 1998. It was during the Eucharistic
Celebration on the Solemn Feast of the Epiphany of Our Lord when His
Eminence Jaime L. Cardinal Sin signed the parchment to signify the
event.
Yet, the roots of this Foundation can be traced even further from that. It
was in early 1997, when the Parish of St. James the Great in Alabang, as
a community and through discernment, put into reality the call made at
the 2nd Plenary Council of the Philippines (PCP-II,1991) to have
preference for the poor. PCP-II stated:
Likewise, the people of the community could not turn a blind eye to the plight of people across the nation who
became victims of fire, typhoon and flood, landslide and other calamities. An Emergency Assistance
Committee was organized to answer this specific call.
All these organized committees were formed with the aim of alleviating some plight experienced by a part of
marginalized society. This was the way our parish community reached out to the ‘least of His brethren’. This
was the way our parish concretized the answer to the call of Christ to be our brothers’ keepers.
Thus, in 2003, these Committees were finally and formally incorporated under one outreach arm of the parish –
the St. James COPA Foundation, Inc. The COOP was renamed as the Adopt-A-Parish Program (ADAP); the
Social Action Committee grew into the Social Action Ministry (SAM); and the Emergency Assistance Committee
became the Emergency Assistance Program (EAP) – all under St. James’ Church of the Poor Apostolate.
>> COPA mission
became victims of fire, typhoon and flood, landslide and other calamities. An Emergency Assistance
Committee was organized to answer this specific call.
All these organized committees were formed with the aim of alleviating some plight experienced by a part of
marginalized society. This was the way our parish community reached out to the ‘least of His brethren’. This
was the way our parish concretized the answer to the call of Christ to be our brothers’ keepers.
Thus, in 2003, these Committees were finally and formally incorporated under one outreach arm of the parish –
the St. James COPA Foundation, Inc. The COOP was renamed as the Adopt-A-Parish Program (ADAP); the
Social Action Committee grew into the Social Action Ministry (SAM); and the Emergency Assistance Committee
became the Emergency Assistance Program (EAP) – all under St. James’ Church of the Poor Apostolate.
>> COPA mission
| St. James COPA Foundation, Inc. CHURCH OF THE POOR APOSTOLATE PARISH OF ST JAMES THE GREAT AYALA ALABANG VILLAGE |
|
It was at that time when the St. James COPA, through its
Community Outreach Program (COOP), adopted its first parish –
the St. Augustine Parish in the Diocese of Maasin, Southern
Leyte. Adoption meant financial support applied in building their
church structure, developing their little communities of faith called
the Basic Ecclesial Communities (BECs) and human formation
programs. The seed of one (1) parish turned into eleven (11)
poor parishes in 1998. And with the generosity and support of
more parishioners, this number soon grew into 41 adopted
parishes the following year. In the Great Jubilee Year of 2000, the
number of adopted parishes had reached to more than 50 spread
throughout the archipelago with the assistance of the Catholic
Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) in pinpointing and
naming the neediest of parishes in the country. By 2004, the
Foundation’s goal of a hundred (100) parishes finally became a
reality.
Meanwhile, the programs of the Social Action Committee, which
began in 1993, had grown and its activities now covered a wider
spread of beneficiaries in the Muntinlupa area: the special
children, street children, abused women and children, prison
inmates, domestic helpers, the elderly and even the terminally-ill.
Community Outreach Program (COOP), adopted its first parish –
the St. Augustine Parish in the Diocese of Maasin, Southern
Leyte. Adoption meant financial support applied in building their
church structure, developing their little communities of faith called
the Basic Ecclesial Communities (BECs) and human formation
programs. The seed of one (1) parish turned into eleven (11)
poor parishes in 1998. And with the generosity and support of
more parishioners, this number soon grew into 41 adopted
parishes the following year. In the Great Jubilee Year of 2000, the
number of adopted parishes had reached to more than 50 spread
throughout the archipelago with the assistance of the Catholic
Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) in pinpointing and
naming the neediest of parishes in the country. By 2004, the
Foundation’s goal of a hundred (100) parishes finally became a
reality.
Meanwhile, the programs of the Social Action Committee, which
began in 1993, had grown and its activities now covered a wider
spread of beneficiaries in the Muntinlupa area: the special
children, street children, abused women and children, prison
inmates, domestic helpers, the elderly and even the terminally-ill.
| “The common good dictates that more attention must be given to the less fortunate members of society. We as a Church, indeed, opt for all men, women and children of the world but above all, preferentially we opt like Jesus for the ‘little ones,’ the poor and marginalized of our societies” (PCP-II, 312). |
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