Caritas Manila gives out free, secondhand coffins

MANILA, Philippines — Can’t afford to buy a coffin for your dead?

Caritas Manila, the social arm of the Archdiocese of Manila, is giving away preowned coffins to poor families who want to give their dead a decent burial.

Caritas Manila’s executive director Fr. Anton Pascual said they have been providing recycled but sanitized coffins under its Damayan program.

Pascual said these coffins were donated to them after the families cremated the bodies of their departed loved ones.

Aside from 50 coffins made of wood or steel, Caritas also has new urns they could give to those in need.

“We want to raise the Church’s level of intervention for the poor. The Good Samaritan program aims to intensify our charity work for our poor brothers and sisters,” he added.

Families who want to avail themselves of burial assistance should get in touch with Caritas Manila. The applicants must undergo a screening process to make sure that they are indigents.

“We also have partnerships with Catholic cemeteries such as the La Loma Cemetery. We have more or less P5,000 to P10,00 budget for burial assistance. This is part of the corporal works of mercy – to bury the dead,” Pascual said.

While the Church is against gambling, Pascual said they don’t stop families from holding gambling such as “sakla” during the wake to help them cover burial expenses.

Sakla is popular at wakes in the Philippines.

Superstition, beliefs

Relatives of the deceased person need not break things to break the cycle of death, according to Fr. Eutiquio Belizar Jr. of the Diocese of Borongan in Eastern Samar. 

Belizar, who chairs the Diocese of Borongan’s Commission on the Doctrine of the Faith, said, “There are superstitious beliefs in parts of Eastern Samar associated with death that may cause concern among the faithful.”

The Church official said some residents usually break bottles or plates before the remains are brought out of the house to stop the cycle of death.

Another belief is when a funeral procession passes by the deceased person’s house twice, it brings bad luck to the family.

To correct these beliefs, Belizar urged parish priests, pastors and lay persons to catechize the faithful about Christian teachings on death and the afterlife.

Red Cross ready for Undas

First aiders and ambulances of the Philippine Red Cross (PRC) will be on standby to assist travelers during the obserance of All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day.

PRC chairman and Sen.  Richard Gordon said they have mobilized volunteers to assist the public.

More than 1,300 first aiders and foot patrollers were deployed in 170 cemeteries nationwide.

The PRC set up 150 first aid stations, 40 of which are in Metro Manila. –  With Sheila Crisostomo, Rhodina Villanueva