UNITED STATES
National Catholic Reporter
Jamie Manson | Jan. 21, 2015 Grace on the Margins
For years, I have written in the pages of NCR about the Philippines. (See here and here.) The country, I believe, epitomizes the need for all Catholics to continue the fight against the Roman Catholic church’s ban on contraception.
The pope’s visit to the Philippines last week seems to have finally raised awareness of the issue.
It wasn’t the media or the theologians who brought this crisis to the world’s attention, but rather, a 12-year-old girl named Glyzelle Palomar.
A former street kid, Glyzelle gave voice to the estimated 1.2 million homeless Filipino children who every day forage in the trash for food and sleep on cardboard boxes in slums.
“There are many children neglected by their own parents,” she told Pope Francis. “There are also many who became victims and many terrible things happened to them, like drugs or prostitution. Why is God allowing such things to happen, even if it is not the fault of the children? And why are there only very few people helping us?”
Some reports said Glyzelle’s sobs were so deep, she was unable to finish her statement to the pope. Francis, visibly pained by her words, embraced the girl and then offered a 40-minute excursus on the nature of suffering and the transformative power of tears.
The scene might have been more moving if the church were not complicit in this young girl’s suffering.
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