Hawaii Catholic Herald
The annual convention for the Diocesan Congress of Filipino Catholic Clubs will be unlike any other. In honor of its 75th year, the DCFCC — scheduled for Nov. 21-23 — will feature a pilgrimage through five churches on the island of Maui.
“As we mark 75 years of shared faith and community, we are not just celebrating our past — we are proclaiming our future,” said Trixie Galam, DCFCC president. “I invite every member, every family, and especially our youth to journey with us, to be renewed in faith and friendship.”
Themed “Honoring the Past, Embracing the Future,” the convention coincides with the global Jubilee Year, declared by Pope Francis as a time of renewal and pilgrimage under the banner of “Pilgrims of Hope.”
“It’s a jubilee to celebrate the grace of God, to be grateful to him for the graces and blessings we have received, for keeping us for the past 75 years still going,” said Father Edgar Brillantes, pastor of Our Lady of the Mount Church in Kalihi and the spiritual director of the DCFCC and of the Cursillos of Hawaii.
“So as we recognize and appreciate the founders, all the past leaders, all the past members, and we look forward to continue their spirit, to continue their hard work and to keep our Congress, our council, our units and our beloved Hawaii alive with our faith.”
Jubilant journey
Hosted by the Maui Council of Filipino Catholic Clubs, the convention starts Nov. 21 with a pilgrimage to Our Lady Queen of Angels Church in Kula, where pilgrims will join a walking prayer through the outdoor Stations of the Cross and the Divine Mercy grotto in Maui’s serene upcountry.
“There, they will have an opportunity to reflect on God’s mercy and grace — echoing the deep spirituality (Father Osmundo Calip) nurtured in the early days of the FCC,” said Tanya Barbero, family faith formation director at St. Anthony of Padua Church in Wailuku and an event organizer.
(Father Calip laid the groundwork for the formation of the DCFCC, founding Hawaii’s first Filipino Catholic Club on Kauai in the mid-20th century.)
Later on the convention’s opening day, national youth speaker Aires Patulot will lead a dynamic youth and young adult event at St. Anthony Church. Known for his powerful message of hope and reconciliation, Patulot will seek to inspire participants to embrace their faith, heritage and leadership in the church’s future.
The convention will feature a heavy emphasis on youth who are the leaders of today and the future, according to Barbero.
“We invite and make the young people part of our gatherings, our celebrations,” Father Brillantes said. “We need the young people to continue toward this tradition and this spirit of the Filipino Catholic Clubs in the whole diocese.”
On Nov. 22, a general assembly will be held at St. Theresa Church in Kihei, featuring prayer, fellowship and convention business. Pilgrims will then journey to Maria Lanakila Church in Lahaina — which was miraculously spared during the devastating 2023 wildfire — for prayer and reflection.
“This visit will stand as a moving witness of resilience and hope for Maui and the Filipino Catholic community,” Barbero said.
The convention concludes Nov. 23 with a closing Mass at Christ the King Church in Kahului, sending forth delegates united in faith and mission as pilgrims of hope across Hawaii.
“Hosting the 75th convention on Maui is both an honor and a calling,” said Lorenzo Magana, Maui Catholic Filipino Clubs president. “With our theme, ‘Honoring the Past, Embracing the Future,’ we carry forward the legacy of Filipino Catholicism with pride, prayer and promise.”
Strength in community
The first wave of Filipino laborers arrived in Hawaii in 1906. Most of these immigrants were Catholic, though they did not participate in parish life — they were focused on earning their living in the plantations.
They found a sense of belonging when Father Calip from the Archdiocese of Nueva Segovia in Ilocos Sur, Philippines, arrived in 1948 with a singular mission: to restore the spirit of Catholicism in the life of Filipinos in Hawaii.
A year later, he organized the first Filipino Catholic Club at St. Theresa Church in Kekaha, Kauai, followed by clubs on each island. In 1951, the groups created a unifying board called the Diocesan Congress of Filipino Catholic Clubs.
The Filipino Catholic Clubs have remained a cultural force throughout the diocese, providing for the spiritual, social and educational needs of Filipinos statewide.
Bishop Larry Silva appointed Clementina D. Ceria-Ulep as the executive secretary for the Diocesan Congress of Filipino Catholic Clubs in 2014.
She had been a Filipino Catholic Club member since her teens in the early 1970s at Our Lady of the Mount Church.
“My friends and I were encouraged by the senior Filipino Catholic Club members at Our Lady of the Mount to start the junior Filipino Catholic Club in our church,” Ceria-Ulep said.
“The spiritual activities nourish me and the fellowship connects me with members of the DCFCC who have become like an extended family to me and my family,” she said.