The members visited 12 orphanages that house about 500 kids, including victims of trafficking and abuse. They offered the children fried chicken and spaghetti.

Couples for Christ carries out activities and programs to assist Catholic families.

Among these are Kids for Christ for the evangelization of children through the family, Youth for Christ created to spread the love of Christ among young people, Singles for Christ founded to cater needs of single men and women who yearn to practice the Catholic faith, Handmaids of the Lord for renewal of single mothers, and Servants of the Lord for men, Ruiz said.

The movement began in the Philippine capital Manila in 1981. It is now active in 163 countries.

According to the 2021 Catholic Directory of the Philippines, Couples for Christ has 117,889 members in the country and 1.2 million members worldwide.

The group offers family formation by conducting workshops and retreats for parents and children.

“We always begin in the family because it is the basic unit of society. It is the bedrock of values. So, we want to form better Christians and people,” Ruiz added.

Angel House Orphanage in Davao province in Mindanao region prepared a short program to welcome the representatives of the lay group. This charity-run facility houses 36 orphan children.

Several orphans sang religious songs to thank the group for the food bought from the popular Filipino fast food chain, Jollibee.

“Some of them, this is the first time they have tasted the burger and spaghetti of Jollibee (fast food chain). They’ve watched the commercials on television but they have not actually tasted them. Now, that they did, they were very happy,” Davao social worker Martin Nicolas, 35, told UCA News.

A twelve-year-old male orphan, who was found in the marketplace in the city in 1999, shared how he misses the love of his parents.

“I never felt how to be loved by a real father or mother. I do not know my mother and my father. I am always shy… afraid because others have parents. But with the people who care, they somehow gave me an idea of how a parent loves a child,” an Angel House orphan, who wished to remain anonymous, told UCA News.

Another Couples for Christ group has gone to Pinagpala Children Center in Laguna province, south of Manila. The church-run facility is home to 68 children.

The Couples for Christ in Cavite province had potlucks for children and their caretakers.

“On Valentine’s Day, we honor not only the children who need love but also their caretakers and social workers, to inspire them to love more,” Cavite chapter president, Marife Erum, 48, told UCA News.

Erum said it was their first time since 2019 to conduct visits in mission areas because of pandemic restrictions.

“We have received many letters of invitation but we needed to decline them all because, in 2020, we had an instance when one of us was Covid positive… the entire foundation that received us was locked down because of the exposure,” she added.

A report Philippines Orphanage Foundation published in February this year says the country has 2 million orphan and street children in a population of about 109 million.

Catholic charity Caritas chief Bishop Jose Colin Bagaforo of Kidapawan Diocese admitted that with such a large number of orphan children, the church’s efforts alone are “not enough” to provide them with basic necessities.

“Our programs are not enough so we needed to tap private corporations and NGOs. With the help of Couples for Christ, our work for the orphans is multiplied a thousand-fold,” Bishop Bagaforo told UCA News.