Filipinos use puppets and drama to teach Sunday school online

A catechist in the Philippines began teaching catechism and commenting on social issues to young Catholics on social media using puppets and drama.

Alberto Saldajeno shows five minutes YouTube video clips called Kwentismo, or “storyism”, aimed at making the Catholic faith interesting and attractive to most children who study online.

Saldajeno used puppets that resemble Christ and the Virgin Mary, among other things, to ask and answer questions about the Catholic faith and to talk to young Catholics about pressing social issues in the Philippines such as Covid-19 and extrajudicial killings. .

In his clips, he also criticized senior government officials like President Rodrigo Duterte and asked viewers to pray for them.

“Let us preach the Good News to these people because they have been Christians or disciples of Christ, but in their life they do not fulfill their obligation as good leaders,” Saldajeno said in a video.

The Filipino catechist also touched on other topics to send social messages like spreading fake news and bribing in an easy way so that young Catholic Catholics can understand them better.

If you share lies on Facebook then you are not on the side of the truth

“Believers of Christ should not be selfish and should always spread the truth. We have to say what’s true, ”he said in a clip.

Saldajeno also encourages young Catholics to maximize technology to spread the Catholic faith and see how it affects people’s daily lives.

“Use your cell phone and your computers to broadcast what is true. If you share lies on Facebook, you are not on the side of the truth. You are not doing something Christian, ”he said in another clip.

Father Emmanuel Afable of the Diocese of Sorsogon praised Saldajeno’s efforts, saying he was responding to the Church’s call to use social media to bring about social change.

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In 2017, the Philippine Catholic Bishops’ Conference released “Pastoral Guidelines on the Use of Social Media” as a tool for evangelism.

“The internet can help us be better citizens… the internet can be used wisely to build a healthy society open to sharing,” the bishops said, citing Pope Francis’ message on World Communications Day in 2016.

Other catechists said Saldajeno’s videos were a good idea.

“Using puppets to teach catechism online is very creative but requires a lot of creativity. For catechists like me who know how to improvise, this is a model that I will try to follow, ”Manila catechist Aida Osimas told UCA News.