PCLM celebrates 40 years

Life begins at 40 they say. It was on March 1, 1977 when in a meeting, the Maryknoll priest missionaries assigned to the then Prelature of Tagum which included Davao del Norte and Davao Oriental in the island of Mindanao, Philippines, decided to start a program which they called the Philippine Lay Mission Program or PLMP.

Fr. Bob Nugent, MM took on the job “to establish a completely Filipino/Filipina lay mission organization.” Incidentally, the Maryknoll Missionaries started the Basic Ecclesial Communities or BECs in the Philippines.

Forty years later, it was renamed Philippine Catholic Lay Mission or PCLM, a group “Truly Lay, Fully Filipino, Missionary to all.

On March 5, 2017, 20 active lay missioners commemorated the founding anniversary of PCLM with a Mass at the Manila Cathedral followed by a lunch at the Villa Immaculada in Manila, along with sponsors, families, and friends.

What a grace that our 40th anniversary coincided with this year 2017 being declared by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines as “The Year of the Parish”. We look forward to a rebirthing of PCLM as it continue to journey with the BECs in the Philippines and Asia. (Lila Roa)