Jesus called his apostles, trained them, sent them the Holy Spirit and sent them out to proclaim the Good News. He told them:

“you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon  you, and then you will be my witnesses… to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8). Before his Ascension he mandated and commissioned them: Go out to the whole world: proclaim the Good News to all creation” (Mk. 16:15; Mt. 28:18-20).

The Apostles and their successors very successfully carried out the Lord’s command. St. Paul saw it as such an impelling command that he said: “woe to me if I do not preach the gospel” (1 Cor. 9:16). For over 100 years, the missionaries and the early pioneers with great zeal and innumerable toils successfully planted the faith in our land. They proclaimed the gospel through schools, hospitals, leprosaria, orphanages, other charitable institutions and of course through the administration of the sacraments.

However, since the end of the Second Vatican Council, there has been a lot of growth in the Catholic faith. This was a result of the missionary zeal of these early pioneers of our faith who planted the Christian faith in our land. In addition, with the gradual emergence of an indigenous clergy and religious and the inculturation process that allowed the adoption of our cultural aspects into the practice of the Christian faith, there was a better appreciation of the Christian faith by our people.